b'Shops may be unaware of these ceramic cutter applications and developments.By William LeventonW hen it comes to ceramic cut-ting tools, dont believe the old saying, What you dont know cant hurt you. A lack of knowledge about ceramic cutters can put a big hurt on shop productivity. Whats more, even shops that are some-what informed about ceramic cut-ting tools often arent getting the most out of the tools because they are unaware of lesser-known appli-cations that are a good fit for ceramic machining, let alone recent develop-ments that make the ceramic option more attractive than ever.The main advantage of ceramic tools is the effectiveness with which they handle the heat generated by the cutting process.The big thing with ceramic is it conducts heat better than anything else, said Steven Howard, market-ing and engineering manager at NTK Cutting Tools USA in Wixom, Michigan.When cutting with common tool materials, such as carbide, CBN and PCD, heat is not conducted away from the cutting edge, which even-tually breaks down as a result, How-ard explained. By contrast, he said, ceramics do a good job of trans-ferring heat away from the cutting edge, thereby extending its life and the life of the tool as a whole.The amount of heat produced during the cutting process is a func-tion of the cutting speed and the material being machined. So the ability of ceramics to conduct heatNTK Cutting Toolsaway from the cutting edge meansA solid-ceramic SX9-grade endmill machines cast iron at 2,700 sfm and 0.48" depth of cut, an that ceramic tools can run muchexample of the high productivity that can be achieved with ceramic endmills.36SEPTEMBER 2022Ceramics.indd 36 8/17/22 10:59 AM'