Improving the Quality of Ceramic and Cemented Carbide Cutting Inserts by Diamond Grinding

The machining of hardened steel and other difficult-to-cut materials require high quality and progressive cutting tools to meet the growing requirements for increasing productivity, improving tool life and quality of the cutting process. This study deals with an experimental investigation on the quality improvement by diamond grinding of ceramic and cemented carbide cutting inserts, comparing it with conventional batch produced types. It was found that under finish turning of hardened up to 61 HRC steel the ground cutting inserts improve the machined surface finish, reduce tool wear and breakage and subsequently extend the tool life.