What is the maximum material removal per pass permissible on a mill or lathe?

• A. One thousandth of an inch
• B. Ten thousandths of an inch
• C. One hundred thousandths of an inch
• D. One inch

Answer: (C)

The amount you remove in one pass is limited by how much cutting force the tool and machine can handle without deflecting, chattering, overheating, or breaking. For typical milling and turning setups, a practical upper limit for depth of cut per pass is about 0.100 inches (one hundred thousandths of an inch). This keeps cutting forces manageable and helps maintain tolerance and surface finish. If more material needs to come off, you split it into multiple passes or adjust tooling and setup. The smaller options would make the process slow or are unrealistically small for a single-pass operation, while removing a whole inch in one pass would exceed what the tool and machine can safely manage.