Inspection cadence: what to look for at 1K, 10K, 50K, and 100K hits

At 10K hits the die has settled into its working pattern. The wear modes from Lesson 8 are visible in their early form, and the trend is what matters more than the absolute state. The inspection is comparing this die to its own 1K state and to the build file, and the inspector is looking for the difference.

Normal at 10K. Early washout on flash-land edges, visible as a smooth rounding of the sharp edge into a slight radius. The flash land itself is wearing flatter, with the engineered geometry softening on the order of 0.01-0.03 mm of dimensional change in high-flow regions. Light heat-check initiation in the highest-temperature pockets of the impression, visible as a faint matte pattern under magnification. The pattern at 10K is fine and uniform if it is present at all. Lube film still even across the impression. Compound layer intact across the working surface.

Red flag at 10K. Radial cracks coming out of internal corners, longer and deeper than the surrounding heat-check network if a network is present at all. A single 1-2 mm radial crack at a corner at 10K is mechanical fatigue starting at a stress concentration, and it does not heal. Deep washout, more than 0.05 mm of dimensional change on a flash land or a flow region, means the surface treatment is wearing faster than the die life targeted, and the cause is upstream: lube failure, cooling drift, or a worse build than the spec called for. Dimensional drift outside the production tolerance band on any critical feature is a stop-and-investigate finding, not a continue-and-watch finding. Adhesive pickup on the flash land, visible as smeared metal on the die or matching pulls on the part, means the lube program is wrong for this die at this temperature.