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A parts manufacturer has to consider whether to apply a round insert with a negative geometry, a neutral one or a positive one for machining a nickel-base alloy.

Tool-coating process performed at low temperature (500° C), compared to chemical vapor deposition (1,000° C). Employs electric field to generate necessary heat for depositing coating on a tool’s surface. See CVD, chemical vapor deposition.

1. Permanently damaging a metal by heating to cause either incipient melting or intergranular oxidation. 2. In grinding, getting the workpiece hot enough to cause discoloration or to change the microstructure by tempering or hardening.

The COVID-19 pandemic did not interrupt the innovation process, and between 2020-2021 the cutting tool specialist introduced the NeoLogiq marketing campaign comprised of advanced cutting tools and tooling solutions for modern metalworking.

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Consequently, parts manufacturers have to maximize machine tool and workholding rigidity if they want to successfully apply round inserts.

Round inserts can operate at higher feed rates because they have the strongest geometry. “The larger the included angle of the cutting edge, the more inherent strength you have in that insert,” said Frank Battaglia, staff engineer–global machining technology with Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, Pa.

The latest Iscar LogiQuick campaign has unveiled a diverse range of new cutting tools, effectively replenishing the company's portfolio.

Despite some major advantages, round inserts may be unattractive to manufacturers for several reasons. One is they can’t machine small-radius corners. For example, a 0.5 "-dia. round insert can’t turn a 90° corner with a radius of 0.004 ". Its smallest corner radius is 0.5".

Time saved via higher feed rates means money saved. “The amount of money you can save [by using round inserts] over the life of running an insert is phenomenal,” Tisdall said, adding that actual cost savings depend on a shop’s overhead, annual number of components and reduction of a part number’s process time.

Iscar’s NeoLogiq series is based on new tools that were developed with its customers’ input. The company says its clients can expect more development to assure advanced machining in the new era of metalworking.

MSC Industrial Supply Co. UK (MSC) is celebrating a successful season after sponsoring two local youth football teams during the 2023/2024 campaign.

So aerospace and oil and gas companies have many of their parts made from nickel-base alloys (heat-resistant superalloys). To turn these materials, which include Inconel, Hastelloy, Waspaloy and Monel, manufacturers should have their eyes firmly fixed on that humble cutting tool, the round insert.

Hundreds of British manufacturing companies opened their doors in a UK-wide open house today as part of National Manufacturing Day, giving their local communities the chance to see the highly paid careers and jobs on offer in our exciting and diverse sector.

Changes in metalworking technology place new demands on cutting tools and to meet these demands, cutting tool manufacturers develop new products to assure increased performance. In turn, The industry’s response to the products spawns new requirements.

Tough, difficult-to-machine alloys; includes Hastelloy, Inconel and Monel. Many are nickel-base metals.

The HyproJET X6 from Ceratizit is based on an improved and patented design which makes is possible to increase cutting performance, leading and lifetime.

Trochoidal turning, however, involves smaller DOCs. “It’s a light plunge into a turn,” Tisdall said. “With a lighter DOC, you don’t have as much engagement of the insert when you come up to that wall.”

Round inserts can be made with different features, like a chamfer (upper left and lower right) and a positive rake angle (lower right), to reduce problems that can be encountered when turning high-nickel alloys.

Angle between the side-cutting edge and the projected side of the tool shank or holder, which leads the cutting tool into the workpiece.

Iscar has also developed a new lever dual lock securing mechanism for improved clamping rigidity intended for ISO turning inserts. The new design, referred to as the Combi-D-Lock family, combines the advantages of two conventional clamping methods through the use of a lever and a top clamp. An insert is locked in two directions from the top and the bottom. This provides better stability and rigidity, and in comparison to the conventional lever improves tool life and increases productivity.

Also, a machine operator can vary a round insert’s approach angle to reduce chip thickness. “We’re always looking for thinning the chip,” Gardner said. “When we thin the chip with the approach angle, it gives us better productivity; we create less heat. The more heat we put into them, the more friction we create, the more [heat] these materials will throw back,” producing a burned-out insert. Protecting the tool from burn-out doesn’t mean applying it timidly, though.

Rate at which metal is removed from an unfinished part, measured in cubic inches or cubic centimeters per minute.

