Cutting tool
Encyclopedia
In the context of machining
Machining
Conventional machining is a form of subtractive manufacturing, in which a collection of material-working processes utilizing power-driven machine tools, such as saws, lathes, milling machines, and drill presses, are used with a sharp cutting tool to physical remove material to achieve a desired...

, a cutting tool (or cutter) is any tool that is used to remove material from the workpiece by means of shear deformation. Cutting may be accomplished by single-point or multipoint tools. Single-point tools are used in turning, shaping, plaining and similar operations, and remove material by means of one cutting edge. Milling and drilling tools are often multipoint tools. Grinding tools are also multipoint tools. Each grain of abrasive functions as a microscopic single-point cutting edge (although of high negative rake angle
Rake angle
Rake angle is a parameter used in various cutting and machining processes, describing the angle of the cutting face relative to the work. There are three types of rake angles: positive, negative, and zero...

), and shears a tiny chip.

Cutting tools must be made of a material harder than the material which is to be cut, and the tool must be able to withstand the heat generated in the metal-cutting process. Also, the tool must have a specific geometry, with clearance angles designed so that the cutting edge can contact the workpiece without the rest of the tool dragging on the workpiece surface. The angle of the cutting face is also important, as is the flute width, number of flutes or teeth, and margin size. In order to have a long working life, all of the above must be optimized, plus the speeds and feeds at which the tool is run.

Types

Linear cutting tools include tool bit
Tool bit
The term tool bit generally refers to a non-rotary cutting tool used in metal lathes, shapers, and planers. Such cutters are also often referred to by the set-phrase name of single-point cutting tool. The cutting edge is ground to suit a particular machining operation and may be resharpened or...

s (single-point cutting tools) and broaches. Rotary cutting tools include drill bit
Drill bit
Drill bits are cutting tools used to create cylindrical holes. Bits are held in a tool called a drill, which rotates them and provides torque and axial force to create the hole. Specialized bits are also available for non-cylindrical-shaped holes....

s, countersink
Countersink
A countersink is a conical hole cut into a manufactured object, or the cutter used to cut such a hole. A common usage is to allow the head of a countersunk bolt or screw, when placed in the hole, to sit flush with or below the surface of the surrounding material...

s and counterbore
Counterbore
A counterbore can refer to a cylindrical flat-bottomed hole, which enlarges another hole, or the tool used to create that feature. A spot face is a very shallow counterbore...

s, taps and dies, milling cutter
Milling cutter
Milling cutters are cutting tools typically used in milling machines or machining centres . They remove material by their movement within the machine or directly from the cutter's shape .-Features of a milling cutter:Milling cutters come in several shapes and many sizes...

s, and reamer
Reamer
A reamer is a metalworking tool used to create an accurate sized hole. The process is called reaming. They may be used as a hand tool or in a machine tool, such as a milling machine or drill press.-Construction:...

s. Other cutting tools, such as bandsaw blades and fly cutters, combine aspects of linear and rotary motion. Also hack saws and Bench saws.

Cutting tools with inserts (indexable tools)

Cutting tools are often designed with inserts or replaceable tips (tipped tool
Tipped tool
A tipped tool generally refers to any cutting tool where the cutting edge consists of a separate piece of material, either brazed, welded or clamped on to a separate body. Common materials for tips include tungsten carbide, polycrystalline diamond, and cubic boron nitride...

s). In these, the cutting edge consists of a separate piece of material, either brazed, welded or clamped on to the tool body. Common materials for tips include tungsten carbide, polycrystalline diamond, and cubic boron nitride. Tools using inserts include milling cutters (endmills, fly cutters), tool bits, and saw blades.

Solid cutting tools

The typical tool for milling and drilling has no changeable insert. The cutting edge and the shank is one unit and built of the same material. Small tools cannot be designed with exchangeable inserts.

Holder

To use a cutting tool within a CNC machine there is a basic holder required to mount it on the machines spindle or turret.

Tool setup

The detailed instruction how to combine the tool assembly out of basic holder, tool and insert can be stored in a tool management
Tool management
Tool management is needed in the metalworking so that the information regarding the tools on hand, can be uniformly organized and integrated in the manufacturing environment and process flow. The information is stored in a database and is registered and applied using the tool management software...

 solution.

Materials

To produce quality p, a cutting tool must have three characteristics:
  • Hardness — hardness and strength at high temperatures.
  • Toughness
    Toughness
    In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing; Material toughness is defined as the amount of energy per volume that a material can absorb before rupturing...

     — toughness, so that tools don’t chip or fracture.
  • Wear
    Wear
    In materials science, wear is erosion or sideways displacement of material from its "derivative" and original position on a solid surface performed by the action of another surface....

     resistance — having acceptable tool life before needing to be replaced.


Cutting tool materials can be divided into two main categories: stable and unstable.

Unstable materials (usually steels) are substances that start at a relatively low hardness point and are then heat treated to promote the growth of hard particles (usually carbides) inside the original matrix, which increases the overall hardness of the material at the expense of some its original toughness. Since heat is the mechanism to alter the structure of the substance and at the same time the cutting action produces a lot of heat, such substances are inherently unstable under machining conditions.

