A great book on machining difficult-to-cut materials

Heat resistant alloys, which are often used in aero engines, are generally referred to as difficult-to-cut materials, and parts manufacturers spend a lot of time and money to set the machining conditions for them.
This is partly due to the fact that in the manufacturing of aircraft parts, once the machining conditions are set, the process is frozen at those conditions, and any change from those conditions is subject to change control, which is not easy to change.
Therefore, it takes a long time to find the best processing conditions under the current facilities by conducting tests under many conditions when setting the initial processing conditions.
In addition, heat-resistant alloys are more expensive than other materials, so it costs a lot of money just to obtain test materials.
If you have experience in machining difficult-to-cut materials of the same type in the past, you can shorten the time required for setting conditions and reduce costs by proceeding with machining tests based on the machining condition data.
However, if the alloy has never been machined before, or if the latest equipment has been introduced to improve productivity, it will still take time and money to set the machining conditions.
This time,　I would like to introduce you to a recent book, “Learning from Data: Basic Technology and Troubleshooting for Cutting Super Heat-Resistant Alloys,” written by Katsuyoshi Karino, a former research advisor at Mitsubishi Materials Corporation and current president of the Cutting Technology Research Institute for Difficult-to-Cut Materials.


This book is now available in a single volume, which is the content of a course of the same name that was serialized in the industrial journal “Research in Machinery” from February 2019 to December 2020.
A wealth of data is presented along with photographs, providing today’s current information on machining difficult-to-cut materials, as well as a wealth of machining trouble-shooting strategies.
In addition, Mr. Karino’s writings are consistent in the way he summarizes the processing data.
“What did you cut?”
“What did you use to cut it?”
“How did you try to cut it?”
and “What was the result?” are consistent and easy to understand.
This way of summarizing the book will be helpful for young engineers in companies that are thinking of accumulating machining condition data in-house.
Incidentally, in the past, Mr. Katsuyoshi Karino has written a large 508-page book called “Handbook of Cutting of Difficult-to-Cut Materials and New Materials” by himself, and I think he is a researcher worthy of being called a “Giant of machining of difficult-to-cut materials“.

I will close with a quote made famous by Isaac Newton that I always try to live by.
“Standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Until the end, thank you for reading.