Martin Gardner, global product manager—turning, threading and grooving for toolmaker ATI Stellram, La Vergne, Tenn., agreed. He suggested an RCMT insert, which has a 7° rake angle, for this application. “That’s probably the most popular insert we see in these types of applications,” he said. “They’re used for profiling and for narrow grooves.”

Nonetheless, Tisdall prefers a CVD coating when machining superalloys with a round insert. “The strength and chip thinning effect of a round geometry makes up for the inherent weakness of the edge line,” he said. “When machining superalloys with an insert with a point angle—CNMG, DNMG or VNMG in combination with a small lead angle tool—a PVD grade is preferable.”

Round inserts may be underutilized in some manufacturing sectors, but the aerospace and oil and gas industries shouldn’t be among them.

ATI Stellram  (615) 641-4200www.stellram.com Greenleaf Corp. (800) 458-1850www.greenleafcorporation.com Kennametal Inc. (800) 446-7738www.kennametal.com Sandvik Coromant Co. (800) 726-3845www.coromant.sandvik.com/us Seco Tools (800) 832-8326www.secotools.com

A durable double-sided round insert is now available. The combination of an innovative pocket design and a special peripheral shape of the insert provides reliable insert clamping and fail-proof insert indexing. Depending on the depth of cut, there are up to six insert indexes on each side (up to 12 indexes total).

Given their strength, it shouldn’t be surprising that round inserts need to be applied carefully to workpieces, even to high-nickel alloys.

A modular tool concept is the way to reach high levels of versatility and NeoSwiss is a new tool system with quick-change heads, that follows this concept. There are different types of heads for indexable inserts. The system is suitable for turning, parting, grooving, and threading applications. Through the use of an innovative high-clamping-force mechanism, the heads are mounted on a toolholder. The mechanism provides an accurate cutting edge position each time and utilises high position repeatability. The system intended mainly for Swiss-type machines enables removing heads and replacing inserts within the tight confines of CNC machining centres.

Parts used in extreme conditions require extreme materials. The part may be a large ring or shroud in a jet engine, which operates at up to 1,200° F, or can be a down-hole component in an oil field, operating in a corrosive environment hundreds of feet underground.

Depressions formed on the face of a cutting tool caused by heat, pressure and the motion of chips moving across the tool’s surface.

Round inserts can be worthwhile, though, because they’re strong and can be fed at higher rates than other types of inserts, more than making up for their disadvantages in certain applications.

Machining vertical edges of workpieces having irregular contours; normally performed with an endmill in a vertical spindle on a milling machine or with a profiler, following a pattern. See mill, milling machine.

In a race, carbide—even a coated, submicrograin carbide—would be chasing ceramic at a long distance. “Say we take our best-case scenario of carbide—300 sfm on typical Inconel 718,” Greenleaf’s Hill said, adding that that speed involved light finishing, not roughing. “Ceramics are capable of running 800 to 900 sfm.”

Angle between the insert’s side-cutting edge and the line perpendicular to the milling cutter’s axis of rotation. Approach angle, which is also known as cutting edge angle, is used with metric units of measurement. See lead angle.

High-temperature (1,000° C or higher), atmosphere-controlled process in which a chemical reaction is induced for the purpose of depositing a coating 2µm to 12µm thick on a tool’s surface. See coated tools; PVD, physical vapor deposition.

Greenleaf’s Hill added that a negative rake angle is particularly suitable for interrupted turning. “When it engages the workpiece, the majority of that chip or swarf impacts that top surface of the insert, which is the strongest area of that cutting tool,” he said. “So, in interrupted turning you’re now presenting the strongest area of your cutting tool to that abusive situation.”

The Logiq-F-Grip parting system was designed to achieve extra stability and vibration-resistant high productivity parting and grooving operations. The highly engineered system is an assembled tool block that comprises a durable holder and a high-stiffness quad blade with pockets for mounting inserts.

Any manufacturing process in which metal is processed or machined such that the workpiece is given a new shape. Broadly defined, the term includes processes such as design and layout, heat-treating, material handling and inspection.

