“So people say they’re going to go really, really slow and change tools a lot,” Howard said. “But when we get a few brave people that let us play with ceramic, they go, ‘Oh, my God, I never knew I could do this.’”

Bestceramic cutting tool

HSS bits are a little tougher and can drill through harder materials quicker and without blunting. They’re made using special alloys which helps them resist temperatures of up to 500°C, which is especially useful when drilling harder metals!

Depending on the amount of material needed to make an insert, ceramic inserts could be anywhere from 1.5 to four times more expensive than inserts made of more commonly used materials, said Martin Dillaman, global manager of engineering and applications at Greenleaf Corp. in Saegertown, Pennsylvania. Dillaman added that solid-ceramic tools probably cost two to four times as much as their counterparts made of more widely used materials. He added, however, that the higher cost of ceramic tools can be justified by savings in cutting time and throughput increases at shops that use them.

The amount of heat produced during the cutting process is a function of the cutting speed and the material being machined. So the ability of ceramics to conduct heat away from the cutting edge means that ceramic tools can run much faster than those made of carbide, CBN or PCD when cutting most materials, Howard said. He noted that while carbide tools cut heat-resistant alloys at 125 sfm, for example, ceramic tools can cut them at anywhere from 800 to 1,500 sfm.

Most screwdriver bits are made from a chromium-vanadium steel alloy, so you might see them called CRV screwdriver bits. Don’t worry about this, though – it’s the shape of the bit you should be looking out for. Here’s how you can identify what screw you’re looking at so you know which screwdriver you need.

Titanium bits look like twist bits, but they’re coated in a titanium alloy. They’re easily recognisable as they have a gold-coloured coating. The titanium makes the bit much harder and is slightly self-lubricating, which makes it perfect for drilling hard metals. However, you won’t really notice any benefit if you’re using titanium bits on wood and plastic.

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.

On the downside, Howard pointed out that the hardness of ceramic materials makes them brittle, so those who make tools out of ceramics can’t put very sharp edges on them. As a result, he said, ceramic tools don’t cut as efficiently as carbide tools.

Pozi screws look a lot like Phillips screws, except for an extra small set of grooves that flare out from the centre of the main cross shape. A PoziDriv screwdriver bit has a blunt tip and parallel flanks, so it’ll fit snugly into the slot.

Ceramic cuttingtools for metal

Information about these applications usually falls into the category of what people in the machining industry don’t know about ceramic cutting tools. Equally frustrating for the firms that sell these tools, however, is what many people think they know based on outdated information.

You can find most of the above (and more, including a metal ruler, a bandoleer, and a set of gauges) with the MYLEK 118-piece drill bit kit. You never know when you’ll need some specialist drill bits, so being prepared could save you a lot of headaches!

In addition, he noted that users of ceramic inserts in these cases aren’t limited by the form on a grinding wheel. Instead, they can program different cutting profiles to meet different requirements.

Masonry bits look like larger twist drills with a slightly tighter corkscrew shape. You can identify them thanks to their wide arrow-shaped heads. They’re commonly used in hammer drills to grind masonry down as they cut through it. You can use them on brickwork, stone, breeze blocks, and other hard stone surfaces. You can use them on wood, although the hole will be ragged and it’ll probably take longer than a proper wood drill.

“That material is both abrasive and creates heat, and those are the things that wear out tools the fastest,” he said. So for this application, “people will go from carbide straight to CBN, and the cost difference between those two is astronomical.”

Ceramics “run so much faster” than carbide, Howard said. “And with that comes a lot of fear. People say, ‘Wow, I can’t control this thing because I don’t have enough knowledge or skill.’”

Wheel formed from abrasive material mixed in a suitable matrix. Takes a variety of shapes but falls into two basic categories: one that cuts on its periphery, as in reciprocating grinding, and one that cuts on its side or face, as in tool and cutter grinding.

Cast iron having a graphite shape intermediate between the flake form typical of gray cast iron and the spherical form of fully spherulitic ductile cast iron. Also known as CG iron, CGI or vermicular iron, it is produced in a manner similar to that of ductile cast iron but using a technique that inhibits the formation of fully spherulitic graphite nodules.

“Some customers were using OD grinding or surface grinding for hardened materials just because that’s the traditional method that has been used,” Dillaman said. “But with ceramic inserts, you can remove large amounts of material much quicker than you could in a grinding application.”

