"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2009-01-10, rodjava wrote:
I'm wondering when you would use round carbide inserts like this?

BTW, I am a HSM and not in production.

Simpler to deal with the auction number alone instead of trying
to cut and paste a three-line folded URL. :-)

Ebay item #180318066261

*If* you have a *big* and *rigid* enough machine (note that the
holder's shank is 1" square, and my 12x24" Clausing has a maximum of
5/8" square with the proper sized Aloris style quick-change toolpost and
holders), it can produce a finer finish with a coarser feed.

Or -- it can produce a nicely rounded fillet when turning up to
a shoulder to minimize stress risers which would appear from a square
shoulder.

At least that is how *I* would use them.

They're industrial cutters for high-volume work where tooling cost is an
issue. They're cheap because they can be re-indexed. As some have said,
they're used mostly for hogging.

But the shape lends itself to finish work, to, so you'll see some production
applications where they're used for both, in multi-pass operations with a
single cutter.

It's less common today than it was ten or twenty years ago to see
applications where the extra tool "edges" pay off over having dedicated
shapes for roughing and finishing. When I was reporting on wiper-type
inserts a few years back I often saw the wipers being used to replace round
inserts.

--
Ed Huntress