Tool Aluminum insert turning mild steel

[Larry_C9]

A few days ago days ago I was turning down some mild steel round bar to 5mm. The HSS tool I was using was a little large for the job and was not leaving a very nice finish so I grabbed a mini indexable turn tool I had that had a CCGT060204-4K polished insert made for cutting aluminum, which was all I had that was handy and was small enough to do the job. I didn't know what to expect and the insert had many hours of turning aluminum on it already, so if I ruin it there is no great loss. To my surprise it cut the mild steel like butter and left a very respectable finish. I used it that way for a couple of days then thought I should see how the tool is standing up. Under a fairly strong magnifying glass the cutting tip shows no excessive wear and appears to be able to continue cutting mild steel. Kind of interesting

 

[David]

I’ve seen inserts for aluminum used on steel with good results.
Nicely done.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I use the same inserts on steel quite often as well with great success. They won't hold up as well as a CCMT so if I'm doing a lot of steel removal, I will switch, but with only one insert holder for that size, if a gt is in it, and I need to quickly turn down a shaft or something I won't bother switching. They leave a great surface finish too.

 

[Susquatch]

This is what quite a few members are finding Larry. I use them all the time in a trigon shape. And like you, I have not worn one out yet. I do think the inserts for steel will last longer, but for hobby use, I don't even know why I bothered to buy inserts for steel and stainless. If I had to do it over, I would probably only get inserts for Aluminium.