Screwdriver bits do exactly what it says on the tin. If you’ve ever struggled to put together some flat-pack furniture, you’ll probably know how important it is to have the right size screwdriver bits to hand! While all screws do essentially the same thing, there are many different types. Each type of screw has a different slot on the head, which means they all need different screwdriver bits.

Ceramic CuttingWheel

When cutting with common tool materials, such as carbide, CBN and PCD, heat is not conducted away from the cutting edge, which eventually breaks down as a result, Howard explained. By contrast, he said, ceramics do a good job of transferring heat away from the cutting edge, thereby extending its life and the life of the tool as a whole.

He pointed out, however, that NTK makes ceramic tools that can cut CGI for 10 times less than the cost of carbide tools. But few in the industry know this.

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.

“Traditionally, you have to use an electrode to burn material out of a hardened workpiece,” he said. “With our solid-ceramic endmills, (you can) use the endmill to remove the bulk of that material instead of having to create an electrode to remove the full amount of material.”

Professionalceramic cutting tool

William Leventon is a contributing editor to Cutting Tool Engineering magazine. Contact him by phone at 609-920-3335 or via email at wleventon@gmail.com.

Twist bits are the most common kind of drill bit. Most standard drills will usually come with a few differently-sized twist drill bits. They’re easy to recognise thanks to their corkscrew-like groove. You use twist bits to drill holes in flat surfaces, but depending on the material you’re drilling (metal, wood, brickwork, etc) you’ll need a slightly different twist drill to get the job done right.

A ceramic endmill removes material much more quickly than an electrode, he said, and use of an endmill should slash the number of electrodes needed for the overall process, as well as the time spent creating them.

Socket bits are half drill bit, half socket. They can either be used as an extended hex shank for a screwdriver bit, or they can be used as a ratchet to tighten nuts and bolts. They’re quite easy to identify, as they’re cylindrical with a (usually) hexagonal socket at the end.

When it comes to ceramic cutting tools, don’t believe the old saying, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” A lack of knowledge about ceramic cutters can put a big hurt on shop productivity. What’s more, even shops that are somewhat informed about ceramic cutting tools often aren’t getting the most out of the tools because they are unaware of lesser-known applications that are a good fit for ceramic machining, let alone recent developments that make the ceramic option more attractive than ever.

Milling cutter held by its shank that cuts on its periphery and, if so configured, on its free end. Takes a variety of shapes (single- and double-end, roughing, ballnose and cup-end) and sizes (stub, medium, long and extra-long). Also comes with differing numbers of flutes.

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.

Hole saw bits are similar to wood spade bits, but they have a few key differences. They’ll still cut rough circles in wood, but they can also handle other materials like plastic and metal, too. Unlike wood spade bits, hole saw bits cut through wood rather than gouge it out, so they’re a little bit neater. However, this also means they have to cut a hole right the way through a surface. If you only want to gouge out a small divot in a piece of wood without piercing through the other side, you’ll want to use a wood spade bit instead. You can easily identify a hole saw bit thanks to their distinctive serrated edge.

Another invention of late that may interest shops that haven’t tried ceramic tools in a long time is a patented material called Bidemics. Howard describes Bidemics as an advanced ceramic designed to conduct more heat away from the cutting edge.

In addition, he noted that ceramic tools are more expensive than their carbide counterparts. When it comes to tools with inserts, he said this is because ceramic inserts require a good deal of grinding while carbide inserts are easily mass-produced.

Process that vaporizes conductive materials by controlled application of pulsed electrical current that flows between a workpiece and electrode (tool) in a dielectric fluid. Permits machining shapes to tight accuracies without the internal stresses conventional machining often generates. Useful in diemaking.

Countersink bits look a bit like arrows from the side – they have a fluted, cone-shaped tip. You can use countersink bits if you’re doing anything that requires flat-head screws. They bore a cone-shaped recess in wood which allows the screw to fit snugly into the hole without jutting out. This makes whatever you’re working on look better, but it also results in a stronger attachment.

Ceramic cuttingknife

A relatively new entry in the ceramic tool market from Greenleaf is its Xsytin-360 line of solid-ceramic endmills. Launched last year, Xsytin-360 endmills come in standard diameters down to 3/8", so they can cut much smaller features than indexable tooling.

