The day I swapped my HSS end mills for carbide on a stainless job

Last month I was struggling with a 304 stainless part at the shop near Marietta, burning through HSS tools every 20 minutes. A buddy told me to try carbide inserts instead, and I figured why not for $45 a piece. The difference was night and day - same feed rate but the carbide ran 3 full hours without a chip or chatter. Has anyone else found a material where switching tooling just clicked?

1 comments

1 Comment

robinj291d ago

Man, that's a solid upgrade. I had a similar lightbulb moment when I tried cobalt bits on some hardened steel brackets a few years back. It's crazy how the right tool can turn a frustrating job into something that just flows.