"Dry Cut" carbide inserts ?

Chipper5783

Chipper5783

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Has any one got experience / comments to share on selecting carbide inserts for general purpose turning (steels)?

I'm basically using "what ever" carbide and run it dry. It is a home shop application, I don't put in near the hours of a commercial shop, I find managing coolant a mess. So, I haven't had coolant in my machines for many years. Sometimes I'll use various squirts & sprays (of course for parting & threading - oil products like Rapid Tap or Beacon) - I can well imagine that if one does not have a good flood of coolant, then one is better to leave it dry and not risk developing small cracks at the cutting edge.

Regards
 
Hi,
Carbide itself does not mind cutting dry, your workpiece will get hot after while though. If that is OK, then do not worry about the heat, the carbide can handle it. Just be sure to let the part cool if it gets really hot, and before you take a finish cut if it's fussy. All that said, it is better to use coolant, it will improve finishes, and extend tool life. If you use coolant, use a good stream if possible. Carbide does not generally like hot/cold cycles, which can cause thermal shock. This causes little cracks to be created in the insert.
I do not use coolant on my lathe, even though I am frequently tempted to. It makes a mess, and even though modern soluble oils has very good anti corrosion packages, I still prefer using oil on my machine just to keep it rust and stain free. I use a squirt bottle of water base coolant for drilling.
Gerald
 
Not to beat a dead horse......for "dry" turning...Diamond Tool Holder.....PERIOD! Simply amazing piece of tooling.
 
Not having a coolant pump set up, I apply coolant/oil dirctly to the cut with a sacrificial brush (cheap hardware store throw away brush). This works well for me and applys oil/coolant exactly where I need it.

This doesn't flood the area but keeps it cool and improves my cut.

Kinda old school but it works.
 
I purchased a SECO WNM holder and 10 inserts about 2 years ago, and have been very happy. Enco had a deal where you got a "free" holder when you purchased a 10 pack of inserts, which was a pretty nice deal. I have used them on most materials (steel, alum, brass, stainless, plastic). Surface finish is good. I do find that the coating wears away quickly on aluminum. They are also only so-so on stainless, as they are not very sharp. I purchased some polished inserts for SS and aluminum but have not tested them yet.

I typically run dry as well, except with aluminum, where I like a spritz of wd-40 from time to time. After running a combination of coated and un-coated tooling for a while I have started leaning towards coated tools for steel, and un-coated for aluminum.
 
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I use plenty of cutting oil with HSS but run all my carbide stuff dry and aggressive. Makes a great finish but the blue chips are HOT!
 
Mostly dry here as well. Only time I lube is tapping and sometimes deep drilling over 3-4x dia. Mostly use carbide inserts. In a home shop enviro its so much nicer not dealing with the associated mess. Getting pretty good at holding the shop vac hose at the cutter when milling. Catches 80% of the chips. Sure keeps you awake when the plastic hose end inadvertently touches the cutter!!! . On the lathe if using HSS then I'll go easy and if It happens to smoke the cutter a little regrinding isnt too hard. I try not to let it get that far tho.
At work in production and especially cnc then coolant all the way.
 
At home I tend to do the dry cutting for all the same reasons everyone else has shared. IMHO unless you are pushing your machining envelope to the max coolant is not needed, since we in the home shop is limited in the envelope either by the horsepower or surface speed due the machines were using. At the day job where getting the max production out of expensive CNC lathes is a whole different case.
 
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