How to Efficiently Use Polycrystalline Cubic Boron Nitride Cutting Tools?

The PCBN will be an effective cutting tool with a long life and bring much economic profits if being selected in an appropriate way concerning cutting parameter, geometry parameter and other processing conditions. However, if being used inappropriately it can cause lots of waste. Therefore, to correct use PCBN cutting tools is very important for company to reduce product processing costs.

1. Proper selection of cutting parameters: cutting speed should be chosen according to the processed materials, general faster than that of cemented carbide cutting tools. Because PCBN cutting material functions by softening metals of the cutting zone, it can't perform well if the cutting speed is too low.Usually, the feeding volume should not exceed 0.2 mm/r, back engagement of the cutting edges.

2. Reasonable selection of tool geometric parameters: the toughness of PCBN cutting tool is higher than that of ceramic, lower than that of the carbide, so the most important factor we should consider is to ensure its blade intensity, generally with front angle 0 °~ 10 °and back angle 10 °. In addition to these special requirements, tool angle generally should not be less than 90 °in order to keep its blade intensity.

3. Cooling and Lubrication System: for cutting tools made of other materials, cooling lubricant liquids can improve machining surface and prolong the life of cutters. But for PCBN cutting tools, apart from some special circumstances, it may also achieve the ideal processing quality and longer tool life without any coolant. If necessary, water-miscible coolant should be avoided for CBN easy hydrolyzes under 1000 ℃ and causes severe wear to the tools.

Process system for machining tools: PCBN cutting tools are mostly used for the machining of such materials hard to process as quenched steel and wear resistant cast iron, and show negative chamfer, so its radial force is very large, which requires a better stiffness and accuracy, low system vibration, and a small cantilever of the tools. Besides, PCBN cutting tools are suitable for the processing of complicated surfaces.

At present, although the price of PCBN cutting tool materials is relative higher than that of cemented carbide and ceramics, its average cost is much lower for its high efficiency. For generally small and medium-sized enterprises, grinding of super finishing has always been the bottleneck of the manufacturing process. If purchasing lathes of good performance, using PCBN cutting tools and advanced machining technology, it can not only greatly save equipment investment and promote productivity, but also improve the flexibility in the machining process. Besides, due to the increase of personnel expenses and the requirements of environmental protection, promoting PCBN cutting tool in a wide range gives full play to its potential effectiveness and is of significant importance.