Machining operation in which material is removed from the workpiece by a powered abrasive wheel, stone, belt, paste, sheet, compound, slurry, etc. Takes various forms: surface grinding (creates flat and/or squared surfaces); cylindrical grinding (for external cylindrical and tapered shapes, fillets, undercuts, etc.); centerless grinding; chamfering; thread and form grinding; tool and cutter grinding; offhand grinding; lapping and polishing (grinding with extremely fine grits to create ultrasmooth surfaces); honing; and disc grinding.

You’ll need a drill to do even the most basic DIY jobs around the house, whether it’s putting up a shelf or installing a light fitting. Most cordless drills come with a few basic drill bits anyway, but for some DIY jobs, you might need something extra. A specialist drill bit can offer more power, more precision, and a cleaner hole depending on what you’re drilling.

Dillaman also reported that Greenleaf got good results when it pitted ceramic inserts against PCD in an aluminum-cutting application for a customer. He said the ceramic inserts that were used showed little wear and held up as well as their PCD counterparts. The biggest downside for ceramic inserts was the accumulation of some built-up edge that had to be removed.

When people tell Howard that they tried ceramic tools for a particular application and it didn’t work, he asks when they tried ceramics. Sometimes, it turns out that the failed ceramics experiment wasn’t even in this century. So he tells these people, “Well, we’ve invented a few things in the last 20-some years.”

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

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).

Dillaman said these endmills are made from the company’s Xsytin-1 material, which features a “whisker,” or reinforcing material, that’s grown internally via processing rather than laid in. This makes the ceramic material much harder to break apart, he said. He added that Xsytin-1 has shown itself to be capable of handling challenging roughing applications and turning interruptions.

Another lesser-known ceramic application cited by Howard is cutting powder metal, which is popular in the automotive industry.

When it comes to DIY, it’s important that you have the right tools for the job. This goes double for when you’re using a drill!  As you might imagine, drilling holes around your home without the knowledge or tools to do it properly can get messy pretty quickly.

The main advantage of ceramic tools is the effectiveness with which they handle the heat generated by the cutting process.

Cermetcuttingtools

Ceramic cuttingtools are made of

Sanding drums are incredibly useful things to have around the house! They’re cylinders of sandpaper that let you use your cordless drill as a sort of portable belt sander. They let you precisely sand down wood, so they can be used to correct warping in water-damaged door frames, sand down splintered bannisters, and more.

Howard also noted that ceramic tools are a good choice for cutting compacted graphite iron, which he described as a fairly new type of cast iron that’s very dense and strong. Today, he said, CGI is used to make many diesel engines because it allows manufacturers to use a smaller engine block that can take more compression.

Brush bits are very simple, but they come in many varieties. They’re essentially small, circular brushes that fit onto the end of your drill. Soft brushes are used for buffing and polishing metal surfaces, whereas wire brushes tend to be used for clearing debris out of holes and pipework. Some fine wire brushes are similar to iron wool scourers, and can also be used for scuffing or finishing varnished wood. Make sure you check what your brush is made of before you use it as some aren’t suitable for use on certain materials. For example, if you’re working with stainless steel, you’ll want to make sure you have a stainless steel wire brush – other types of steel can contaminate stainless steel.

You can usually use Phillips and PoziDriv interchangeably, although we don’t recommend it. Doing so increases the risk of your drill camming out (slipping out of the slot), which can damage the screw, the screwdriver bit, and it can even cause injury.

Slot screws have a single slot that goes from one side of the head to the other. They’re very common and are often found in flat pack furniture. You’ll need a slot screwdriver to fit them; slot screwdriver bits have a flat, blade-like design that looks like the end of a chisel.

Cutting tool material consisting of natural or synthetic diamond crystals bonded together under high pressure at elevated temperatures. PCD is available as a tip brazed to a carbide insert carrier. Used for machining nonferrous alloys and nonmetallic materials at high cutting speeds.

Substance used for grinding, honing, lapping, superfinishing and polishing. Examples include garnet, emery, corundum, silicon carbide, cubic boron nitride and diamond in various grit sizes.

Wood spade bits are also called paddle bits because of their wide, flat shape. They’re used for quickly boring out large, circular holes into wood. Unless you work in construction or are a fan of woodworking, you probably won’t have much use for these. If you do use one, remember to use a “sacrificial” piece of scrap wood underneath your workpiece. This is because spade bits cause splintering when they pierce all the way through a piece of wood.

