How to choose the right cutting tools for CNC lathes

With the continuous development of the machinery manufacturing industry, and with the gradual increase of the price of raw materials, the manufacturers have gradually increased the quality and efficiency requirements of the products. Therefore, CNC machine tools are becoming more and more popular. CNC machine tools can cut workpieces at high speed, and CNC machine tools are used once. The clamping and editing process can be repeated, saving man-hours, roughing, finishing without the need to change the machine tool, and directly processing. Although CNC machine tools can efficiently process workpieces, it is necessary to have suitable tool materials. If the tool materials cannot be cut at high speed, the efficiency can not be improved, so tool materials are also one of the necessary conditions for efficient machining of workpieces. CNC machine tools include CNC lathes, CNC milling machines, etc. This paper mainly introduces how to select tool materials when machining CNC workpieces.

First,  What are the requirements for tool materials when machining workpieces with CNC lathes?

1. The requirements of the tool material:

(1) High hardness, good rigidity, good shock resistance；

(2) Good stability and reliability;

(3)Good wear resistance and impact toughness;

(4) Tool size is easy to adjust, long tool life, reduce tool change time;

(5) The tool should be able to break chips to facilitate chip removal.    

2. Selection of tool materials:

(1) High-speed steel tools: mainly used for drill bits, such as twist drills;

(2)Traditional carbide tools: for machining workpieces in the field of ferrous metals, suitable for workpieces with hardness below HRC45, line speed Up to 350m/min;

(3) Ceramic tool: suitable for machining workpieces in the ferrous metal field, suitable for machining workpieces with hardness between HRC45-55;

(4) CBN inserts: suitable for machining workpieces in the ferrous metal field, Suitable for machining workpieces with hardness above HRC45;

(5) Diamond tools: suitable for processing metal materials such as aluminum and copper.3, From the cutting process can be divided into: turning outer circle, turning end face, machining inner hole, thread, turning slot. Second, the steps of selecting the cutting tools and the turning tool when machining the workpiece on the CNC lathe

1. The user used the machine clamp before:

Workpiece material (determine which tool material is used) - Hardness - Machining part (end or outer circle, inner hole) - Process (finishing or roughing) - Select the cutting tool type.

2，The user used a non-machine clamp before:First of all, it is necessary to determine the angle of the CNC tool, the tool edge and the positive to select the tool type.

3，According to the selected CNC tool holer with CNC cutting tools According to the material of the workpiece, the tool material is selected: for the workpiece in the ferrous metal field, the three tools of the carbide tool, the ceramic tool and the CBN inserts are selected to process the workpiece. It depends on other conditions of the workpiece, such as hardness, processing steps and other factors.For example, gray cast iron is a commonly-processed part of CNC lathes. Carbide tools and CBN inserts are tool materials for processing gray cast iron parts, but carbide tools cannot be cut at high speed, for mass production and requirements for efficiency. Manufacturers will choose Halnn CBN inserts BN-S30 grade processing gray cast iron parts, not only cutting parameters are higher than carbide tools, but the efficiency is 3-5 times that of carbide tools. 



Not only gray cast iron, but with the rising price of raw materials, and the continuous emergence of difficult-to-machine materials, in order to obtain good benefits, only the processing technology and efficiency can be changed, and the tool is also the main reason for the efficiency. With the continuous development of the tool industry, the emergence of high-performance tools – CBN inserts, the efficiency has been significantly improved, and the quality of the workpiece is also very good. For example, Halnn CBN inserts BN-K1 grade roughing high hardness cast iron roll, the efficiency is 6 times that of ceramic tools, and when finishing cast iron roll, the roll surface finish can reach Ra0.8.