cutting tool radius ??

[JerrySharrett]

My problem with the dial indicator is that I use carbide and I get a much better surface finish when I speed up the RPM a bit. I'm going to try that magic marker trick, I can see how that could be easier to use rather than watching a rapidly spinning indicator. Thanks for the tip JerryS!

My other thought was the automatic kickoff after just reading about them in the last week (here).

I just got an email back from Richard Franklin. He no longer makes the auto-kickout gizzy.

 

[michaelb]

Hal, and Jerry or Jackie feel free to jump in.

The 431 nose will give a very smooth finish both in 4140 and stainless. On parts where we have a stated finish and it must be a good one, we use a 432 wiper either a w-3 or w-2. The wiper inserts work very well and we use wipers in TNMG, VNMG, CNMG and DNMG. Mainly Sandvik and Valenite.

As Jerry was talking about BUE, much of that condition can be avoided with coatings, especially the TiAlN coat for machining high temp stainless alloys. We have success with Al oxide coated inserts, they work longer than the TiN (gold coated) insert with no visible BUE with the naked eye. In my experience, I have had the most trouble with BUE in T6 aluminum. I can't comment much on tool steel, last time I used it was about three years ago when I had to grind a tool for the boring mill.

Mike