Method of manufacturing a cutting tool and a cutting tool

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a cutting tool including the steps of: providing a cutting tool blank including a cutting edge, defined by a cross-sectional wedge angle (β). The wedge angle has a variation along the cutting edge, and material is removed from the cutting edge with a constant material removal rate per length unit of the edge, such as to form a corresponding variation of edge rounding along the cutting edge. The disclosure further relates to a cutting tool including the cutting edge defined by the cross-sectional wedge angle having a variation along the cutting edge and wherein the cutting edge has a corresponding variation of edge rounding along the cutting edge.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a cutting tool, comprising the steps of: providing a cutting tool blank comprising a cutting edge, defined by a cross-sectional wedge angle, wherein the wedge angle has a variation along the cutting edge; and removing material from the cutting edge, with a constant material removal rate per length unit of the edge to form a corresponding variation of edge rounding along the cutting edge.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein material is removed by wet blasting, dry blasting, brushing, electro discharge machining or laser processing.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the constant material removal rate is within the range of 100-600 μm.sup.2 per length unit of the edge per unit of time.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the corresponding variation of edge rounding has a radius within the range of 10-70 μm.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wedge angle is formed on the cutting tool blank by grinding a sintered body, or formed during molding of a cutting tool green body before sintering.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of applying a hard coating to the cutting tool blank after the step of removing material from the cutting edge.

7. A cutting tool comprising a cutting edge, wherein the cutting edge is defined by a cross-sectional wedge angle having a variation along the cutting edge and wherein the cutting edge has a corresponding variation of edge rounding along the cutting edge, made according to the method according to claim 1.

8. The cutting tool according to claim 7, wherein the cutting tool is a turning tool or a drilling tool, or a cutting insert for turning or drilling.

9. The cutting tool according to claim 7, wherein the wedge angle is within the range of 60 to 100 degrees along the cutting edge.

10. The cutting tool according to claim 7, wherein the variation of the wedge angle along the cutting edge is within the range of 5-35 degrees along the cutting edge.

11. The cutting tool according to claim 7, wherein the variation of the wedge angle is obtained by a variation of a clearance angle along the cutting edge.

12. The cutting tool according to claim 7, wherein the variation of the wedge angle is continuous along the cutting edge.

13. The cutting tool according to claim 7, wherein the cutting tool has a nose and a leading edge and/or a trailing edge and wherein the wedge angle is smaller at the nose than at the leading edge and/or the trailing edge, whereby the edge rounding has a smaller radius at the nose than at the leading edge and/or the trailing edge.

14. The cutting tool according to claim 13, wherein the wedge angle is gradually expanded from a tip of the nose towards the leading edge and/or the trailing edge, whereby the edge rounding radius is gradually increasing from the tip of the nose towards the leading edge and/or the trailing edge.

15. The cutting tool according to claim 7, wherein the cutting tool blank is a sintered cemented carbide body or a cubic boron nitride body.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows a cutting tool in top view, indicating a section II-II of the cutting edge.

(2) FIG. 2 shows the cutting edge of the cutting tool in section II-II.

(3) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the cutting tool, indicating a section II-II of the cutting edge.

(4) FIG. 4 shows a detail of the cutting edge of the cutting tool in section II-II, with the edge rounding.

(5) FIG. 5 shows measurements of the edge radius r.sub.β along the cutting edge of a reference cutting tool, and the corresponding wedge angle.

(6) FIG. 6 shows measurements of the edge radius r.sub.β along the cutting edge of a cutting tool (variant A) having a variation of the wedge angle, and the corresponding wedge angle.

(7) FIG. 7 shows measurements of the edge radius r.sub.β along the cutting edge of a cutting tool (variant B) having a variation of the wedge angle, and the corresponding wedge angle.

(8) FIG. 8 shows measurements of the edge radius r.sub.β along the cutting edge of a cutting tool (variant C) having a variation of the wedge angle, and the corresponding wedge angle.

