To put things in perspective, I am definitely not a trained machinist. I have a SB Heavy 10 and a BP mill that I use to make the things I need.
Routinely I read about not using inserts with these machines while others say they are ok. In addition, I have read about the difficulties with parting. When I have done parting with traditional tooling, I have had to feed a little harder than I am comfortable with so that it does not screech.
A while ago, I decided what the the heck and I bought some cheap insert tools. They have worked wonderfully on steel, ss, and Al. The parting tool I got was MGEHR1616-2 for $13 delivered and that included 10 MGMN200 inserts. I am able to part very slowly if I so desire and it works well dry or with cutting oil. I can not imagine going back to traditional HSS parting blades for most things I do.
I have also used SCLCR tool holders with CCMT09T308-PM YBC251 and CCGT09T304-AK H01 inserts which worked really well for me as have traditional HSS tools. At $0.50 per cutting edge, it is usually not worth it to me to grind HSS. It is also nice that the cutting heights are always constant.
So far, on the Bridgeport, the only inserts I have used were some old discontinued roughing cutters that are very good at taking the shock load of heavy (for my BP) interrupted surfacing cuts on steel. I have a used helimill to try when I think of it but I do have lots of traditional mill bits so I am not in any rush.
I just thought I would mention it in case other neophytes like me are looking for some easy tooling to use. It is also a way of giving back for all of the helpful advice I have gotten from posts and people here. I am not implying that these are the best cutters to use. Watching a real machinist make machines and tooling do what he needs them to do is always a joy.
Ken
Routinely I read about not using inserts with these machines while others say they are ok. In addition, I have read about the difficulties with parting. When I have done parting with traditional tooling, I have had to feed a little harder than I am comfortable with so that it does not screech.
A while ago, I decided what the the heck and I bought some cheap insert tools. They have worked wonderfully on steel, ss, and Al. The parting tool I got was MGEHR1616-2 for $13 delivered and that included 10 MGMN200 inserts. I am able to part very slowly if I so desire and it works well dry or with cutting oil. I can not imagine going back to traditional HSS parting blades for most things I do.
I have also used SCLCR tool holders with CCMT09T308-PM YBC251 and CCGT09T304-AK H01 inserts which worked really well for me as have traditional HSS tools. At $0.50 per cutting edge, it is usually not worth it to me to grind HSS. It is also nice that the cutting heights are always constant.
So far, on the Bridgeport, the only inserts I have used were some old discontinued roughing cutters that are very good at taking the shock load of heavy (for my BP) interrupted surfacing cuts on steel. I have a used helimill to try when I think of it but I do have lots of traditional mill bits so I am not in any rush.
I just thought I would mention it in case other neophytes like me are looking for some easy tooling to use. It is also a way of giving back for all of the helpful advice I have gotten from posts and people here. I am not implying that these are the best cutters to use. Watching a real machinist make machines and tooling do what he needs them to do is always a joy.
Ken