First post! What insertables are you usings?

[carbidecraters]

We use ingersall and Iscar with a little bit of sandvik on the side. We do do much more than mild steel with the occasional stainless steel run.

[tobyaxis]

We use ingersall and Iscar with a little bit of sandvik on the side. We do do much more than mild steel with the occasional stainless steel run.

I recommend Stellram and GreenLeaf for Exotic Materials. They kick butt.

[ctate2000]

Please don't throw things... Carbide is carbide if you buy from the big boys. Iscar, Snadvik, Seco, Sumitomo, Mitsubishi etc. Service and application are what you shop for. Some are better at certain processes but in general all are good and reliable. Programmer and operator make the difference. The super tool is garbage if it is not used correctly. Understanding the chip formation process is crucial to getting the best performance.

[big_mak]

I've always been a fan of Iscar stuff. The inserts seem to hold up well under proper cutting conditions. I've always found Kennametal stuff to be too hard, always wanting to break(Nothing like lighting up a $300 cutter with the sales guy standing there, running his parameters, "It sure looks pretty! What do you call that shade of red?") Kennametal's Indexable drills however work really well. I believe though, that Seco Indexable drills work really well(Inconel) at a more reasonable cost than KM. All my experience is in Milling. I haven't had a chance to try stellram. Walter makes some nice copy mills that cut titanium like no tomorrow. Sandvik is usually always a solid choice.

Just make sure that you start with the manufacturers specs, and adjust from there according to your machine rigidity, and fixturing. If you are cutting steel, pay careful attention to the cooling requirements. Iscar grade IC950 is to be used dry. Using coolant will contribut to the possible catostrophic failure of the cutter from Thermal Cracking.

Hope this helps.

[yoyoeasygrinder]

I have been making cutting tools for 20 years and i work here producing CBN and PCD inserts tell them Darrell sent you. http://www.americancarbidetool.com/