"Mark Main" wrote in message
oups.com...
Coolant through the tool is a prominent feature of CNC machines. Since
you do not know about that, chances are pretty good that they amount to a
feature you do not need to spend money on.

Thanks, my cutoff work will be manual for quite awhile I think; I just
want to ask while I try and figure out what tools to buy.


Chances are you're over-thinking this issue. While you _can_ talk to an
insert retailer, you should be aware that these guys are used to selling
dozens of inserts to companies that get paid to cut metal. Someone who will
go through a box of inserts every couple of years isn't exactly worth their
time, typically. This is not to say that you won't find someone willing to
help, just don't be surprised if you don't get top notch service. Remember
to have the specifications of your machine, the type of material you've
going to be cutting, and the size available when you call. If you don't
sound like you know what you're talking about, you'll get bad service.

I would recommend, once you find the insert geometry that meets your needs,
looking at an industrial tool distributor like MSC or McMaster-Carr and buy
the inserts out of the catalogue, along with the holder. You can find some
very good value-brand holders which should do an excellent job if you're
just running them manually, and they're not very expensive. You'll have
trouble justifying the (significant) extra expensive of buying the latest
and greatest indexable tools when you're using a manual machine and not
being paid for your work.

BTW, if you are being paid for your work and you do need very productive
(and expensive) tooling, head over to alt.machines.cnc. You should get lots
of good suggestions on who and what to go with.

Regards,

Robin