Finally, a round insert can more easily damage a workpiece than a straight-edged insert. A round insert has a relatively large radius compared with a straight-edged insert, which has small radii at its corners. A large radius means more contact surface, which results in higher cutting forces. “This can be detrimental when applied in weak setups, extended tooling or on workpiece features that have a thin cross section,” said Dale Hill, applications engineer for toolmaker Greenleaf Corp., Saegertown, Pa. Detrimental effects include workpiece deflection and vibration.

To turn a pocket, Tisdall recommends trochoidal turning over plunging and turning to reduce potential damage to the round insert or part. In plunging and turning, an insert endures stress when plunged into a workpiece and moved across the material to turn it until it reaches where the pocket’s wall will be. The stress can lead to chipping and possibly catastrophic failure.

Measurement of the total angle within the interior of a workpiece or the angle between any two intersecting lines or surfaces.

He added, though, that carbide inserts are sometimes needed when a machine tool’s limitations or a part’s fixtures require running at lower speeds or during final finishing of critical aircraft components. “Often carbide is explicitly specified to be run at a low speed so that any possible damage or ‘white layer’ formation on the part surface is avoided,” Battaglia explained.

The HyproJET X6 from Ceratizit is based on an improved and patented design which makes is possible to increase cutting performance, leading and lifetime.

Parts manufacturers can take advantage of a PCBN round tool’s ability to turn high-nickel alloys up to 1,000 sfm.

Graham estimated that round inserts can be fed 20 percent faster than other types of inserts, depending on the round tool’s chipbreaker, which can be designed for different feed rates. Graham cited a chipbreaker with a neutral land and relatively wide groove as an example, saying that a round insert can take a heavier feed rate than one with a positive rake and narrow groove width. (See recommended feeds and speeds chart on page 39.)

The tool’s inability to create small-radius corners leads many parts manufacturers, and their programmers, to apply other insert shapes. “The CNMG is pretty much the first choice for any programmer because of the combination of flexibility and edge strength,” said Bill Tisdall, development specialist manager for toolmaker Sandvik Coromant Co., Fair Lawn, N.J. “You can OD turn, you can face, you can out-copy, you can turn to a square shoulder. With a round insert, you can’t turn to a shoulder. You can do all the other things.” (Out-copying is machine movement that combines a Z-axis movement toward the chuck with an X-axis movement away from the center line of the workpiece.)

Round inserts for turning high-nickel alloys may be CVD or PVD coated depending on the tool’s performance characteristics relative to a particular alloy, such as the tool’s main failure mode.

Cutting tool materials based on aluminum oxide and silicon nitride. Ceramic tools can withstand higher cutting speeds than cemented carbide tools when machining hardened steels, cast irons and high-temperature alloys.

When indexing, there is no need to remove the insert clamping screw. The main application of the new cutters is for rough and semi-finish milling complex surfaces, especially in die and mould, power generation, and aerospace parts. The range of solid carbide endmills has been expanded by adding new tool diameters and corner radii.

Also, Graham recommended the tool have a PVD coating, not a CVD coating, when machining a high-temperature alloy with a hardness of greater than 32 HRC because PVD is usually thinner and therefore better maintains a tool’s edge definition. He added that PVD coatings are also preferred because of their resistance to wear, BUE and cratering—all common failure modes when machining nickel-base alloys.

A South West-based engineering team is aiming to transform the large-format additive manufacturing sector with the launch of its latest product.

Workholding device that affixes to a mill, lathe or drill-press spindle. It holds a tool or workpiece by one end, allowing it to be rotated. May also be fitted to the machine table to hold a workpiece. Two or more adjustable jaws actually hold the tool or part. May be actuated manually, pneumatically, hydraulically or electrically. See collet.

Substances having metallic properties and being composed of two or more chemical elements of which at least one is a metal.

Hardness is a measure of the resistance of a material to surface indentation or abrasion. There is no absolute scale for hardness. In order to express hardness quantitatively, each type of test has its own scale, which defines hardness. Indentation hardness obtained through static methods is measured by Brinell, Rockwell, Vickers and Knoop tests. Hardness without indentation is measured by a dynamic method, known as the Scleroscope test.

When it comes to thermal shrink fit toolholders, the chuck thickness is a factor that limits the working space of a tool which often causes an increase in the tool overhang to reach a machined surface. To address this, Iscar’s X-Stream family of thermal shrink toolholders is a series of slim design chucks to eliminate such a restriction. The new chucks follow Iscar’s coolant jet channel technology providing direct coolant supply to the tool cutting edge.

