Insert Coating Families: CVD vs PVD
The two coating families behind almost every coated turning grade, with the grades each catalogue actually records and the workpiece groups they cover.
117 CVD grades · 68 PVD grades · 21 uncoated · 208 with no coating stated in the catalogue record.
CVD vs PVD at a glance
| Family | Grades | Brands | Cited rows | Models | Main ISO 513 groups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVD chemical vapour deposition |
117 | 11 | 1,872 | 192 | P / K / M |
| PVD physical vapour deposition |
68 | 11 | 1,071 | 157 | M / S / P |
Counts are catalogue records, not recommendations. A grade can cover several ISO 513 groups.
How the two families differ
CVD grows a thick multilayer film at high temperature. That thickness is why CVD dominates steel and cast iron turning, where crater and flank wear set the tool life. PVD deposits a thinner film at lower temperature, leaving a tougher substrate and a sharper edge — the reason PVD grades dominate stainless, superalloy and hardened-steel work, and interrupted cuts. The mechanics, layer stacks and edge-preparation trade-offs are in the CVD vs PVD coatings guide.
Coating choice sits on top of the chipbreaker and grade — the same geometry is catalogued with different coating families for different operations. For the brand-specific chipbreaker suffixes those coated grades are paired with, see the chipbreaker code index. For a material-specific walk-through, the stainless steel turning guide applies both families to the catalogue's ISO M records.
Browse by family
- CVD coated carbide grades — 117 grades from 11 brands, 1,872 cited rows, 192 models covered.
- PVD coated carbide grades — 68 grades from 11 brands, 1,071 cited rows, 157 models covered.
Where these numbers come from
Every grade on these pages is published on InsertBase with a catalogue source, version and date; the coating label is taken directly from that record. Grades without a stated coating (208 of 414) are excluded rather than inferred from the grade name. The same discipline applies to the grade cross-reference and the ISO 513 group pages.