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Overheard a guy at a sharpening shop say something about insert life that got me thinking
I was at a tool sharpening place in Cleveland on Saturday getting some end mills done, and this older operator was telling the clerk he gets 40 minutes of cutting time per insert on his 3-inch face mill before he flips them. That seems really low to me... I usually run mine for like 6 or 7 hours before I even look at the edge. Am I pushing my luck with tool life here, or is he just running some nasty material with high feed?
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jade_grant951mo agoMost Upvoted
i mean, maybe it's just me but 40 minutes seems crazy low unless he's hogging through something nasty like inconel or maybe running some really aggressive speeds and feeds. i'd be curious what material and depth of cut he's taking. i run my inserts for hours too and they're fine on aluminum and mild steel, but i guess it depends a lot on what you're doing. idk, maybe he's just really cautious or the shop has tight tolerances and they don't want any edge breakdown at all.
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angelaellis1mo ago
Yeah, I gotta push back on that a little. You said "hours" on aluminum and mild steel, but even on aluminum I've had inserts chip out after maybe an hour and a half if I'm taking a heavy cut with coolant blasting. It really depends on the part geometry too. If you're doing a rough pass with a big depth of cut like 0.100 to 0.150, that edge wears way faster than a finish pass with light cuts. I've seen guys running the same insert for a full 8 hour shift on a simple turning job but they're only taking 0.020 passes. That's a whole different world. 40 minutes might be short but if they're hogging out something like 4140 at high speeds and feeds it's not crazy.
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