Many years ago, when the earth's crust was still cooling. I wrote an application to generate tool paths for the milling machines my employer made. Milling machines use a cutting tool that looks something like a drill bit except that it cuts on the side of the tool instead of the tip.

One day I was told that my software had a bug. The tool wasn't being retracted (pulled out of the material being cut) before being rapidly moved to a new location. As a result, the cutting tool was being broken off.

I asked [I think it was our application engineer] if we sold the replacement tools to the customer and I was told "yes". Then I asked him: "Then isn't breaking off tools kind of a feature"?

"Just fix it Chris. Just fix it."