New: PUTE Cermet Inserts for High-Speed Steel Finishing | PUTE

PUTE is pleased to announce the release of a new cermet insert series, developed in response to consistent customer demand for a finishing solution that reduces or eliminates secondary grinding operations on steel components.

Why We Developed This Series

Across the customer projects we supported over the past year, a recurring problem appeared: steel components machined with conventional coated carbide inserts met the dimensional requirement but not the surface finish requirement. The result was a downstream grinding operation that added cost, lead time and a second source of dimensional variation.

In several cases, the finish requirement was achievable with cermet inserts — but customers found the available range fragmented, with limited coverage of the geometries their machines actually used, and little technical support for matching grade to application.

The new PUTE cermet series addresses both issues: broader geometry coverage, and application guidance from our engineering team rather than a catalogue page alone.

Product Highlights

• TiCN-based substrate with nickel-cobalt binder — provides high hot hardness and low affinity for iron, which minimises built-up edge and produces a cleaner surface finish.
• Optimised for continuous finishing of steel in the range of 200–350 m/min cutting speed, 0.1–0.2 mm/rev feed and 0.2–0.8 mm depth of cut.
• Positive rake geometries with small nose radii (0.2–0.4 mm) for low cutting forces and consistent finish on ductile steel.
• Consistent wear behaviour — predictable, gradual flank wear rather than unpredictable chipping, which keeps dimensional drift small across long production runs.
• Runs reliably dry or with minimal coolant, suited to machines where coolant delivery to the cutting zone is limited.

Applications

The series is intended for:

• High-speed finishing of carbon and alloy steels where surface finish is specified
• Production runs where eliminating a grinding operation reduces cost per part
• Thin-walled or slender components where low cutting forces are essential
• Operations currently suffering from built-up edge and inconsistent finish with carbide inserts

For interrupted cuts, roughing operations, cast iron, stainless steel, superalloys or titanium, our coated carbide grades remain the correct recommendation. Cermets are a finishing solution for steel, not a general-purpose replacement for carbide.

Availability and Sampling

The new cermet series is available for sampling now. We recommend a controlled trial rather than a full switch: run the cermet alongside your current insert on the same workpiece batch, machine and coolant conditions, and compare parts per edge together with surface finish at the start, middle and end of each edge's life.

Samples and application guidance are available through our sales and engineering team. Please include your workpiece material and hardness, machine details, current insert specification and operating parameters so that we can recommend the appropriate grade and geometry for a first trial.

Documentation

Full specifications, grade data and application ranges are available on request. If you would like to evaluate whether the cermet series is suitable for a specific finishing process, our engineering team will review your application and advise on the appropriate grade, geometry and cutting parameters.

For technical enquiries and sample requests, please contact our team through the enquiry form on this website. We respond to technical enquiries within one business day.