(9) FIG. 9 shows examples of resulting edge radius r.sub.β depending on wedge angle β and material removal rate Q per unit edge length per unit of time.

DEFINITIONS

(10) Wedge angle β is defined as the angle between a rake surface and a flank surface in a cross-section of the cutting edge.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(11) In FIGS. 1 and 3 a cutting tool in the form of a cutting insert 1 is shown in a top view and a perspective view respectively. The cutting insert comprises a body 2 of a hard material, e.g. cemented carbide (WC) or cubic boron nitride. The cutting insert is provided with a rake face 3, facing the material to be machined during operation. The cutting insert further comprises one or more flank (or clearance) faces 4. In the example shown the cutting insert is an indexed cutting insert, having four indexable cutting positions, and thus four similar flank faces. In the interception between the rake and flank faces, a cutting edge 5 is defined, in this case continuously encircling the cutting insert. Depending on the orientation of the cutting insert during machining operation, different portions of the cutting edge define a leading edge, a trailing edge and a nose region. The leading edge 6 is the edge meeting the material to be machined. The trailing edge 7 may or may not be in contact with the material to be machined, depending on the configuration of the cutting insert and machining parameters. Between the leading edge and the trailing edge, a nose region 8 is defined, e.g. having a nose radius.

(12) FIG. 2 shows a section of the cutting insert in FIGS. 1 and 3, in the plane indicated by II-II, showing the rake face 3, the clearance face 4 and the cutting edge 5.

(13) In FIG. 4, a detailed view of the cutting edge 5 in FIG. 2 is shown, with the rake face 3 and the clearance face 4. The wedge angle β and the clearance angle γ is shown, as well as the edge rounding having an edge radius r.sub.β. The theoretical shape of the cutting edge before removal of material from the cutting edge, is indicated by dotted lines.

(14) In the following, examples of cutting inserts for turning operations will be described in more detail, however similar considerations apply for e.g. drilling tools.

(15) It is important to note that the amount of material being cut by the cutting tool per unit length of the cutting edge during machining operation differs along the cutting edge. In turning for example, the amount of material being cut at the leading edge is larger per unit length of the cutting edge at the leading edge than at the nose region. This is because the cutting insert is oriented such that the leading edge is more or less aligned with the feed direction of the material to be machined. The cutting edge at the nose region on the other hand is not aligned with the feed direction of the material to be machined. Therefore the amount of material that is being cut by the cutting insert differs between the leading edge and the nose region. At the leading edge the amount of material being cut per unit length of the cutting edge is larger than at the nose region. Therefore, a stronger edge is preferred at the leading edge. It is also desired to have a larger wedge angle at the leading edge to improve dissipation of thermal energy in the cutting insert during machining. Because the uncut chip thickness of the edge in the nose region is thinner, a sharper edge is preferred in this region.

(16) Thus the cutting insert is provided with a continuous variation of the wedge angle along the cutting edge, such that the wedge angle is larger at the leading edge and smaller in the nose region. Therefore the cutting insert is configured such that the wedge angle is smaller at the nose than at the leading edge and/or the trailing edge. The wedge angle is gradually expanded from the tip of the nose towards the leading edge and/or trailing edge, whereby the edge radius is gradually increasing from the tip of the nose towards the leading edge and/or trailing edge. The wedge angle is formed by a wedge-shaped cross-section of the cutting edge. The variation of the wedge angle is obtained by a variation of the clearance angle (γ in FIG. 4) along the cutting edge.

(17) The wedge angle is within the range of 60 to 100 degrees, preferably within the range of 70 to 90 degrees, along the cutting edge. The variation of the wedge angle along the cutting edge is within the range of 5-35 degrees, preferably within the range of 10-30 degrees, more preferably within the range of 15-25 degrees, or within the range of 10-20 degrees, along the cutting edge.

