A.J. Schaffter lit a fuse in the MACHINIST group last week with a post that racked up hundreds of comments.

His frustration was simple:

He explained that he's the kind of machinist who wants parts looking good, measuring good, and sitting right where they belong. If a dimension is in tolerance but sitting .002" away from nominal, he'll spend extra time dialing it in. His argument?

If the parts are always right, always on time, and never scrap... what's the problem?

The comment section had plenty to say about that.

And surprisingly, most machinists didn't land where you might think.

The largest group of commenters agreed on one thing:

Tolerance exists for a reason.

Over and over again machinists pointed out that if a print calls for ±.005, spending 20 extra minutes chasing dead nuts nominal is often just burning money.

One machinist summed it up perfectly:

Another pointed out that if a customer wanted ±.001, they would've put ±.001 on the print and paid for it.

A lot of experienced guys admitted they were exactly the same way when they were younger.

They wanted every dimension perfect.

Every finish beautiful.

Every measurement centered.

Then reality showed up.

Reality usually arrives in the form of a production manager asking where the hell the rest of the parts are.

Of course, there was plenty of support for A.J. too.

Many machinists argued that management often creates its own problems by demanding more speed while preaching quality.

One of the most repeated comments was:

Fair point.

Nobody has ever saved money by shipping bad parts.

Many felt the pressure to constantly increase output eventually creates mistakes, rework, missed dimensions, broken tools, and frustrated employees.

Some went even further.

Their advice?

Find another shop.

According to this crowd, there are still plenty of employers looking for machinists who care about quality and craftsmanship.

One of the more interesting themes was how many veteran machinists basically told A.J.:

A lot of experienced guys said perfectionism is actually a good trait early in your career.

You should care.

You should measure.

You should learn what good work looks like.

The trick is learning when to stop.

Eventually you realize that making a perfect part isn't necessarily making a profitable part.

As one commenter put it:

That one hit home for a lot of people.

Another theme showed up repeatedly:

You might simply be in the wrong environment.

Several machinists suggested A.J. sounds more like a job shop guy than a production shop guy.

Production shops live and die by cycle times, throughput, and efficiency.

Job shops often allow more room for craftsmanship, problem solving, setups, prototypes, and chasing perfection when it actually matters.

Neither is right.

Neither is wrong.

They're just different games.

Trying to apply job shop thinking inside a high-volume production environment is usually going to create friction.

One machinist shared a story about an employee who always held tolerances much tighter than required.

During a review, management told him his production numbers were below average.

The employee was confused.

His parts were beautiful.

Dead nuts every time.

Management's response was brutal:

That's probably the simplest explanation of the entire debate.

Customers pay for the tolerance they ask for.

Not the tolerance you wish they asked for.

Honestly?

Both sides.

A machinist who doesn't care about quality is dangerous.

A machinist who refuses to use available tolerance is expensive.

The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle.

Make good parts.

Don't ship junk.

Use the tolerance.

Learn efficiency.

Keep improving.

And maybe don't spend 20 minutes moving a dimension that's already good.

Because while quality matters...

Payroll still hits every Friday.

And that's where the MACHINIST group seemed to land.

Quality first. But don't forget somebody has to make money on the job, too.

Every machinist reading this just nodded.

And probably laughed.

Because it's true. 😆

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