HSS, carbide and ceramics resist wear at different speeds.
HSS (tough), cemented carbide (WC-Co, most common), coated carbide (TiN, TiAlN), ceramics (Al₂O₃, Si₃N₄), CBN and PCD offer rising hardness and speed capability but decreasing toughness. Choose by workpiece, interruptions and cost per part.
Coated carbide inserts machine steel at 200 m/min.
Cutting tool materials determine how fast and how long a tool can cut, so choosing the right material raises productivity.
HSS, carbide and ceramics resist wear at different speeds.
Cutting tool materials determine how fast and how long a tool can cut, so choosing the right material raises productivity.
A tool steel that keeps its hardness at higher temperature than carbon steel, which suits drills and small cutters.
Carbide keeps its hardness at high temperature and cuts faster than high speed steel, which increases productivity.
Typical applications include choosing carbide inserts for high-speed machining of steel, using high speed steel drills for small batch work in a workshop and selecting a ceramic tool for finishing a hard alloy at high speed.
Study "Grinding and finishing" first (topic 21 of 102 in Manufacturing, Robotics & Systems). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
Hot hardness. Coating layers. Insert geometry.
Coated carbide inserts machine steel at 200 m/min.
The next topic is "Tool life and Taylor equation", which builds directly on this one.
It is classed as Beginner in Manufacturing, Robotics & Systems (topic 22 of 102). It is an entry-level topic. It relies only on basic school mathematics and the ideas introduced earlier in this discipline.
Want to practise? Open the interactive course for quick checks, quizzes, simulations and progress tracking.