Ceramics can run at such high speeds because their melting temperatures are much higher than the melting points of any metal they would cut. For example, a whisker-reinforced ceramic round insert—that is, a tool consisting of an aluminum-oxide matrix with silicon-carbide crystals—can have a melting temperature of slightly more than 2,000° C. Given such high melting points, ceramic inserts resist deformation and softening at very high temperatures.

Groove or other tool geometry that breaks chips into small fragments as they come off the workpiece. Designed to prevent chips from becoming so long that they are difficult to control, catch in turning parts and cause safety problems.

About the Author: Joseph L. Hazelton is a freelance writer with 8 years of experience writing and editing articles for metalworking publications.

Logiq-F-Grip features a new highly advanced tool family for parting solutions. The central component of the family is a robust tool block that mounts a four-pocket adapter. There are cases when the rib, a reinforcement element of the block, interferes and prevents clamping the block on typical turret positions. NeoLogic overcomes this problem by providing additional blocks with the rib placed on the alternative side of the block.

According to Graham, a tool material exists for machining at even higher speeds than ceramics. “With CBN, you can run 1,000 sfm.”

Conditioning of the cutting edge, such as a honing or chamfering, to make it stronger and less susceptible to chipping. A chamfer is a bevel on the tool’s cutting edge; the angle is measured from the cutting face downward and generally varies from 25° to 45°. Honing is the process of rounding or blunting the cutting edge with abrasives, either manually or mechanically.

“There’s more material behind the force in a round insert, more material to absorb the force,” Graham added.

Workpiece is held in a chuck, mounted on a face plate or secured between centers and rotated while a cutting tool, normally a single-point tool, is fed into it along its periphery or across its end or face. Takes the form of straight turning (cutting along the periphery of the workpiece); taper turning (creating a taper); step turning (turning different-size diameters on the same work); chamfering (beveling an edge or shoulder); facing (cutting on an end); turning threads (usually external but can be internal); roughing (high-volume metal removal); and finishing (final light cuts). Performed on lathes, turning centers, chucking machines, automatic screw machines and similar machines.

Their greater strength makes round inserts excellent at rough turning the scale present on forged and cast workpieces. Their strength also makes them less prone to chipping and breakage than other types of inserts.

“Another key issue is a coating that will adhere to the edge line for a long period of time,” Tisdall said. “What you don’t want to do is finish a large aerospace component and find out that you’ve lost size because your coating has broken down halfway through the cut. You either are going to have to do a spring pass or you might scrap a part, and you are talking about a lot of money.”

Process of both external (e.g., thread milling) and internal (e.g., tapping, thread milling) cutting, turning and rolling of threads into particular material. Standardized specifications are available to determine the desired results of the threading process. Numerous thread-series designations are written for specific applications. Threading often is performed on a lathe. Specifications such as thread height are critical in determining the strength of the threads. The material used is taken into consideration in determining the expected results of any particular application for that threaded piece. In external threading, a calculated depth is required as well as a particular angle to the cut. To perform internal threading, the exact diameter to bore the hole is critical before threading. The threads are distinguished from one another by the amount of tolerance and/or allowance that is specified. See turning.

Besides a round insert’s geometry, part makers for aerospace and oil and gas applications must consider whether they want a coated tool.

MSC Industrial Supply Co. UK (MSC) is celebrating a successful season after sponsoring two local youth football teams during the 2023/2024 campaign.

In high-speed reaming, a combination of a carbide reaming head with a rolling device in one single tool results in a short operational time for achieving accurate hole diameters along with a mirror-like surface finish.

Workholders and machine tools must be rigid to apply round inserts because the tool’s radius, relatively large compared with a straight-edged insert, means more contact area and therefore more cutting pressure.

Tangential velocity on the surface of the tool or workpiece at the cutting interface. The formula for cutting speed (sfm) is tool diameter 5 0.26 5 spindle speed (rpm). The formula for feed per tooth (fpt) is table feed (ipm)/number of flutes/spindle speed (rpm). The formula for spindle speed (rpm) is cutting speed (sfm) 5 3.82/tool diameter. The formula for table feed (ipm) is feed per tooth (ftp) 5 number of tool flutes 5 spindle speed (rpm).

