What boring bar

[Tucker65]

There are so many different brands, styles, geometries, profiles, coatings, ect. with carbide inserts that it's just a matter of finding the one that works for your setup. With the small diameters we're turning working with gun barrels most manual lathes wouldn't even have the rpm capabilities to run at the recommended speeds that the carbide mfg suggests. That doesn't mean they won't work, but some definitely work better than others when the speeds are slower than recommended.

 

[LVLAaron]

And when they are running fast... you get a machine gun of hot blue noodles flying at your face and all over the place

 

[Tucker65]

And when they are running fast... you get a machine gun of hot blue noodles flying at your face and all over the place

It's all about chip control. At least that's what the old timer told me I learned from 20+ years ago.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

It's all about chip control. At least that's what the old timer told me I learned from 20+ years ago.

Run a cnc in high production and you learn the art of chip control real quick. Building fixtures makes you learn that. Im a chipbreaker type guy. Ill grind one on any tool i use

 

[dnellans]

Except for the boring bar, all inserts I use are for aluminum from WNMG, DCGT, VCGT, CCGT, TNMG and 16ER AG60. I can afford to sacrifice longevity at the price point.

When I acquired my machines in 2015 while @butchlambert was coaching me how to chamber I was also experimenting with different inserts with different coatings, spent a few bucks buying big name brand stuff till I settled on inserts for aluminum and never looked back.

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Bamban sold me on these same inserts so a big +1 from me.

I still have a supply of coated ones I use for roughing projects in, but pretty much anything gun related I use the uncoated.

The only complaint I’ve got on em is that they don’t break chips as well as other
inserts. Small price to pay for being able to take a reliable pass at a thou when needed however.