- Joined
- Feb 28, 2019
- Messages
- 515
I'm finally (highly likely) going to use insert tooling for lathe work. The driving factor is that I plan to add Tormach RapidTurn attachment for my 770M CNC mill.
So first off, this probably qualifies as a relatively small CNC lathe. That's OK for me, it may be fine for everything I ever want to CNC turn, if not I view it as a 3-5 year path to a more fully featured CNC lathe (small shop, small work, space and budget are limiting factors).
The holder size for this level of machine is 3/8 - and this will also work well with my South Bend 9a.
I know very little about inserts. From what I can gather, all of the holders I've looked at are for specific insert geometries (that have all sorts of goofy abbreviations).
The 3 different sets I'm looking at use:
CCMT2(1.5)
DCMT2(1.5)
TCMT2(1.5)
Square, Diamond and Triangle? looks like. and 1.5 must be size. After that actual inserts have all sorts of follow on designations for stuff like radius, coating, relief etc.
Is that basically correct?
Second, from a totally novice view - the pointy diamond ones look like they might be best for the small kind of work I do. Have better access for details and probably smaller radius?
What are the advantages / disadvantages to the different geometries?
I think where this is headed is that I should choose a geometry that is general and common that will allow me to use inserts for multiple applications, not just this case. Is this practical? I don't want to be buying different inserts for every tool if at all possible.
I also realize that there are more specialized shapes/inserts for things like grooving, threading, cutoff etc.
Looking for some basic intro information that is practically applicable for smaller scale home shop work. Don't really want to get into the weeds (yet) on all of the subtile variations for materials, coatings, carbide types etc. That will come later... (ha!)
Thanks.
So first off, this probably qualifies as a relatively small CNC lathe. That's OK for me, it may be fine for everything I ever want to CNC turn, if not I view it as a 3-5 year path to a more fully featured CNC lathe (small shop, small work, space and budget are limiting factors).
The holder size for this level of machine is 3/8 - and this will also work well with my South Bend 9a.
I know very little about inserts. From what I can gather, all of the holders I've looked at are for specific insert geometries (that have all sorts of goofy abbreviations).
The 3 different sets I'm looking at use:
CCMT2(1.5)
DCMT2(1.5)
TCMT2(1.5)
Square, Diamond and Triangle? looks like. and 1.5 must be size. After that actual inserts have all sorts of follow on designations for stuff like radius, coating, relief etc.
Is that basically correct?
Second, from a totally novice view - the pointy diamond ones look like they might be best for the small kind of work I do. Have better access for details and probably smaller radius?
What are the advantages / disadvantages to the different geometries?
I think where this is headed is that I should choose a geometry that is general and common that will allow me to use inserts for multiple applications, not just this case. Is this practical? I don't want to be buying different inserts for every tool if at all possible.
I also realize that there are more specialized shapes/inserts for things like grooving, threading, cutoff etc.
Looking for some basic intro information that is practically applicable for smaller scale home shop work. Don't really want to get into the weeds (yet) on all of the subtile variations for materials, coatings, carbide types etc. That will come later... (ha!)
Thanks.