Cutting tool material consisting of polycrystalline cubic boron nitride with a metallic or ceramic binder. PCBN is available either as a tip brazed to a carbide insert carrier or as a solid insert. Primarily used for cutting hardened ferrous alloys.

A round insert can be fed up to 20 percent faster into a workpiece than other types of inserts because the tool has the strongest geometry of any insert shape.

As good as they are, though, parts manufacturers may find coated, carbide round inserts insufficient for their use. “Their disadvantage is that they will be significantly limited in speed capability compared to ceramic cutting tools,” Kennametal’s Battaglia said.

Parts manufacturers should head straight to their high-strength round inserts to turn nickel-base alloys.

Some aerospace companies still prefer uncoated inserts, though, because they worry about the coating contaminating parts during manufacture. “Obviously, they don’t want anything that’s going to erode or deform that structure, however minute it is,” said ATI Stellram’s Gardner. “There have been many studies about the coating diffusion into the parent material. We’ve never found that diffusion into the material with a PVD coat. That said, some manufacturers of aero engine components still like to use uncoated inserts.”

Moreover, their strength and related long life mean round inserts are well suited to turning the large workpieces often manufactured by aerospace and oil and gas companies. “The round insert provides the best tool life and strength of any shape of an insert, so when you have a very large length of cut, you’re able to machine that full length with a round insert,” said Sandvik Coromant’s Tisdall. “With an angled insert, you’re typically going to get less tool life. You’d have to index the tool midcut.”

“Typically in aerospace, they will produce massive forgings,” Graham said. A 40 "-dia. ring that’s 0.5 " thick × 2 " wide may have started as a 48 "-dia. ring with a 6 " thickness and a 6 " width. “They remove massive amounts of material to produce that ring. That’s where a round insert is very useful because you can hog out a lot of material in an aggressive fashion,” Graham said.

Iscar SpinJet, a family of coolant-driven high-speed compact spindles for small diameter tools intended to upgrade existing machines to high-speed performance, is now supplemented with Micro 90 intended for miniature rotating tools in milling, drilling, countersinking, thread milling, engraving, chamfering and deburring operations. Micro 90, made of a solid titanium shell and assembled from just six parts, enables rotating velocities that range from 35,000 to 53,000rpm while the main machine spindle remains idle.

