How To Master Modern Turning

HOW TO Master Modern Turning

In this episode of MSC Industrial Supply’s How To series, host Jacob Sanchez heads to the Kennametal Technology Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to learn the fundamentals of modern turning.

Watch time: 10:43 minutes

Supplier: Kennametal

Posted date: Sep 05, 2025

Video series: How-To

Looking for full transcript of video? Read now

How To Master Modern Turning

In this episode of MSC Industrial Supply’s How To series, host Jacob Sanchez heads to the Kennametal Technology Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to learn the fundamentals of modern turning.

In this episode of MSC Industrial Supply’s How To series, host Jacob Sanchez heads to the Kennametal Technology Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to learn the fundamentals of modern turning. As a 5-axis mill machinist exploring the world of CNC lathes, Jacob joins Kennametal experts Ashley Rewa and Greg Sage for a hands-on masterclass covering everything from insert selection and cutting tool coatings to chip breakers, toolpaths, and feeds and speeds.

Inside Kennametal’s cutting-edge R&D facility, viewers will see live demos that showcase machining both 4140 steel and the exotic material zirconium. Greg explains how insert geometry, edge strength, and chip control affect tool performance, why finishing passes differ from roughing, and how coolant strategy plays a key role when machining challenging materials. From CVD and PVD-coated inserts to medium versatile and finishing geometries, this episode shows how to match the right tooling with the right material to improve tool life, surface finish, and overall productivity.

Whether you’re a CNC programmer, a mill machinist moving into turning, or an experienced machinist looking to refine your process, this episode of How To provides practical tips you can apply immediately on aerospace, automotive, medical, or general engineering shop floors.

For even more insights and expertise, check out the Knowledge Center.

“How To” is a video content series from MSC Industrial Supply developed to serve as a resource for all those who work in, support, and have a passion for the metalworking sector of the manufacturing industry. Through How To, you’ll gain hands-on, practical advice from industry experts currently working in the field. At MSC, we are dedicated to providing real-world, practical advice to improve your day-to-day operations.

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Video Transcript

JACOB SANCHEZ: I know nothing about CNC lathes. I don't know the feeds and speeds. I don't know the cutters. I don't know how to put an insert in. Well, I do know that, because I'm a machinist. I've been a five-axis mill machinist with horizontals, verticals for the past six years. But that doesn't mean I know everything. I know there's always something new, something better, something different.

And so, I wanted to get into lathes. I wanted to better understand how a lathe works; how you run a lathe. But I needed some help. So today I'm at the Kennametal Technology Center, where they have demos running for me. Yes, that means chips flying. Things are cutting. And they're going to be showing me the right tool to use, the right inserts with the right material, on the right machine.

Because as a machinist, we know those three things get parts made. Those three things get jobs out your door. So today, you and I, we're going to be learning together. We're going to be going over How To master modern turning.

Hey, how's it going, Ashley?

ASHLEY REWA: Hey. Thanks for coming in.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Thanks for having me.

ASHLEY REWA: Of course.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Is this just the machine shop? Is the technology center the whole building? Like, give me the rundown.

ASHLEY REWA: Yeah. So this is originally our headquarters here in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and we are in the technology center. So in a little bit, we're going to be heading upstairs to our global machine technology center, which is our R&D lab, which is where you're going to be learning all about turning. And doing a couple of different demos. And this is a pretty special place for a couple different reasons.

We've been designing, really innovative turning technology with new geometries, grades, chip breakers, all of that for over 87 years to solve all of our customers' problems and any kind of end market. So we're in aerospace, we're in automotive, you know, general engineering, medical, any kind of, you know, cutting tool application. And turning especially, we've been working to design some really innovative solutions for our customers.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Nice. And when it comes to the machine shop I'm going to be heading into, how does that tie into your customers as well? Is this just special for me and I get to go in here? What's the deal?

ASHLEY REWA: Well, this is definitely a special trip for you. But typically it is an R&D facility. So we're doing research, we're doing development, we're doing product validations. So we're testing out our products and ensuring that they can run at the, you know, specs, the speeds and feeds that they're designed to do. And so we're testing to make sure that we have, you know, quality product when applied in cut at our customers.

JACOB SANCHEZ: And I'm really excited for that. Do you mind if we go head out?

ASHLEY REWA: Yeah, absolutely. Follow me.

JACOB SANCHEZ: How's it going, sir?

GREG SAGE: Good. How are you doing?

JACOB SANCHEZ: Greg! So Ashley was telling me about you. I'm going on kind of a journey through Kennametal today to get this machinist masterclass in lathe and turning. She said you were the guy. What is your background here at Kennametal? What's been your career?

GREG SAGE: Well, my name is Greg Sage. I've been with Kennametal for, you know, almost 20 years. So you know, always focused on the turning side. So I think she sent you to the right place.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Can you give us, like, a little rundown of the day?

GREG SAGE: Sure. So the first demo is going to be on 4140 steel. And really both demos are going to focus in on our newest grades, our Ken Gold generation of grades. So we're going to be using our KCP 25C CVD-coated grade over on the steel.

JACOB SANCHEZ: That's on the tooling?

GREG SAGE: Yep yep. And then on the other, the exotic demo, that's going to be on zirconium. Not the normal material you're going to run into. But it's going to be a really good application for us to be able to utilize our new PVD-coated grades, our KCU10B and 25B, which are on the PVD side, really thin. Hard-coating is going to work well on those exotic materials.

JACOB SANCHEZ: When it comes down to the tooling, tool-pathing, what is that going to look like?

GREG SAGE: Sure. So on the 4140, what we're doing we're actually it's kind of a mocked-up, larger version of our KM system back ends. So that's one of our tool systems that we make. So really cool. It's going to almost be like you're seeing how we go about, you know, turning that taper and face and everything scaled up... right, but just scaled up so it's easier to see.