(18) The variation of the wedge angle along the cutting edge is preferably formed during molding of a green body of the cutting insert, i.e. before sintering of the cutting insert. Alternatively the variation of the wedge angle along the cutting edge may be formed by grinding of the periphery, forming the cutting edge, of the cutting insert after sintering.

(19) Material is removed from the cutting edge of the sintered cutting tool by means of e.g. wet blasting, dry blasting, brushing, electro discharge machining or laser processing. Material is removed with a constant material removal rate per length unit of the edge.

(20) Due to the combination of the variation of the wedge angle along the cutting edge, and the removal of material along the cutting edge with a constant material removal rate per length unit of the edge, the radius of the edge rounding is smaller at the nose than at the leading edge and/or the trailing edge.

(21) Thus a cutting insert is provided with a sharper edge at the nose region and a stronger edge at the leading edge.

EXAMPLES

(22) Four set of cutting inserts are disclosed. The wedge angles in all four sets were created by keeping the rake face of CNMG-120408-MM inserts unchanged and modifying the clearance face by means of periphery grinding. The leading edge of the cutting insert has a wedge angle of 90° in all variants. Starting from the beginning of the nose on the leading edge, the wedge angle decreases to a minimum of 80°, 70° and 60° at the center of the nose in variants A, B and C, respectively, after which it increases back to 90° at the end of the nose edge, where the nose meets the trailing edge, in all variants. A reference insert is included in the set of cutting inserts where the wedge angle is 90° and is constant along the edge. The wedge angles (and clearance angles) of these different sets of cutting tools are shown in Table 1.

(23) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Examples of four different sets of cutting inserts. Leading edge wedge Nose edge minimum wedge angle/clearance angle angle/clearance angle Reference 90°/0° 90°/0°  Variant A 90°/0° 80°/10° Variant B 90°/0° 70°/20° Variant C 90°/0° 60°/30°

(24) Inserts were blasted in a wet blasting machine by Alox (aluminum oxide mesh size) 220 with 2.5 bar blasting pressure in a single process. The target cutting edge radius for a 90 degrees wedge angle was 55 μm. Subsequent to the blasting process the edge radius was measured along the leading edge and on the nose edge. The wedge angle was also measured along this length of the cutting edge.

(25) In FIGS. 5-8 the cutting edge radius (a and b) and the wedge angle (c and d) measured along this length of the cutting edge is shown for the reference insert (FIG. 5) and the different variants A (FIG. 6), B (FIG. 7) and C (FIG. 8). Each data point represents a cross sectional measurement on the cutting edge. The measurements are shown for the leading edge (a and c) and for the nose section of the edge (b and d). There are 24 cross sections on the leading edge and 24 on the nose section of the edge. The average distance between two measurement points is 70 μm.

(26) As can be seen in FIGS. 5-8, there is a strong correlation between the wedge angle and edge radius at different locations along the cutting edge. As the wedge angle decreases in the nose region (see FIGS. 5-8d) the cutting edge radius also decreases (see FIGS. 5-8b) and as a result a variable edge micro-geometry will be created in all three variants. A 30% reduction in the wedge angle (from 90° to 60°), would lead to almost 35% reduction in edge radius value.

(27) In FIG. 9 the effect of varying wedge angle and material removal rate per length unit of the edge is shown. The material removal rate is defined as a removal of a volume of material per length unit of the edge and per unit of time. The graph shows the resulting edge radius r.sub.β depending on wedge angle β for seven different material removal rates Q, from 50 μm.sup.2 per unit edge length per unit of time, to 500 m.sup.2 per unit edge length per unit of time. It is clear from the graph that the resulting edge radius r.sub.β decreases with decreasing wedge angle β. The material removal rate is preferably within the range of 100-600 μm.sup.2 per length unit of the edge per unit of time, or within the range of 200-500 μm.sup.2 per length unit of the edge per unit of time, or within the range of 300-400 μm.sup.2 per length unit of the edge per unit of time.

(28) Although the present embodiment(s) has been described in relation to particular aspects thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred therefore, that the present embodiment(s) be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.