Carbide Inserts in the Home Workshop

[TomG]

For end mills, I have mostly HSS plus an assortment of carbide from 1/4" down to, believe it or not, .005" diameter. I like carbide end mills for smaller holes and slots because it's so much more rigid than HSS.

For lathe tools I use HSS almost exclusively. It's inexpensive, easy to grind to whatever shape I need and it produces a much better surface finish than carbide inserts. I do have a set of carbide insert holders that I use for roughing or for hard materials, but all the finish work is done with HSS.

Most of my squaring up of stock is done with a fly cutter and HSS tool bits. I do have a shell mill with replaceable inserts but rarely have a need for it.

My boring bars are all HSS for the best surface finish possible.

I do have a fair number of brazed carbide lathe tools, but I don't have a spare grinder set up with a green wheel to sharpen them. I should do something about that because they do a good job on the lathe.

Tom