Precision carbide cutting tool maker Iscar has released a raft of new products to address the latest trends in modern metalworking. PES finds out more. The slogan ‘Where Innovation Never Stops!’ appears on the walls of Iscar production facilities around the world and has been synonymous with the company for several decades. The COVID-19 pandemic did not interrupt the innovation process, and between 2020-2021 the cutting tool specialist introduced the NeoLogiq marketing campaign comprised of advanced cutting tools and tooling solutions for modern metalworking. The significant and accelerated changes in manufacturing such as digitisation and the shift to electric drive in the automotive industry have resulted in new demands for cutting tools. Iscar has responded with an expansion of its NeoLogiq range. According to the company, ‘Machining with No Boundaries’ is the term that sums up the NeoLogiq mindset. Holemaking advances Iscar’s Cham-IQ-Drill, the family of assembled drills that mount exchangeable carbide heads, has been upgraded with new heads in the 33-40mm diameter range These heads can be mounted on any drill with the appropriate pocket size. The main feature of the new heads is a multifunctional cutting geometry, which enables the effective drilling of a wide range of materials such as steel, stainless steel, heat-resistant special alloys, and titanium (ISO P, M, and S groups of application) assuring hole precision within IT10-IT9 accuracy grades. Iscar says its customers will benefit from using the new heads; more interchangeability means less tools to stock. A NeoSwiss turning tool carries a quick-change head with indexable insert The Iscar Logiq-3-Cham is also based on the concept of exchangeable carbide heads with three flutes for improved productivity and is now supplemented by new carbide heads for achieving nearly flat bottom holes. Flat bottom holes are necessary for screw head sockets, spring seats, washer ports, etc. The heads ensure drilling up to an 8-hole depth-to-diameter ratio without a pre-hole. The new design facilitates generating holes with a nearly flat bottom in a single pass. The heads are mounted on existing Logiq-3-Cham tools that significantly expand the application range of the family and reduce inventory costs. Longer drilling applications ModuDrill is a family of modular drills with replaceable carbide heads that carry indexable inserts and provide an alternative solution. Mounting an exchangeable extension holder on a drill body increases the drilling depth by an additional 200mm when machining holes in a diameter range of 33-40mm. In high-speed reaming, a combination of a carbide reaming head with a rolling device in one single tool results in a short operational time for achieving accurate hole diameters along with a mirror-like surface finish. Modular turning A modular tool concept is the way to reach high levels of versatility and NeoSwiss is a new tool system with quick-change heads, that follows this concept. There are different types of heads for indexable inserts. The system is suitable for turning, parting, grooving, and threading applications. Through the use of an innovative high-clamping-force mechanism, the heads are mounted on a toolholder. The mechanism provides an accurate cutting edge position each time and utilises high position repeatability. The system intended mainly for Swiss-type machines enables removing heads and replacing inserts within the tight confines of CNC machining centres. A 90-degrees NeoDo S890 face mill Locked up rigidity Iscar has also developed a new lever dual lock securing mechanism for improved clamping rigidity intended for ISO turning inserts. The new design, referred to as the Combi-D-Lock family, combines the advantages of two conventional clamping methods through the use of a lever and a top clamp. An insert is locked in two directions from the top and the bottom. This provides better stability and rigidity, and in comparison to the conventional lever improves tool life and increases productivity. Logiq-F-Grip features a new highly advanced tool family for parting solutions. The central component of the family is a robust tool block that mounts a four-pocket adapter. There are cases when the rib, a reinforcement element of the block, interferes and prevents clamping the block on typical turret positions. NeoLogic overcomes this problem by providing additional blocks with the rib placed on the alternative side of the block. The Logiq-F-Grip parting system was designed to achieve extra stability and vibration-resistant high productivity parting and grooving operations. The highly engineered system is an assembled tool block that comprises a durable holder and a high-stiffness quad blade with pockets for mounting inserts. Milling innovations NeoDo S890 is a family of 90° indexable face mills for rough and semi-finishing operations. The mills mount durable square double-sided inserts with eight cutting edges. NeoDo S890 facilitates face and square shoulder milling while providing an additional option for milling close to shoulders where there are workpiece or workholding fixture constraints. Iscar customers have requested additional corner radii and tool diameters, therefore, this tool family has been expanded with additional pressed to size inserts with a 0.8mm corner radius and cutters in diameters 32 and 25mm including endmill design configurations. A durable double-sided round insert is now available. The combination of an innovative pocket design and a special peripheral shape of the insert provides reliable insert clamping and fail-proof insert indexing. Depending on the depth of cut, there are up to six insert indexes on each side (up to 12 indexes total). When indexing, there is no need to remove the insert clamping screw. The main application of the new cutters is for rough and semi-finish milling complex surfaces, especially in die and mould, power generation, and aerospace parts. The range of solid carbide endmills has been expanded by adding new tool diameters and corner radii. A Micro 90 coolant-driven high-speed compact spindle ensures extremely high rotating velocities Toolholder upgrades Iscar SpinJet, a family of coolant-driven high-speed compact spindles for small diameter tools intended to upgrade existing machines to high-speed performance, is now supplemented with Micro 90 intended for miniature rotating tools in milling, drilling, countersinking, thread milling, engraving, chamfering and deburring operations. Micro 90, made of a solid titanium shell and assembled from just six parts, enables rotating velocities that range from 35,000 to 53,000rpm while the main machine spindle remains idle. When it comes to thermal shrink fit toolholders, the chuck thickness is a factor that limits the working space of a tool which often causes an increase in the tool overhang to reach a machined surface. To address this, Iscar’s X-Stream family of thermal shrink toolholders is a series of slim design chucks to eliminate such a restriction. The new chucks follow Iscar’s coolant jet channel technology providing direct coolant supply to the tool cutting edge. Evolving to meet demand Changes in metalworking technology place new demands on cutting tools and to meet these demands, cutting tool manufacturers develop new products to assure increased performance. In turn, The industry’s response to the products spawns new requirements. Iscar’s NeoLogiq series is based on new tools that were developed with its customers’ input. The company says its clients can expect more development to assure advanced machining in the new era of metalworking. Iscarwww.iscar.co.uk

For example, a round insert’s maximum DOC shouldn’t be more than 25 percent of the tool’s diameter. At more than 25 percent, the tool will have too much contact area with the workpiece, resulting in too much pressure and heat, Gardner said. “We’re going to just blow the insert away,” he added, “or we’re going to damage the component.”

