The Production Process of CNC Carbide Inserts

CNC carbide inserts are one of the most commonly products manufactured by tungsten carbide. It is the most widely used tools in metal cutting at present. High performance products require high quality raw materials and advanced production processes. The production process of indexable CNC carbide inserts mainly includes: powder production, blank pressing, sintering process, grinding and coating. Union Hardmetal will give you a brief introduction to the production process of carbide CNC inserts.

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The carbide such as WC, (Ti,W)C, (Ta,Nb)C and binder Co powder were mixed according to the formula, and the cemented carbide mixture was formed by ball milling. The powder is used for the subsequent pressing of hard alloy insert blanks.

Stamping dies are designed according to the CNC carbide insert structure. The stamping die is usually composed of die body, punch, ejector and core pin. The carbide mixture is pressed into green through the mold cavity by pressing machine (Dorst press, etc.). The pressure of the press can reach 20-50 tons.

Place the green billets in a graphite boat and sintered by hot isostatic pressing in the sintering furnace. The Co phase melts and plays the role of bonding carbide. At the same time, the pressed billet shrinks were changed into the designed size according to the shrinkage coefficient.

The diamond wheel is used to grind the blank of CNC inserts to get the precision. The grinding process of CNC inserts usually include double end grinding, peripheral grinding, free grinding, forming grinding and chamfering or negative chamfering grinding.

In order to improve the wear resistance, heat resistance of the inserts and prolong its service life, coating treatment is very important. The coatings are mainly composed of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and physical vapor deposition (PVD). The coating substance of CVD vapor deposition is TiC, which improves the durability of carbide tool by 1-3 times. Thick coating, blunt edge, to improve the speed life. PVD physical vapor deposition coating material for TiN, TiAlN and Ti(C,N), the carbide tool durability increased by 2-10 times, thin coating, sharp edge, conducive to reducing cutting force.

CVD coating thickness is thicker, higher wear resistance, better heat resistance; PVD coating is thinner, the cutting edge is sharper, and the toughness is higher.