VIDEO: TOOLING UP: Why KENGold Wins Gold

GREG SAGE: We really wanted to take a look at how we actually are applying that coating and kind of what the structure of that coating looks like. And what we have found is that when we really make sure that it's very uniform, they really do a better job of fighting against that wear as well as fighting against that heat.

Narrator: This video is brought to you by Kennametal, transforming how everyday life is built. If you're looking for real world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hello and welcome to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary and I'm so glad that you're here with us today. If you're new, make sure you go ahead and click that like or subscribe button so you don't miss any upcoming episodes. I am so excited today. We're going to be talking about revolutionary insert coating technology and we have Greg Sage here.

Greg is Kennametal’s regional product manager for Turning Americas. Greg, thanks so much for joining us today.

GREG SAGE: Yeah thanks, Toni. Really excited to be here.

TONI NEARY: I love this and I know a lot of our longtime viewers know I'm pretty passionate about education, and I love hearing how our amazing guests came into the industry. Tell us a little bit about your work and joining Kennametal.

GREG SAGE: Sure. Yeah. I've been working with Kennametal going on 18 years. It'll be 18 years in September for me. You know, I really started on the engineering side of things. So, I had a family friend, a long-time family friend, that worked for Kennametal. Told me about it. I was in school for Mechanical Engineering Design, and, you know, put my application in. I was lucky enough to get hired. They were looking to be able to hire some people that weren't really all that experienced, so they could teach them the Kennametal way. And, you know, that worked out for me. So, but yeah, I've been with them for a long time now, 11 years or so in design, a few years in sales and now about three years in this regional product management role.

TONI NEARY: And 18 years is a long time to be with an organization. So tell me a little bit about what keeps you there at Kennametal. What do you really love about the organization overall?

GREG SAGE: Yeah. You know, Kennametal has just been a fantastic place to work. I mean really from day one it's you know, for, for a bigger company, it very much feels like a family. You know, I've worked with a lot of great people over the years and really, when it comes down to it, you know, Kennametal is all about innovation and technology.

And it's not just innovation for innovation’s sake, but it's really customer focused, customer driven. It's what can we do to improve upon the technologies that are out there to really bring our customers the best solutions possible, you know, for their machining needs.

TONI NEARY: And for me, it's intriguing the fact the company is 75 years old. You've been there for 18 years, and everything you see from Kennametal is cutting edge technology. And I think that's a perfect segway to talk about this new revolutionary coating technology. Tell us a little bit about KENGold.

GREG SAGE: Yeah. So KENGold, that's our newest coating technology generation on our turning side of the, you know, portfolio. And really, what it is, is it's our way of pushing forward, you know, both CVD and PVD coating technologies to really kind of get on that cutting edge and really push the envelope of being able to offer, you know, higher speed and productivity to our customers, better wear resistance, you know, just overall better tool life so that they can maximize their machining and their applications and processes and really, you know, make the most money that they can.

TONI NEARY: And for anybody that may not know, let's kind of dive in a little bit because I love to get nerdy and techie, CVD versus PVD. Take me through the difference between the two coating methods.

GREG SAGE: Sure. So, there are, you know, two different coating technologies there. CVD means chemical vapor deposition. So I'm no scientist, but I'll do my best to explain it. It's really a reaction. It's formed by a chemical reaction. So that coating is formed on those, those inserts, through chemical reaction and they're typically thicker coatings, you know, you're talking somewhere in the, you know, 15 to 20 micron thickness for CVD coatings, whereas PVD coatings are a thinner coating.

It means physical vapor deposition. So really think about it as line of sight. So more like taking a spray paint can and spraying something right on top of something else. That's kind of more what physical vapor deposition is going to give you. But thinner, thinner coatings, typically a little bit more universal in their application. But, you know, both of them, you know, have, you know, wide application ranges within the industry.

TONI NEARY: And I think it's a good point to maybe talk about heat, because obviously, that's one of the things that we're looking at when we're looking at machining. Tell us a little bit about the heat differential between the two as well.

GREG SAGE: Sure. So really the main, you know, kind of point, the main thing that a coating is going to do for you on an insert is really help you to prevent that heat. It's going to be that thermal barrier and so the thicker coating of the CVD, that's going to give you typically a little bit higher heat protection.