Precision carbide cutting tool maker Iscar has released a raft of new products to address the latest trends in modern metalworking. PES finds out more.

Round inserts can’t cut small-radius corners and aren’t well suited to creating complicated profiles, but the tools have the strongest shape of any insert and can be applied at high feed rates. With appropriate rake angles and cutting strategies, the round insert is excellent at the extreme task of turning high-nickel alloys to create parts for the extreme environments inside jet engines and down-hole in oil fields. CTE

NeoDo S890 is a family of 90° indexable face mills for rough and semi-finishing operations. The mills mount durable square double-sided inserts with eight cutting edges. NeoDo S890 facilitates face and square shoulder milling while providing an additional option for milling close to shoulders where there are workpiece or workholding fixture constraints. Iscar customers have requested additional corner radii and tool diameters, therefore, this tool family has been expanded with additional pressed to size inserts with a 0.8mm corner radius and cutters in diameters 32 and 25mm including endmill design configurations.

Iscar’s Cham-IQ-Drill, the family of assembled drills that mount exchangeable carbide heads, has been upgraded with new heads in the 33-40mm diameter range These heads can be mounted on any drill with the appropriate pocket size. The main feature of the new heads is a multifunctional cutting geometry, which enables the effective drilling of a wide range of materials such as steel, stainless steel, heat-resistant special alloys, and titanium (ISO P, M, and S groups of application) assuring hole precision within IT10-IT9 accuracy grades. Iscar says its customers will benefit from using the new heads; more interchangeability means less tools to stock.

The Iscar Logiq-3-Cham is also based on the concept of exchangeable carbide heads with three flutes for improved productivity and is now supplemented by new carbide heads for achieving nearly flat bottom holes. Flat bottom holes are necessary for screw head sockets, spring seats, washer ports, etc. The heads ensure drilling up to an 8-hole depth-to-diameter ratio without a pre-hole. The new design facilitates generating holes with a nearly flat bottom in a single pass. The heads are mounted on existing Logiq-3-Cham tools that significantly expand the application range of the family and reduce inventory costs.

The latest Iscar LogiQuick campaign has unveiled a diverse range of new cutting tools, effectively replenishing the company's portfolio.

Battaglia cautioned, though, that a ceramic round insert can still wear out if run too fast. Also, he recommended ceramic inserts’ cutting edges receive a chamfer, also known as a T-land or radius hone. He said the typical T-land has a width of 0.002 " to 0.004 " on the rake surface and an angle of 20° to 25°. “When you have a sharp-edged insert, that edge is susceptible to crack propagation,” he said. “When you add an edge preparation, you tend to direct those cutting forces more into the bulk of the material, so it makes it more difficult for a crack to propagate and lead to chipping of the cutting edge.”

Machining grooves and shallow channels. Example: grooving ball-bearing raceways. Typically performed by tools that are capable of light cuts at high feed rates. Imparts high-quality finish.

Angle of inclination between the face of the cutting tool and the workpiece. If the face of the tool lies in a plane through the axis of the workpiece, the tool is said to have a neutral, or zero, rake. If the inclination of the tool face makes the cutting edge more acute than when the rake angle is zero, the rake is positive. If the inclination of the tool face makes the cutting edge less acute or more blunt than when the rake angle is zero, the rake is negative.

The slogan ‘Where Innovation Never Stops!’ appears on the walls of Iscar production facilities around the world and has been synonymous with the company for several decades.

The significant and accelerated changes in manufacturing such as digitisation and the shift to electric drive in the automotive industry have resulted in new demands for cutting tools. Iscar has responded with an expansion of its NeoLogiq range. According to the company, ‘Machining with No Boundaries’ is the term that sums up the NeoLogiq mindset.

Joseph L. Hazelton is a freelance writer with multiple years of experience writing and editing articles for metalworking publications.

