Like I said this was a far from scientific comparison but essentially I just took some cuts on a scrap piece of 303 stainless with 2 different inserts at the same feed and DOC with the respective manufacturers recommended surface speed. The 2 competitors were:
Iscar CNGG 430 PP IC907
And
Seco CNMG 432 MF4 TM2000
Now I know the Iscar had a .004 Rad while the Ceco has a .031 rad and so should produce a better finish at a given feed but thought the iscar was good the Seco was Beautiful. What was most notable was at the same feed and DOC the load meter was about 1/3 lower using the Seco. This is their new TM2000 insert which you can get a free sample of from their web site. The seco doesn’t seem to have nearly the same sharp edge that the Iscar has. I wasn’t even close to pushing these inserts. For me finish quality is far more important than run time. I’ve told Curtis many times that cutting tools never wear out here. When it’s their time they die a sudden violent death. Usually into a vise or chuck jaw though that is getting fairly rare.
Lastly Curtis sent me some TMX CCGT boring bar inserts for Stainless and they too cut beautifully. A finish pass of .02DOC .003 Feed and 700SFM left a beautiful finish even though I was cutting with a ½ boring bar at nearly 7xD.
Some pictures and video here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nofalloff/LatheInsertTest
Iscar CNGG 430 PP IC907
And
Seco CNMG 432 MF4 TM2000
Now I know the Iscar had a .004 Rad while the Ceco has a .031 rad and so should produce a better finish at a given feed but thought the iscar was good the Seco was Beautiful. What was most notable was at the same feed and DOC the load meter was about 1/3 lower using the Seco. This is their new TM2000 insert which you can get a free sample of from their web site. The seco doesn’t seem to have nearly the same sharp edge that the Iscar has. I wasn’t even close to pushing these inserts. For me finish quality is far more important than run time. I’ve told Curtis many times that cutting tools never wear out here. When it’s their time they die a sudden violent death. Usually into a vise or chuck jaw though that is getting fairly rare.
Lastly Curtis sent me some TMX CCGT boring bar inserts for Stainless and they too cut beautifully. A finish pass of .02DOC .003 Feed and 700SFM left a beautiful finish even though I was cutting with a ½ boring bar at nearly 7xD.
Some pictures and video here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nofalloff/LatheInsertTest
