THE EFFECT OF PRODUCT QUALITY ON THE INTEGRITY OF ADVANCED SURFACE ENGINEERING TREATMENTS APPLIED TO HIGH-SPEED STEEL CIRCULAR-SAW BLADES

Advanced surface engineering technologies have been successfully appli ed to high speed steel drills and carbide single-point cutting tools, but, as yet, limited benefits have been realized when applying the sam e technologies to multi-point cutting tools of commercial quality. Thi s paper discusses the factors that have limited the benefits of advanc ed surface engineering treatments when applied to high speed steel cir cular saw blades. Common manufacturing defects have been identified on the teeth of the blades. Tests which evaluate the blade performance t hroughout its useful life and examination by scanning electron microsc opy (SEM) have shown that these defects adversely affect the performan ce and wear resistance of surface engineered blades. Further investiga tions suggest that significant improvements in coating integrity can b e achieved through the careful preparation of the substrate surface an d refinement of the cutting edge geometry prior to treatment. For this application, the need for refinement and enhancement of current manuf acturing practices is demonstrated if the full benefits of advanced su rface engineering are to be realized.