1. Spreading of a constituent in a gas, liquid or solid, tending to make the composition of all parts uniform. 2. Spontaneous movement of atoms or molecules to new sites within a material.

Coalville, Leicestershire-based CMS Cepcor is a leading supplier of aftermarket crusher spares, manganese-steel wear liners and other equipment for the mining, aggregate production and associated industries worldwide.

ModuDrill is a family of modular drills with replaceable carbide heads that carry indexable inserts and provide an alternative solution. Mounting an exchangeable extension holder on a drill body increases the drilling depth by an additional 200mm when machining holes in a diameter range of 33-40mm.

Crystal manufactured from boron nitride under high pressure and temperature. Used to cut hard-to-machine ferrous and nickel-base materials up to 70 HRC. Second hardest material after diamond. See superabrasive tools.

Engagement of a tool’s cutting edge with a workpiece generates a cutting force. Such a cutting force combines tangential, feed and radial forces, which can be measured by a dynamometer. Of the three cutting force components, tangential force is the greatest. Tangential force generates torque and accounts for more than 95 percent of the machining power. See dynamometer.

Dimension that defines the exterior diameter of a cylindrical or round part. See ID, inner diameter.

The carbide’s structure is the first consideration. Gardner recommended a submicrograin substrate for continuous cutting without vibration. Seco Tools’ Graham agreed. “The micrograin provides increased abrasion resistance as well as deformation resistance,” he said. “The latter is extremely important when you’re machining nickel-base materials. They generate a lot of heat and pressure [when cut].” A steel, for example, softens when it gets red hot, Graham noted, whereas a superalloy retains its strength and hardness when red hot. “So even when it’s red hot, it’s still putting a lot of pressure on the insert.”

However, a negative rake angle tends to create greater cutting force, which may not be right for a particular application. Hill recommends the correct geometry for the job. “Use negative whenever possible for strength and economy—negative tools are generally double sided, allowing for more cutting edges. Use positive geometry if surface finish, tool force or built-up edge is a concern.”

Sandvik Coromant’s Tisdall generally prefers that round inserts have a CVD coating in most applications. “A CVD grade will provide better tool life and higher-speed capability because the coating is typically much thicker.” He said, however, that a CVD coating is more prone to notch wear than a PVD coating because of the CVD process itself. According to Tisdall, the CVD process creates an eta phase in an insert’s carbide matrix, depleting the matrix of its cobalt binder, which acts to resist notch wear. Also, depleting the matrix of its binder weakens the carbide substrate.

Moreover, round inserts aren’t well suited to machining complicated profiles, like undercuts, and can’t create profiles not present in their geometry, according to Don Graham, manager of turning products for toolmaker Seco Tools Inc., Troy, Mich.

He also said round inserts need an edge hone that’s not too large because that would create too much cutting force.

Included angle at the point of a twist drill or similar tool; for general-purpose tools, the point angle is typically 118°.

Tisdall also described a “roll-in method” of plunging and turning. A programming technique, the method includes a radius as an insert comes out of a plunge. “It’s another way of keeping the insert engaged with the workpiece without doing a sudden movement in a different direction. Let’s say you’re plunging in Z, and then you go to the X-axis and make a move in that axis. There’s a lot of stress on the insert. Here, we’re making use of a radius to basically make the process gentler on the insert.”

According to Graham, producers of parts for oil and gas applications typically prefer negative or neutral rake angles on their round inserts because the angles provide extra strength. Those companies also like the inserts to have strong, heavy chip grooves.

1. Permanently damaging a metal by heating to cause either incipient melting or intergranular oxidation. 2. In grinding, getting the workpiece hot enough to cause discoloration or to change the microstructure by tempering or hardening.

He compared inserts’ different included angles; the 100°, 90°, 80° and 60° corners of various inserts, all the way down to a VNG-insert, which has a 35° angle. “The cross-sectional area, going from one side of that insert to the other, gets smaller and smaller as you go down in that angle,” Battaglia said. “With a round insert, it’s really just maximized to the point where you have the largest cross-sectional area going across from one side of the cutting edge to the other side.”

However, Graham said inserts should have CVD coatings when they’re machining softer superalloys, like Inconel 600, because the predominant failure mode is cratering and a thicker coating better protects against cratering.