subject: Can Recycling Used Carbide Inserts Lower Production Costs? [print this page] While carbide inserts offer significant cost savings and improved production times over solid carbide drills, worn carbide inserts are difficult to recycle, and are often thrown away. Most manufacturers using carbide inserts throw the used inserts away, as there are few resources available for reclaiming these materials effectively - until recently. Several new carbide insert reclaiming service providers have emerged over the past decade, offering services for resharpening inserts to like-new quality.
Carbide insert recycling services have existed for several years, but traditional insert recycling resulted in inserts which were a different size from the original inserts. While still usable, these differently sized reclaimed inserts required manufacturers to use different tool holders and re-calibrate their CNC machining operations. New insert reclaiming services have emerged, however, which enable manufacturers to avoid this problem. Insert recycling companies such as R & J Tool Inc. are able to sharpen carbide inserts without changing the insert's inscribed circle size, also known as clamping height. This results in newly sharpened inserts which can be used in the same tool holders as were used previously, with few or no adjustments needed.
The Insert Sharpening Process
While traditional insert resharpening services have relied on grinding the entire insert, new insert reclaiming processes focus only on sharpening the insert's cutting edge. The full thickness of the insert isn't ground, leaving the inner circle size of the insert the same. By grinding only the top cutting edges of the insert, indexable insert recycling service providers produce re-ground inserts which fit into their original tool holders as if they were new.
In addition to regrinding the cutting edge, leading insert recycling facilities analyze each insert tool's application to hone the insert's capabilities to meet its specific application. After grinding the insert and modifying it in any other ways necessary, coatings are often applied to the insert to improve its hardness and performance. By working with the manufacturer to essentially re-engineer worn carbide inserts, recycling providers are able to provide reclaimed indexable inserts with performance ranging from 100 to 300% of the original new carbide insert.
This process typically costs far less than the cost of purchasing new carbide inserts; the reclamation process often costs as little as half as much as that of purchasing new inserts. In addition to monetary cost savings, manufacturers who recycle their carbide inserts are able to significantly cut back on valuable material waste and the cost of waste disposal. In green and lean manufacturing environments, these environmental benefits are not lost on the end product user.
