(241,’2006-08-29 12:00:00′,’figNoggle’,’2006-12-20 08:03:04′,’david’,’Indexable Cutters and Inserts – Who’s On First?! – Part I’,”,’If you’re like many home-shop machinists just starting out, you probably bought yourself a set of “plain” cutting tools and bits. With a 7x mini-lathe, you may have purchased a 5-piece set of cutting tools for RH, LH and thread cutting. You may also be one of those who likes to grind your own bits – more power to you as this is not small task!

There may come a day when flipping through your favorite metalworking catalog flyer, you wonder if it’s worth buying a set of indexable cutting tools.

What is an indexable cutter and insert? Well, it’s essentially the cutting tool of some kind (lathe cutting, parting, end mill, face mill, etc.) without the actual cutting part. The cutters are the inserts that you buy and well, insert into the cutting tool to produce the completed tool.

The pros of using such tooling is great. For example, with triangular inserts, you have three cutting points so when one dulls, you simply rotate and use another and another until they’re worn out. Then replace the insert with another one. Easy!

The cons of such tooling, in our opinion, are few. However, the primary one is that of cost. Inserts can run between $1 to over $50 per insert! On average, it seems that $10 is the going price for commonly used inserts of decent branding. Don’t get us wrong here – there are cheaper inserts and those that cost well over $50 per insert. Whether they are worth the cost of tooling for your shop is your call.

In our shop, for the 8×12 mini-lathe, we use a 5-piece set of 1/2″ indexable cutters with inserts running about $4/piece for quantities of 10 or more.

As we continue to expand tooling and machinery here, we’re looking more seriously into indexable tooling for the lathes and mills. We’re pretty much avoiding the catalogs since, as we had mentioned, the cost of tooling is way too rich for us.

So, where do we turn to? eBay of course! Now, before we get into the types of tooling, let’s just say that that part isn’t really what concerns us. It’s the INSERTS part of the equation that has us not only baffled but dizzy from the myriad options available at any given time on eBay. Not sure what we mean?

Click here to view current auctions for “CARBIDE INSERTS”.

See what we mean? Which inserts do we need or even want? How do they match up with the type of tooling available?

In this Part I of “Indexable Cutters and Inserts – Who’s On First?!”, we’ll leave you with this parting (pun intended thought: With so many options available, how do you pick the right one?

Come join us in an expedition into the world of indexable tooling…’

‘,’

If you’re like many home-shop machinists just starting out, you probably bought yourself a set of “plain” cutting tools and bits. With a 7x mini-lathe, you may have purchased a 5-piece set of cutting tools for RH, LH and thread cutting. You may also be one of those who likes to grind your own bits – more power to you as this is not small task!

There may come a day when flipping through your favorite metalworking catalog flyer, you wonder if it’s worth buying a set of indexable cutting tools.

What is an indexable cutter and insert? Well, it’s essentially the cutting tool of some kind (lathe cutting, parting, end mill, face mill, etc.) without the actual cutting part. The cutters are the inserts that you buy and well, insert into the cutting tool to produce the completed tool.

The pros of using such tooling is great. For example, with triangular inserts, you have three cutting points so when one dulls, you simply rotate and use another and another until they’re worn out. Then replace the insert with another one. Easy!

The cons of such tooling, in our opinion, are few. However, the primary one is that of cost. Inserts can run between $1 to over $50 per insert! On average, it seems that $10 is the going price for commonly used inserts of decent branding. Don’t get us wrong here – there are cheaper inserts and those that cost well over $50 per insert. Whether they are worth the cost of tooling for your shop is your call.

In our shop, for the 8×12 mini-lathe, we use a 5-piece set of 1/2” indexable cutters with inserts running about $4/piece for quantities of 10 or more.

As we continue to expand tooling and machinery here, we’re looking more seriously into indexable tooling for the lathes and mills. We’re pretty much avoiding the catalogs since, as we had mentioned, the cost of tooling is way too rich for us.

So, where do we turn to? eBay of course! Now, before we get into the types of tooling, let’s just say that that part isn’t really what concerns us. It’s the INSERTS part of the equation that has us not only baffled but dizzy from the myriad options available at any given time on eBay. Not sure what we mean?

Click here to view current auctions for “CARBIDE INSERTS”.

See what we mean? Which inserts do we need or even want? How do they match up with the type of tooling available?

In this Part I of “Indexable Cutters and Inserts – Who’s On First?!”, we’ll leave you with this parting (pun intended thought: With so many options available, how do you pick the right one?

Come join us in an expedition into the world of indexable tooling…’

‘,”,”,”,”,”,0,”,0,4,1,1,’article’,”,”,’indexable-cutters-and-inserts-whos-on-first-part-i’,”,”,”,”,”,”,”,”,”,”,’75ba89165127eec9741cbb01c14a13dc’,’2006-08-29′);