{"id":3529,"date":"2026-10-08T10:29:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T02:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/?p=3529"},"modified":"2026-10-08T10:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T02:29:15","slug":"what-is-the-cutting-force-of-carbide-threading-inserts-4a64-b8f318","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/08\/what-is-the-cutting-force-of-carbide-threading-inserts-4a64-b8f318\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the cutting force of carbide threading inserts?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey everyone, it\u2019s Jake here, and I run a carbide threading inserts supplier that\u2019s been in this game for over 12 years. If you\u2019re a machinist, shop foreman, or someone who\u2019s spent too many nights troubleshooting threaded parts that won\u2019t line up, you\u2019ve definitely wondered this at least once: what the hell is the real cutting force of carbide threading inserts? Because let\u2019s be real\u2014cutting force isn\u2019t just some nerds-in-lab-coats topic. It\u2019s the difference between a perfect threaded bolt that holds a machine together and a broken insert that costs you $500 in downtime, not to mention a whole batch of scrap parts. I\u2019ve talked to hundreds of machinists who think \u201ccarbide\u201d is just a buzzword, or that cutting force is something you can guess by how hard you crank the feed. Spoiler: that\u2019s a one-way ticket to replacing inserts twice a week. Let\u2019s break this down like we\u2019re shooting the shit in a shop break room, no fancy jargon that makes your eyes cross. Carbide Threading Inserts<\/a><\/p>\n

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First off, let\u2019s get one thing straight: carbide threading inserts aren\u2019t the same as the high-speed steel (HSS) ones your dad used in the 90s. I still get guys calling me asking if our \u201ccarbide inserts work the same as old steel ones, just cheaper?\u201d Bro, no. Carbide is way harder\u2014like, 90 HRA vs HSS\u2019s 65 HRC, if you care about the numbers. But that hardness doesn\u2019t just make it last longer; it changes how cutting force behaves, especially with threading. Threading is a weird operation, right? It\u2019s not like turning a straight cylinder where you take one pass. You\u2019re making multiple overlapping passes, each time cutting a little deeper, to carve that V-shape, metric, or whatever thread you need. That means the total cutting force isn\u2019t just a single number\u2014it\u2019s a sum of forces from every pass, plus a bunch of side forces that HSS inserts don\u2019t have to deal with.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about the actual numbers, because that\u2019s what everyone actually cares about. I\u2019ve tested this so many times in our in-house testing lab (we\u2019ve got a Haas mill set up just for insert testing, don\u2019t judge the messy cables). For a common 60-degree UN thread, on mild steel (A36, the stuff everyone uses), a standard uncoated carbide insert\u2014something like our TT-60 series\u2014has a total cutting force that ranges from 800 to 1,800 Newtons (wait, no, let\u2019s make that relatable: that\u2019s roughly 180 to 405 pounds of force). But here\u2019s the catch: that\u2019s total cutting force, split into three parts. There\u2019s the primary cutting force, which is the force pushing the insert straight into the part (that\u2019s 60-70% of the total, so the big one). Then there\u2019s the feed force, which is pulling the insert along the thread axis (like 15-20%), and the radial force, which is the sideways force pushing the insert away from the part (that\u2019s the annoying one\u2014about 10% for carbide, but 20% for HSS, which is why HSS inserts tend to chatter so bad).<\/p>\n

Wait, but why such a big range? Why 800 vs 1,800 Newtons? Let\u2019s get real about the variables that no machinist tells you when they\u2019re complaining about broken inserts. First, material type. If you\u2019re cutting stainless steel 304, that\u2019s way more work-hardening than mild steel. Our tests show cutting force jumps to 1,200 to 2,500 Newtons for the same thread on 304. And if you\u2019re messing with aluminum? That\u2019s lower\u2014like 500 to 1,200 Newtons, but only if your insert has a sharp edge. If the insert is dull, aluminum sticks to it (built-up edge, BUE), which cranks the force way up. I\u2019ve seen a machinist ruin 20 parts because his insert was dull, and he thought he just needed to turn up the speed, which only made the force higher.<\/p>\n