And that's really going to give us the ability you can, you know, be able to see the toolpath running in there. It's running dry, so you'll be able to really see what's going on. Give us the ability to see to kind of what the difference in finish is when we're running after the roughing passes versus running that finishing pass with the different kind of geometry on the insert.

JACOB SANCHEZ: We're starting with the 4140 correct?

GREG SAGE: Correct. So yeah, what we've got running in here is 4140 steel. So you know, an alloy steel. You know, one of the big things that you look for when you're cutting alloy steels on the turning side, it's kind of a marriage between edge strength and chip breaking capability. So steel needs that edge strength of the insert. And the way you get edge strength in an insert is typically you're going to see more neutral-type geometries that you're going to use.

So you don't need really sharp geometries for a steel because that sharp geometry is going to break down quicker. But at the same time, you still need really good chip breaking capability because, you know, and depending on what you're steel, you're cutting 4140 is an alloy. You know, it breaks apart a little bit easier, but when you get down into some of those softer steels, you do need that chip-breaking capability so that it's going to be able to, you know, handle that chip and keep it under control.

JACOB SANCHEZ: So chip breaking to me in mill-land is actual chip breakers on the flutes of my cutter. What do chip breakers look like for lathe land, I guess?

GREG SAGE: Right. So when you're talking about turning inserts, the chip breaker, that is the geometry that you see pressed into the top of these inserts. So, you know, like in something like a cast iron, you're going to use a flat top insert a lot of times, you don't need that chip geometry and in turning steels and most other materials, though, that's that geometry that's pressed in.

It's what gives us the ability to control the chips, not only help break them, but also direct them where we want them to go. I'm controlling them and pushing them in certain directions is going to be better so that you're not hitting your workpiece, you're not causing it to mar up and damaging the finish, things like that.

So this was using our medium versatile or MV geometry, which is really made for a really wide ranging, you know, from roughing even down into some, you know, some finishing, you know, type of depths cut and feed rates. So you can see, I mean, you know, a little bit of, you know, it's got what you would expect to see as kind of a rough surface finish once it's done. Chip control is great.

You know, I mean, getting good color into the chips. So, you know, it really does an excellent job of of doing its job in controlling those chips, pushing the heat out into them, you know, making sure they're not damaging the workpiece, wrapping up around the tools.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Nice. And then what's it about to do right now, it's going to hit us with the finishing panels. And it's just a nice solid nothing crazy going on there.

GREG SAGE: Right. It's going to come along with our FV finishing geometry and it's going to do a finish pass on there. And then we can pop it back open and take a look at what the finish looks like, you know, compared to where we are right now in the rough stage.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Nice. Yeah. I say we let that first pass go. We check out what it looks like and then maybe head over to exotic materials?

GREG SAGE: Sounds good to me, man.

JACOB SANCHEZ: This is going to be pretty sweet, my man. I appreciate you just taking the day with me, spending some time with me. You're turning this mill guy into a little bit of a lathe guy.

GREG SAGE: Hey, that's my job. You know, a lot of the same things you're going to run into on the milling side you are going to run into on the turning side. When you're talking about exotic materials, it really does become even more important to worry about what your coatings are, what your geometries are. You know, like this job we're running here, this is zirconium, and zirconium is a refractory metal.

And one of the things that a lot of the refractory metals like zirconium, like we think molybdenum, titanium falls in there, you know, like so it's been or is on this and falls in there. Right. So a lot of what we need when we're turning those is we want to see sharp edges. So you want to use positive style inserts.

So you know, typically screw-ons with built-in clearance. And then you want geometries that are sharp you know. So if it can be an up sharp geometry, you know, you don't want dull edges because they create tool pressure, refractory metals like to splinter and bust apart. So you want to be able to really shear the material well.

And coolant is a huge part of it. Like you, you typically are not going to run these things dry. You're going to want that coolant in there because you've got to keep that heat going into the material and staying out of the insert as much as possible.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Whoever it is out there watching right now. What would you say to them when they're trying to figure out how they can master modern turning? What would you want to tell them?

GREG SAGE: The one big thing I'll say - there's no magic bullet, so you're not going to find that, you know, there's not going to be that one thing that's going to work across the board. You've really got to look at what is the material, what is the application, and you've got to get the recipe of insert size and style, coating, geometry.

All of that comes into play. So it's really about understanding what is my application need and then putting all those right pieces together to get you the right insert that's going to perform the best.

JACOB SANCHEZ: I appreciate your guys' time today, and I'll see you around soon.

GREG SAGE: Awesome. Great to see you.

JACOB SANCHEZ: Thanks, everybody. Man, that team. Kennametal, thank you. Greg, Ashley, everybody that we had on camera today. This was a big day for me. Look, sorry to say, I am still a mill guy, but that machinist master class on lathe, on turning, on everything to do with that part of the industry, very valuable. I want to recap a few things for you, because there was a lot today.

Or maybe there wasn't if you're already a lathe person as well. So, we looked at finding the right coating for the right insert, with the right geometry on certain metals, on various machines, whether it's dry, whether it's coolant. That all plays into making sure that you can get parts out the door. And it was a little interesting because I found some similarities between being a mill machinist, a lathe machinist, and we kind of brought that together.

We saw some of the differences, but at the end of the day, we're all getting parts out the door. We all have to look at the coatings, the geometries, the coolant pressure for various materials. And I think there's a lot more similarities between our shops around the country than we realize. And now I don't want to speak for you, but me, I learned a lot here today and hopefully now, us, we both know How To master modern turning.

Narrator: For more metalworking tips and industry best practices, stay tuned for the next How To episode and subscribe to the MSC Industrial Supply YouTube channel, a source of original manufacturing content Built To Make You Better.