Machining of Powder Metallurgy Materials^[1]

This article provides a discussion on the machining guidelines that serve to improve the machinability of powder metallurgy materials. It provides a description of various cutting tool grades and tool-edge design and describes the machining conditions for common operations, namely, turning, drilling, tapping, grinding, and finishing. The article introduces a few overlooked details that can heavily influence the performance and success of the machining process. These include dwell, margin design on round tools, and proper edge hone.