Stable materials (usually tungsten carbide) are substances that remain relatively stable under the heat produced by most machining conditions, as they don't attain their hardness through heat. They wear down due to abrasion, but generally don't change their properties much during use.

Most stable materials are hard enough to break before flexing, which makes them very fragile. To avoid chipping at the cutting edge, most tools made of such materials are finished with a sightly blunt edge, which results in higher cutting forces due to an increased shear area. Fragility combined with high cutting forces results in most stable materials being unsuitable for use in anything but large, heavy and stiff machinery.

Unstable materials, being generally softer and thus tougher, generally can stand a bit of flexing without breaking, which makes them much more suitable for unfavorable machining conditions, such as those encountered in hand tools and light machinery.
Tool material Properties
Carbon steel Unstable. Very inexpensive. Extremely sensitive to heat. Considered obsolete today although it is still found in non-intensive applications such as hand operated tools (e.g. reamers and taps). Hardness up to about HRC 65. Sharp cutting edges possible.
High speed steel
High speed steel
High speed steelMost copyeditors today would tend to choose to style the unit adjective high-speed with a hyphen, rendering the full term as high-speed steel, and this styling is not uncommon . However, it is true that in the metalworking industries the styling high speed steel is long-established...

 (HSS)
Unstable. Inexpensive. Retains hardness at moderate temperatures. The most common cutting tool material used today. Used extensively on drill bits and taps. Hardness up to about HRC 67. Sharp cutting edges possible.
HSS cobalt Unstable. Moderately expensive. The high cobalt versions of high speed steel are very resistant to heat and thus excellent for machining abrasive and/or work hardening materials such as titanium and stainless steel. Used extensively on milling cutters and drill bits. Hardness up to about HRC 70. Sharp cutting edges possible.
Cast cobalt alloys Stable. Expensive. Somewhat fragile. Despite its stability it doesn't allow for high machining speed due to low hardness. Not used much. Hardness up to about HRC 65. Sharp cutting edges possible.
Cemented carbide
Cemented carbide
Cemented carbide, also called tungsten carbide, hardmetal, or widia, is a hard material used in machining tough materials such as carbon steel or stainless steel, as well as in situations where other tools would wear away, such as high-quantity production runs. Most of the time, carbide will leave...

Stable. Moderately expensive. The most common material used in the industry today. It is offered in several "grades" containing different proportions of tungsten carbide and binder (usually cobalt). High resistance to abrasion. High solubility in iron requires the additions of tantalum carbide
Tantalum carbide
Tantalum carbides form a family of binary chemical compounds of tantalum and carbon with the empirical formula TaCx, where x usually varies between 0.4 and 1. They are extremely hard, brittle, refractory ceramic materials with metallic electrical conductivity. They appear as brown-gray powders...

 and niobium carbide
Niobium carbide
Niobium carbide is an extremely hard refractory ceramic material, commercially used in tool bits for cutting tools. It is usually processed by sintering and is a frequent additive in cemented carbides. It has the appearance of a brown-gray metallic powder with purple lustre...

 for steel usage. Its main use is in turning tool bits although it is very common in milling cutters and saw blades. Hardness up to about HRC 90. Sharp edges generally not recommended.
Ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

s
Stable. Moderately inexpensive. Chemically inert and extremely resistant to heat, ceramics are usually desirable in high speed applications, the only drawback being their high fragility. Ceramics are considered unpredictable under unfavorable conditions. The most common ceramic materials are based on alumina (aluminium oxide), silicon nitride and silicon carbide. Used almost exclusively on turning tool bits. Hardness up to about HRC 93. Sharp cutting edges and positive rake angles are to be avoided.
Cermet
Cermet
A cermet is a composite material composed of ceramic and metallic materials. A cermet is ideally designed to have the optimal properties of both a ceramic, such as high temperature resistance and hardness, and those of a metal, such as the ability to undergo plastic deformation. The metal is used...

s
Stable. Moderately expensive. Another cemented material based on titanium carbide (TiC). Binder is usually nickel. It provides higher abrasion resistance compared to tungsten carbide at the expense of some toughness. It is far more chemically inert than it too. Extremely high resistance to abrasion. Used primarily on turning tool bits although research is being carried on producing other cutting tools. Hardness up to about HRC 93. Sharp edges generally not recommended.
Cubic boron nitride (CBN) Stable. Expensive. Being the second hardest substance known, it is also the second most fragile. It offers extremely high resistance to abrasion at the expense of much toughness. It is generally used in a machining process called "hard machining", which involves running the tool or the part fast enough to melt it before it touches the edge, softening it considerably. Used almost exclusively on turning tool bits. Hardness higher than HRC 95. Sharp edges generally not recommended.
Diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

Stable. Very Expensive. The hardest substance known to date. Superior resistance to abrasion but also high chemical affinity to iron which results in being unsuitable for steel machining. It is used where abrasive materials would wear anything else. Extremely fragile. Used almost exclusively on turning tool bits although it can be used as a coating on many kinds of tools. Sharp edges generally not recommended.
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