The discussion that Harold and Jon had in the recent thread on HSS vs.
Carbide has prompted me to ask, "What is the best performing milling insert
to use on smaller milling machines?"

My vote has been for the Sandvik R390 insert family. As I have milling
insert cutters from 1/2" to 3", and a ton of inserts in grades for AL and
steel, I'm unlikely to change. I've found my old beat up Bridgeport 1J
can't handle them. But, they work wonders on my Excello. Its a taper 40 knee
mill machine with a 2J style milling head.

Karl

Karl Townsend wrote:
The discussion that Harold and Jon had in the recent thread on HSS vs.
Carbide has prompted me to ask, "What is the best performing milling insert
to use on smaller milling machines?"

My vote has been for the Sandvik R390 insert family. As I have milling
insert cutters from 1/2" to 3", and a ton of inserts in grades for AL and
steel, I'm unlikely to change. I've found my old beat up Bridgeport 1J
can't handle them. But, they work wonders on my Excello. Its a taper 40 knee
mill machine with a 2J style milling head.

Well, there may be a problem with the Bridgeport's bearings or something
like that. If you already have the inserts, then it doesn't matter, but
I look at the cost of the inserts, especially proprietary inserts, with
caution. The arbors, shell mills, etc. are a one-time cost, but some of
these fancy, twisted inserts are $11 a piece, and you may only get two
edges from each insert. If you have an indexable mill that takes a
standard insert, like a triangular or square one, then you may be able
to grab a box of commodity inserts for around $1 each, on eBay or a tool
distributor's sale flyer. I just got 50 triangular coated inserts for
my turning holder set for about $1.25 each. I have enough inserts for
my insert mill for a while, but when I get low, I'll have to see what
I can turn up. Chewing up $11 inserts everytime I goof or run it hard
would give me indigestion.

I get the flyers from Sandvik and others, and they have glowing
testimonials for some of their exotic tooling. Some of that stuff
apparently saves big shops enourmous amopunts of time in really
severe milling and turning jobs that I'm not likely to encounter.
But, the fancy arbors, etc. run to several hundred $ each, WAY out
of my price range.

Jon

....
distributor's sale flyer. I just got 50 triangular coated inserts for
my turning holder set for about $1.25 each. I have enough inserts for
my insert mill for a while, but when I get low, I'll have to see what
I can turn up. Chewing up $11 inserts everytime I goof or run it hard
would give me indigestion.

I get the flyers from Sandvik and others, and they have glowing
testimonials for some of their exotic tooling. Some of that stuff
apparently saves big shops enourmous amopunts of time in really
severe milling and turning jobs that I'm not likely to encounter.
But, the fancy arbors, etc. run to several hundred $ each, WAY out
of my price range.

By shopping Ebay, and one really unbelievable sale to my son's company, I
haven't had to pay the crazy retail list price. AL inserts run about $4 and
steel $6 on Ebay. And you get what you pay for, I can't stand TPG anymore.
Its like going back to HSS after getting used to carbide.

Karl

"Karl Townsend" remove .NOT to reply wrote
in message nk.net...
...
distributor's sale flyer. I just got 50 triangular coated inserts for
my turning holder set for about $1.25 each. I have enough inserts for
my insert mill for a while, but when I get low, I'll have to see what
I can turn up. Chewing up $11 inserts everytime I goof or run it hard
would give me indigestion.

I get the flyers from Sandvik and others, and they have glowing
testimonials for some of their exotic tooling. Some of that stuff
apparently saves big shops enourmous amopunts of time in really
severe milling and turning jobs that I'm not likely to encounter.
But, the fancy arbors, etc. run to several hundred $ each, WAY out
of my price range.

By shopping Ebay, and one really unbelievable sale to my son's company, I
haven't had to pay the crazy retail list price. AL inserts run about $4
and steel $6 on Ebay. And you get what you pay for, I can't stand TPG
anymore. Its like going back to HSS after getting used to carbide.

Karl

agree completely

xman

"Karl Townsend" remove .NOT to reply
wrote in ink.net:

The discussion that Harold and Jon had in the recent thread on HSS vs.
Carbide has prompted me to ask, "What is the best performing milling
insert to use on smaller milling machines?"

Iscar. I've used their insert mills on live tool lathe attachments and in
R8 spindles on knee mills. Here is a link to an R8 shank. I've only used
the straight shank ones though. I've spun down 1" shank mills to 1/2" and
5/8" to fit in the lathe milling attachment.

http://www.iscar.com/ecat/item.asp?G...=T&mapp=ML&cat
=3192760&lang=EN&search=Y

http://tinyurl.com/dj523

Just remember to take sane DOC's. It's better to run high RPM, high feed,
lighter DOC.


--

Dan

....
Iscar. I've used their insert mills on live tool lathe attachments and in
R8 spindles on knee mills. Here is a link to an R8 shank. I've only used
the straight shank ones though. I've spun down 1" shank mills to 1/2" and
5/8" to fit in the lathe milling attachment.
....

I took a moment and looked at these inserts. They look almost exactly like
the Sandvik R390. I'm sure they're just enough different so they won't fit
in the other company's toolholder.

Karl