Vibration Polishing Edge Preparation for Cemented Carbide Inserts

Micro-cracks on cutting edge will cause early breakages on cutting tools, accelerate tool wear and reduce cemented carbide tool life. Edge preparation can improve the cutting edge quality. Vibration polishing experiments were carried out for cemented carbide inserts edge preparation. Inserts and fixtures were put into the vibration polishing equipment which forced abrasive particles to collide and polish inserts. Edge preparation for fixed type insert and free type insert were compared with three sizes of abrasive particles. And the polishing time was changed for each testing cases. Experiments were carried out by altering polishing time, abrasive particle size and tool clamping way to determine the optimum technology of vibration polishing edge preparation. The experimental results showed that edge breakage numbers of insert significantly reduced. Smooth and round cutting edges were observed by optical microscope after edge preparation. Edge preparation experiments prove that edge preparation can change the cutting edge geometry and improve the cutting tool quality.