Wiper Inserts Can Boost Your Turning Productivity

By: Chad Miller, Product Manager-Advanced Materials

If you have a rigid setup and perform straight turning involving facing or ID or OD turning, chances are you can receive serious benefits by integrating wiper inserts.

Wiper inserts use a special grind
to maximize productivity.

Through a special grind on the nose radius, wiper inserts possess a unique edge geometry that wipes away the miniscule peaks and valleys found on a material’s surface. The resulting performance has a very positive impact on the relationship between cutting speed and surface finish, allowing speed increases of up to 300%, while maintaining the same surface quality.

There are two ways to think about the potential advantages of wiper inserts. If you currently have to perform secondary grinding to achieve the needed surface finish, the right wiper insert may be able to eliminate that operation entirely. At a 0.004” per revolution feedrate, a wiper insert can achieve surface finish of 5 Ra. On the other hand, if you’re already getting the surface quality you need from your turning operations, integrating the correct wiper insert can provide a 200% to 300% productivity gain.

Negative wiper geometries shift
crater wear and maximize insert life
when used with rigid setups.

At Seco, we’ve developed two additional styles of wiper insert to complement the standard geometry found in the market. WZP inserts use a positive angle on the ground edge to provide wiper benefits with less tool pressure, making them ideal for applications where pressure’s an issue, such as cutting with long tools. At the other end of the spectrum, if you have an extremely rigid setup, WZN inserts are likely your best option. These feature a negative angle grind that pushes crater wear further from the edge, allowing for increased tool life.

Positive wiper geometries reduce
cutting forces and vibration.

If you have any questions on how wiper inserts can potentially impact your turning applications, send me an email or get in touch with your local Seco rep. We have extensive experience in helping manufacturers get the most benefit out of this technology and would be glad to help you maximize your operations. Additional information on Seco wiper inserts can be found here

About the Author

Chad manages Seco's advanced materials product lines, including all CBN and PCD products. When he's not helping customers implement advanced metalcutting solutions, you can find him training for and running 5K, 10K and 1/2 marathon races and triathlons.