Many boring bits leave a rough or jagged hole in the surface you’re working on. If the material is an unusual shape, a sanding drum might be a bit awkward to use. That’s where grinding stones come in – they’re small, rough stones that come in a variety of shapes to help you grind, deburr, and buff rough surfaces. They’re a bit more versatile than sanding drums, but also usually a bit finer, so they’re better for smoothing out small, trick spots than wide, flat surface.

“Stainless steel is an area that a lot of people never think of ceramic for,” he said. “It’s got to be hard, though — above, say, 32 to 35 Rockwell — because we’re going so fast and (therefore) cut so hot.” If the steel is below that hardness level, “you will melt it and light it on fire.”

Because they do a better job of transferring heat away from the cutting edge, Bidemics inserts can run even faster than typical ceramic cutters — close to 1,600 sfm, Howard said. He added that efficient heat transfer also lengthens the life of cutting edges.

“When they invented this stuff, tooling people loved it because it just carves up cutting tools,” he said. “And the cost justification wasn’t there to go to CBN or PCD because it wears that stuff out too.”

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.

As for Greenleaf’s solid-ceramic endmills, Dillaman said they can speed up machining of hardened materials normally done entirely with EDM operations.

Some screws come with two slots which make a cross shape. You can use a regular slot screwdriver bit here, or you can use a crosshead screwdriver bit for extra purchase.

“You may still have to do some finish work with an electrode, but the amount of electrodes consumed should be much reduced,” he said.

Square screws are easy enough to recognise – they have a square socket on top of the screw head. Look for a square screwdriver bit to fit them. You’ll usually only find them in electrical fittings or on construction sites. The square design means you’ll almost never cam out when using one provided you have the right size bit.

“If somebody is cutting heat-resistant alloy at 125 sfm, and you bring in this new product that can do 1,600 sfm, it’s kind of like taking somebody from a horse to a rocket ship,” he said. So sometimes “the (reaction) is, ‘There’s no way I’m doing that.’”

Even if shops aren’t put off by the higher cost of ceramic tools, shops may be unable to make proper use of the tools because their equipment can’t match the speeds for which ceramic tools have the capacity. Or shops actually may be afraid to reach those speeds.

In general, Howard believes there’s a fairly widespread lack of knowledge about ceramic cutting tools in the machining industry. So he had no trouble identifying some lesser-known applications for these tools. One is cutting hardened stainless steel.

“We found a way to fuse carbide and ceramic together without a cobalt binder,” Howard explained. “The carbide is introduced into the ceramic in kind of a spiderweb fashion. When heat hits the cutting edge, it runs down those little carbide trails and disperses more efficiently.”

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.

Types ofceramic cuttingtools

Phillips screws are the most common kind you’ll find. They have a small cross on the head which doesn’t quite span the diameter of the screw. As you might expect, you’ll need the correct-size Phillips bit for one of these. Phillips bits have a pointed tip and a slight taper which helps it dig into the screw head.

Steel bits are the softest, cheapest bits you can find. They’re good for drilling wood or plastic, and while they can be used to drill through harder materials like brick or metal, they will blunt quite quickly. Blunt bits can snag as they bore through materials, leading to ragged holes and splits. For drilling through these hard surfaces, you’ll probably want a harder drill bit to match.

In recent years, Bidemics has become popular with makers of larger aerospace engines, Howard said. But he added that some shops find the performance boost offered by the material a bit unsettling.

Machining of a flat, angled or contoured surface by passing a workpiece beneath a grinding wheel in a plane parallel to the grinding wheel spindle. See grinding.

Sometimes, you’ll need to drill a bigger hole than a standard bit will allow. Perhaps you want to put a cable-tidy hole in the back of a desk, or maybe you need a hole big enough to feed a pipe through. There are many different drill bits which are specially designed to bore wide, circular holes in material, and there are a few differences between them all.

If you need to bore a precise hole, you’ll need a Forstner bit. These bits have a circular, flat cutting edge surrounding a short centre pilot point. These bits can cut holes at an angle and they can even bore overlapping holes. If you need clean holes bored with precision, this is the way to go!

Star head screws (also called Torx screws) have a six-pointed star-shaped slot that’s very easy to recognise. You’ll most often find them in electrical appliances. Use a star screwdriver bit (you might see them called Torx bits, too) for best results.

“The big thing with ceramic is it conducts heat better than anything else,” said Steven Howard, marketing and engineering manager at NTK Cutting Tools USA in Wixom, Michigan.