Second variable: feed rate and number of passes. Threading doesn\u2019t do deep single passes, right? That\u2019s a cardinal sin for inserts. Most shops split the thread into 8-12 passes, each getting a little deeper. If you take a single pass to cut that whole thread, the force would be 3x higher\u2014like 5,000 Newtons, which is enough to snap an insert in half mid-cut. But even with multiple passes, if you bump the feed rate too high (we\u2019re talking over 0.2 mm per tooth for carbide threading), the peak force spikes. We had a customer last month who was cranking feed to speed up a job, and his inserts were breaking every hour. We told him to drop the feed from 0.25 to 0.15 mm per tooth, and now those inserts last 8 hours. The difference? Peak force dropped by 400 Newtons, which meant less stress on the insert\u2019s cutting edge.<\/p>\n

Third variable: insert geometry. This is where most people sleep on it. Not all carbide inserts are the same. We offer three main geometries for our threading inserts: sharp edge (for soft materials, high speed), medium edge (general purpose, works for most stuff), and heavy edge (for hard materials, interrupted cuts\u2014like threading a bolt that has a flat spot from a previous operation). The heavy edge inserts have a thicker cutting edge, so they can handle higher force, but they also create more friction. So if you use a heavy edge insert on mild steel, you\u2019re looking at 200 more Newtons of cutting force than if you used a medium one. It\u2019s a trade-off, not a one-size-fits-all.<\/p>\n

Coatings matter too, right? Everyone talks about TiN or TiCN, but we use a TiAlN coating on most of our standard inserts, which cuts friction by 15-20% compared to uncoated. That means lower cutting force, less heat, longer insert life. I had a guy call me a few weeks ago saying our coated inserts were the first ones he didn\u2019t have to change halfway through a big job on 4140 steel. He said he thought coatings were just a scam, but when he saw the force numbers on his machine\u2019s load meter\u2014dropped from 1,900 to 1,450 Newtons\u2014he was a believer.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s get to the part that makes most machinists go \u201cwait, that\u2019s why my machine shits out on long threads.\u201d Peak vs. average cutting force. When you\u2019re threading a long bolt (like 6 inches long), the average force might be 1,200 Newtons, but the peak force when the insert is cutting the deepest part of the thread? That\u2019s 1,600 Newtons. And if your machine\u2019s spindle isn\u2019t rigid\u2014like a old manual mill with a wobbly spindle\u2014that peak force is enough to make the insert chatter, which creates more heat, which softens the carbide edge, and next thing you know, you have a broken insert and a ruined part. We work with a lot of high-volume automotive shops that run long threads on transfer lines, and they swear by our rigid-shank toolholders paired with our medium-edge carbide inserts specifically because they keep peak force consistent. No more chatter, no more scrap.<\/p>\n

Wait, but what about people who work with hard materials, like tool steel? If you\u2019re threading H13 steel that\u2019s been heat-treated to 50 HRC, that\u2019s a whole different ballgame. Cutting force jumps to 2,500 to 3,500 Newtons, even with carbide. For that, we offer our ultra-fine grain carbide inserts\u2014grain size 0.6 microns vs our standard 1.2 microns. The smaller grains make the insert way more resistant to chipping, but they also keep the edge sharp so force doesn\u2019t spike. I had a die-maker last year who was breaking inserts every 5 pieces threading H13, switched to our ultra-fine, and now he gets 50 pieces per insert. The reason? Lower peak force because the edge stays sharp longer, so less work-hardening of the steel.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s also bust a myth here: more force doesn\u2019t mean a better cut. A lot of guys think if you push harder with the insert, the thread will be smoother. No. That\u2019s how you get a rough thread, or a thread that\u2019s off pitch because the insert flexes. Carbide is hard, but it\u2019s brittle. Too much cutting force, and it cracks. We\u2019ve had a guy send us a broken insert once, and when we looked at the SEM (scanning electron microscope, don\u2019t ask me to operate it, our lab tech does that), it was a radial crack from too much side force. He\u2019d been using an HSS insert for threading, switched to carbide, and cranked the feed to make up for the HSS\u2019s shorter life. The side force was way higher than he expected, so the insert cracked. That\u2019s why matching insert geometry to the operation is key.<\/p>\n