So, with a CVD coating you can typically run a little faster. So increased SFM which can help you to get, you know, higher productivity rates in your shops. But at the same time, those thinner PVD coatings are really good because they still protect against the heat very well. And in the case of our newest grade that we have out, it actually helps because it gets harder as it gets hotter.

So even though they're thinner coatings, they still work extremely well at protecting against that heat.

TONI NEARY: And I think you probably have the audience's attention at a higher productivity. But let's also talk about wear, because I think that's another kind of distinction with the KENGold. Talk with me a little bit about the wear and the difference in how you can see it with the actual coloring of this coating as well?

GREG SAGE: Sure. So with our, with our, KCP25C grade, which is our steel grade on the CVD side. So it's our CVD KENGold technology, it's got a black rake and a gold flank. So, one of the main reasons we wanted to do that was really customer driven. We wanted to give an ease of being able to see that wear.

And so that gold coloring allows you to really easily see where that wear is, you know, happening on the insert, how it's progressing. And at the same time, that coating, the whole point of that is not only to protect against the heat, but to give you better wear resistance. And by doing both of those things and providing an easier way to see that wear, what we're giving our customers is kind of the best of both worlds. They're able to get more tool life, longer, you know, longer usage out of those and also more easily know when they need to change those inserts out and index them.

TONI NEARY: And what I love is that KCP25C is like your everyday workhorse. So I know steel is going to be one of your predominant uses for that. But tell me the types of industries that you're really going to see an application for this.

GREG SAGE: Sure. KCP25C I mean really is going to span a lot of different industries. So, you know, heavy use in transportation, general engineering, you know probably not as much in aerospace because you don't see as much steel in aerospace. KCP25C is 100% designed to work in your P class steels. That's actually what the P means in the naming of KCP25C. So anything from low carbon, high carbon, alloy steels up through PH stainless steels. That's really the area we want to attack with KCP25C. And like you said it really is a workhorse grade for us. It's a fantastic general-medium machining grade that pretty much any customer who is cutting steel is going to be able to get some kind of use out of and really see a benefit from.

TONI NEARY: And I think it's intriguing because I think that's just it, right? It's got a pretty wide application. You're going to be using that in a bunch of different ways. But now let's dive into the PVD side of KENGold which is the KCU10B, did I get that right?

GREG SAGE: Yes you did. That is correct. And just like I mentioned, the P in KCP25C means steel. The U in KCU10B stands for universal. And that's one of the hallmarks of a lot of the PVD grades that we have is that they are really universal in application. And what that means is we can really apply those across all sorts of different materials.

So one of our taglines for that KCU10B grade is we want you to change materials, not tools. So you can attack steel. You can attack stainless steel, even into high-temp. alloys like Inconel and titanium. So it really has a very broad application range, which is great for those, you know, kind of general engineering job shops that are out there, you know, the kind of customer who is going to cut steel one day, but then the next job they get may be a stainless steel, or they may get an Inconel job that comes in.

They're really going to be able to utilize that grade across all of those different, you know, jobs and materials and see excellent results.

TONI NEARY: All right. So we've talked about two different KENGold grades that you've got right now. Can you give us a sneak peek on maybe what's coming down the pike?

GREG SAGE: Yeah, sure. So coming up this fall, we're going to be adding to our PVD lineup. So our, currently we have the KCU10B so that 10 means it's a harder grade. So it's more wear resistant, you know, maybe a little bit more aimed at the medium- to finishing-type range of applications.

We're going to be launching our KCU25B, so that's a tougher grade. So think about, you know, when you get into those, you know, some interruptions or, you know, a little bit more roughing-type applications as well as it's an extremely good grade on the grooving and cut off side as well. So be looking for that coming this fall, launching.

You know, we're really excited about it, you know, ready to get it out in the market as well.

TONI NEARY: I cannot thank you enough, Greg. You have just been so knowledgeable and passionate about this new technology. I can't thank you enough for joining us today.

GREG SAGE: Yeah. Thank you very much. Really enjoyed it.

TONI NEARY: It was great chatting with Greg today. And if you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did, and you want to make sure that you don't miss any discussions like this in the future, go ahead and subscribe to our channel. To find out more about Kennametal KENGold Coating Technology, visit www.mscdirect.com/kennametal. Thanks and we'll see you next time on Tooling Up.

Narrator: Want more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the Tooling Up Video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level, and subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.