Any help would be appreciated. We are trying to cut/part off 1" dia. induction hardened chrome rod. specs are 69-71 rc .002 thick, 58-60 rc .125 thick, then mild steel. Run quantity is appx 480 pieces cut from 25' lenths of stock. Idealy I would like to cut to length plus .100 on my horizontal band saw and finish on the lathe. The machining process is dialed in (i.e. turning, threading, etc.). Currently we are using two options which are chop saw and part off inserts. The chop saw works but is time concuming and inacurate, part off inserts last about 4 parts. I have tried gritted saw blades, cbn pt off inserts, and everything in between. If anyone has worked with this misserable material and has had any success, please let me know how you did it.

Something you could try.

Get a full profile threading insert for a coarse pitch; this means the nose radius is largish.

Plunge in fast at one edge of where the part will be and then take a fast cut to the other edge; fast is feed, have the rpm quite low down at 200 or 300.

This takes off the hard skin so then you go in with the parting tool.

I tried that and the threading insert lasted 3 parts. The part off insert lasted a bit longer but now instead of burning up pt off inserts, we are burning up threading inserts too. Thank you very much for your suggestoin though.

You really should consider annealing the rod at the sections that need machined & cut. I make hydraulic cylinder rods at work (my particular specialty).