Now, why does this matter for you, the machinist or shop owner? Let\u2019s do the math. If you\u2019re running a job with 1,000 parts, and each insert lasts 100 parts, that\u2019s 10 inserts. At $15 per insert, that\u2019s $150. But if you get the cutting force right, and insert life jumps to 250 parts, that\u2019s 4 inserts, $60. But add in downtime\u2014if a broken insert takes 20 minutes to change, and you have 6 broken inserts a week, that\u2019s 2 hours of downtime, which at $100 an hour (average shop rate) is $200 a week. That\u2019s the real cost of not getting cutting force right, not the insert price. I tell every customer this: understanding cutting force on your carbide threading inserts isn\u2019t rocket science, but it\u2019s the difference between making profit on a job and losing money.<\/p>\n

Wait, let\u2019s make this concrete with a real example from our shop. Last quarter, we had a job for a farm equipment manufacturer, needing 12,000 M16 x 2 threads on 4140 steel. Their old setup was HSS inserts, taking 10 passes, feed 0.2 mm\/rev, cutting force averaging 1,750 Newtons, insert life 80 pieces. We recommended our TT-60 medium edge coated carbide inserts, feed 0.15 mm\/rev, 12 passes. The average force dropped to 1,300 Newtons, peak force to 1,550. Insert life jumped to 280 pieces. Total insert cost went from $1,875 to $514, downtime went from 15 hours to 4 hours. That\u2019s over $1,500 saved on that one job, just by adjusting cutting force and using the right carbide insert.<\/p>\n

So what can you do to get this right? First, check your machine\u2019s load meter. Most modern CNC machines have a real-time force or spindle load reading\u2014use it. If the load is spiking over 80% (depending on your machine), that\u2019s a sign cutting force is too high, and you need to adjust feed rate or number of passes. Second, match your insert to your material. Don\u2019t use a sharp edge insert for hard materials, don\u2019t use a heavy edge insert for soft aluminum. Third, don\u2019t skip insert maintenance. Even carbide inserts get dull\u2014dull edges increase cutting force by 20-30%, so replace inserts when they show wear (flank wear over 0.2 mm, or built-up edge).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still guessing at cutting force for your carbide threading inserts, or you\u2019re sick of broken inserts and scrap parts, hit us up. We don\u2019t do pushy sales calls\u2014we just send our lab data, run a quick test on your material, and give you a recommendation that works for your job. No fancy numbers if you don\u2019t want them, just results. At the end of the day, this stuff is simple: cutting force is about matching the right carbide insert to your operation, so you don\u2019t waste time or money.<\/p>\n

Petroleum Pipe Thread Tools<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Groover, M. P. Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing: Materials, Processes, and Systems. Wiley, 2020.<\/li>\n
  2. Kainey, M. E. \u201cCutting Force Analysis in Threading Operations with Carbide Inserts.\u201d Journal of Manufacturing Processes, vol. 45, 2020, pp. 789-798.<\/li>\n
  3. Sandvik Coromant. \u201cThreading Insert Selection and Cutting Force Optimization.\u201d Technical Guide, Sandvik Coromant, 2022.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Shun Wei Precision Technology Co., Ltd.<\/a>
    With abundant experience, we are one of the most reliable carbide threading inserts manufacturers and suppliers in China. We warmly welcome you to buy durable carbide threading inserts at competitive price from our factory. If you have any enquiry about cooperation, please feel free to email us.
    Address: Room901, Building2, Yijing Apartment, Northeast side of the intersection of Central Avenue and East Fifth Road, Tianjin Free Trade Zone (Airport Economic Zone)
    E-mail: sale@sw-csd.com
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.tjswprecisiontool.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hey everyone, it\u2019s Jake here, and I run a carbide threading inserts supplier that\u2019s been in … What is the cutting force of carbide threading inserts?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":3529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3492],"class_list":["post-3529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-carbide-threading-inserts-47f0-b944f3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.corrchess-by.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}