There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on here. A good thread on this topic would be appreciated. My eyes start glazing over when I read the insert company info pdfs and let's face it - they are biased to promote and sell their own products. I'd personally like to see something really simple. Something that members can contribute to in as much detail as they like. Everyone has their favorites, what are yours? What inserts do you reach for 90% of the time and how do you run them?
A good healthy debate on least costly, most available, best chip breaking, nicest cut, durability, etc. Of course, that should go hand in hand with a discussion of insert holders.
I'm deliberately trying to avoid a list of manufacturers or links to their documents. These documents are great references but they are way too detailed, too much info, each one is different, and they often don't agree with each other. What I'm looking for in this thread is the kind of info your grandfather would give you about girls or tractors.
I'm totally making this up but something like......
For mild steel Hexigon inserts are everywhere and they are very cost effective because...... They work best in these kinds of circumstances, and try to get some with this coating for plain steel, this for aluminium, this for cast iron, this for harder steels. Run em about sfm and this feet rate and this depth of cut and they will make you happy. You can get the holder at McDonald's for $x and they carry inserts at Burger King at 2 bucks each in a box of 10 or you can get them here on Aziton (link posted here)
For Aluminium I like.....
For Cast Iron I like....
What I'm thinking about here is something along the line of a member's favs for newbies and pros alike. Its a common question for new machinists. And even for the old hands, It's always good to see what others like and why. It's also good to see why other members might disagree and why. But mostly for beginners it's nice to get advice from experienced members instead of from the salesman at Busybee or Accusize.
How many folks on here got sucked into buying a kit that came with a half dozen holders and inserts but now they can't get more inserts for and they never did use more than half the holders?
So ya, what are your own favorites and why?
Guangzhou Ruiyi Technology Co., Ltd. Product Page
EN8 machines lovely but if your tools are crap the results will be too.Ok so it is a small low powered lathe so I would say go for a positive insert tool. A good all rounder would likely be one that takes a CCMT insert so something like SCLCR on this pageAnother tool worth looking at would be one that takes a DCMT as it will allow a bit of profile cutting as well as straight turning and light facing, so again on the above linked page scroll down to the SDJCR.I would say a 0.4mm nose rad would probably be best suited to your lathe.On my manual lathe (Colchester Triumph POS) I tend to reach for a PCLNR which takes a CNMG insert but it is a negative insert so is really suited to a more powerful and robust lathe than you have. On my CNC my go to general tool is a SDJNL (DNMG 15 06 insert), very strong tool and much more versatile than the CNMG insert. Again though a negative insert so suited for medium to large lathes.
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