Reduce Error: How to Install Indexable Inserts Correctly

Have you ever had an insert shift, midcut, leave a poor finish, even though it looked brand new? A lot of insert problems come down to one simple thing, how they’re installed.

Hi, I’m Justin, technical sales engineer with Kiosera. And in this Tips and Chips Quick, I’ll walk you through how to properly install and swap out indexable inserts. These small steps make a big difference in both performance and tool life.

Let’s go through what it takes or the proper insert changing procedure on this milling cutter.

Right here, we’re going to loosen the insert here. We’re going to back it out. Inspect the pocket. You know, imagine that we’ve gone through and removed all of the inserts in this tool.

We’re going to make sure that the seating surfaces of the insert and of the insert pocket of the cutter are clean and undamaged. Give them a wipe with an air blast or a shop towel.

Make sure that the seating surfaces of the insert are clean. Reinsert the insert. Make sure that it’s seated correctly.

Pick up the insert screw that you’ll drop sooner or later.

Make sure that the insert screw starts cleanly and snug it down. It’s very common to overtighten an insert screw even with the supplied wrenches.

Insert screws typically do not require an excessive amount of torque. All that they require for proper operation and retention is just a snug with the supplied wrench.

But what happens if you want to minimize the chance of stripped out threads or stripped out screw heads? Everybody’s gone through that.

How nice would it be if we had a solution that was easy to use, repetitive, and fast?

That’s where our new DTD500 motorized torque screwdriver comes into play.

Now, let’s go through the process of changing an insert screw using the torque-limiting driver.

We always want to break the insert screw loose by hand in case it’s frozen in there. So, we back it off a half turn or a turn or so.

Back it out under power. It’s nice and quick.

Set it aside while we make sure that the insert pocket is clean.

Grab this insert here. Make sure it’s seated in the pocket nice and square.

We’ll grab the insert driver here. Make sure the thread starts by hand before powering it down.

Let’s move it forward.

Click.

It’s torqued to perfection. Each insert screw is always going to be the same every single time.

It’s quick, it’s easy, saves you time and money.