Let the record show that Gunner wrote back on
Wed, 27 Jul 2005 16:14:11 GMT in rec.crafts.metalworking :

Aluminum can be run balls to the wall, lots of parts per hour.
Steel...way slower...more hours, higher cost. Do they need to be
deburred? What surface finish? Deburring costs are expensive if you
want detail hand work, or simply stuck in a vibratory deburrer?

Shop I'm in, we run a lot of arrow space. Aluminum. 8 to 12 thousand
RPM, feeds in multiple inches per minute. Parts by the metric butt load.
And there is Wang, sitting there watching the machine slowly turn (143
rpm), slowly move (minutes per inch) as the machine roughs out a titanium
skid plate. Waiting for the inserts to need changing, and then maybe the
part will be done before the end of shift.
James says he wouldn't mind working in titanium, he just wants either a
laptop to play solitaire on, or on of the little Robomills to crank out
parts while he waits. (He's not all that happy with the new hiring.
Whereas before, he had four machines to setup, run and tear down, now he's
only the one, and there's too much time spent waiting for 'sign off'.)

--
pyotr filipivich.
as an explaination for the decline in the US's tech edge, James
Niccol wrote "It used to be that the USA was pretty good at
producing stuff teenaged boys could lose a finger or two playing with."