Thread: TCT Inserts

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

They should be starting to turn up in your mail by now, I've had the first reported sighting from SA already.

I received a package as well
now what are they for

PS Thanks Cliff

Arrived today; many thanks Cliff.

Hi everyone,

As previously mentioned, I was one of the people to got some of these 15mm inserts from Cliff, and I notice the small radius but also the fact that the very "tip" corners of the cutting edges are not sharped, while the rest is, and very...! I haven't yet put this 15mm tip into its passes, even tough the tool end id finished, I just haven't had the chance. Well, my question is, how much interference with clean cutting, these "blunt" corner tips, will make? or does actually improve the cutting and timber finish capabilities? Off-course, I will have all these questions answered, when I test the insert, but I was just wondering if any of the fellows that got these inserts have notice it and already used them and are able to give their opinion on the matter!

There's a tiny amount of rounding over on mine on the vertical of the corner but the top at that point feels just as sharp as the rest.

Mine also arrived safely. Many thanks Cliff.

I attempted to mount an insert on some of my existing 'tip' tools, but none of them are going to do the job. So the inserts are going to have have to wait until I can find something that will hold them properly before I can test run them.

Awaiting with great interest to read how others go.

Neil

Cliff,
The tips made short work of this fugly piece of very dry SO. Managed to stall the lathe a few times though. First time for the GPW chuck I bought from Jim Carroll at the T&WWW show, gripped like a pit bull and didn't let go

Originally Posted by NeilS

Mine also arrived safely. Many thanks Cliff.

I attempted to mount an insert on some of my existing 'tip' tools, but none of them are going to do the job. So the inserts are going to have have to wait until I can find something that will hold them properly before I can test run them.

Awaiting with great interest to read how others go.

Neil

I Neil,

Well, why don't you ring that steel supply fellow that Frank provide previously here, and get a 12 or 13mm stainless or not steel bar, about 1 foot long?

Just a thought...!

Cheers
RBTCO

Originally Posted by Grumpy John

Cliff,
The tips made short work of this fugly piece of very dry SO. Managed to stall the lathe a few times though. First time for the GPW chuck I bought from Jim Carroll at the T&WWW show, gripped like a pit bull and didn't let go

You sure that's Silky Oak , looks more like a Cedar to me

Maybe a good way to go with getting a holder is to buy a metal working tip tool holder and weld a handle on to it? If there is an insert then there is a holder for it.

Regarding sharpness with carbide think of it as a controlled collision. It's not like cutting with steel. The tip and the material come in contact and the weaker/softer material is deformed and removed. They aren't really that sharp at all as it's likely that if they were really sharp the edge would be chipped and broken off by the cutting process.

Studley

Originally Posted by robutacion

Neil, Well, why don't you ring that steel supply fellow that Frank provide previously here, and get a 12 or 13mm stainless or not steel bar, about 1 foot long?

Originally Posted by Studley 2436

Maybe a good way to go with getting a holder is to buy a metal working tip tool holder and weld a handle on to it? If there is an insert then there is a holder for it.

Hi Studley and George - both good suggestions, thanks.

The painful truth is I'm much more comfortable with wood than metal. My welding is obscene and my general metal working skills are not much better, so I put off anything to do with metal work for as long as possible knowing how much trauma awaits me.

When the need exceeds the dread I'll probably have a go.

Neil

Originally Posted by NeilS

Hi Studley and George - both good suggestions, thanks.

The painful truth is I'm much more comfortable with wood than metal. My welding is obscene and my general metal working skills are not much better, so I put off anything to do with metal work for as long as possible knowing how much trauma awaits me.

When the need exceeds the dread I'll probably have a go.

Neil

Neil, fair enough...!

Studley 2436, I think that you're are thinking too much with your "steel world" in mind. There are major differences in the carbide tools made for both applications, from the inserts (sharpening, shape, size) to holders, handles, etc. etc.
What you saying is quite correct for steel work, but not so correct for timber work. Unless is impurities/defect on the wood cutting insert, no wood I know would "chip" a carbide cutting edge. Screws, nails, wire and/or stones embedded in the timber, is another thing all together. Carbide/tungsten tipped cutting edges, just do not chip with timber alone! Sharpness in those tips is very important, I've seen very sharp carbide tipped blade cutting a good size nail, without damaging the cutting edge, while the same carbide tipped blade was totally destroyed when trying to go through the same size nail, after the cutting edge was blunt!

This is obviously a general rule, and exception are always to be accounted for, as the compositions of metals are changing and improving all the time. There are already certain metal compositions capable of cutting through metal or timber without a sweat or any damage, those are very expensive and not yet readily available to the "Jo blow", but one day they will...!

No sharpening...? bugger, taking all the fun out of cutting tools...!

Cheers
RBTCO

It's because Carbide is brittle that it doesn't cope that well with being sharpened to to a really sharp edge. It will be the same in wood as steel just that you have to cut at higher speeds to get it to fail than you do in steel.

I can't say much about wood compared to steel but while it is softer it might be more abrasive than steel is. Nobody has really done much work on this.

When I say chip I am talking of the damage that happens to a carbide tip when it is cutting. Should speeds and feeds be too high the tip can be damaged. It may not be possible to see this easily with your eye. It is due to heat build up in the tool. Thermal shocks can cause chipping on the flank and overload cratering to the top. Going too slow you get plastic deformation, basically the tool has it's flank rubbed off. In wood I doubt you would see much plastic deformation but who's to know.

Studley

Good call Studley.