Blade, tool and method of grooving a metallic workpiece

1. A grooving tool for grooving a rotating metallic workpiece, the tool comprising:

a grooving blade having at least one major surface, at least one cutting insert pocket, and a damping arrangement fixed to the blade, wherein the damping arrangement projects laterally with respect to the at least one major surface of the blade and

at least one cutting insert fixed to the at least one cutting insert pocket, wherein the grooving blade has a maximum width and the damping arrangement has a maximum width that is greater than the maximum width of the grooving blade, and wherein the at least one cutting insert has a cutting edge with a width, said cutting edge width being smaller than a maximum width of the blade, and wherein the maximum width of the damping arrangement is greater than the width of the cutting edge.

2. The grooving tool according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one major surface comprises two major surfaces, and wherein the damping arrangement projects from both major surfaces of the blade.

3. The grooving tool according to claim 1 , wherein the maximum width of the damping arrangement is 2 to 15 times greater than the maximum width of the blade.

4. The grooving tool according to claim 1 , wherein the damping arrangement is releaseably fixed to the blade.

5. The grooving tool according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one lateral through hole arranged to receive only a portion of the damping arrangement.

6. The grooving tool according to claim 1 the at least one major surface comprises opposing first and second major surfaces extending between parallel first and second longitudinal mounting edges and between opposing first and second end edges which extend transverse to the longitudinal mounting edges, and wherein the at least one cutting insert pocket is associated with the first longitudinal mounting edge and the first end edge.

7. The grooving tool according to claim 1 , wherein a blade passageway configured for conveyance of coolant extends from a blade inlet aperture formed in the at least one major surface to an outlet aperture located at the at least one cutting insert pocket and wherein the blade passageway is spaced from the damping arrangement.

8. The grooving tool according to claim 1 , wherein the damping arrangement is intersected by a straight line which forms an imaginary extension of a lower supporting surface of the at least one cutting insert pocket.

9. The grooving tool according to claim 1 , wherein the damping arrangement has a center axis and the at least one cutting insert has opposed ends, wherein an active cutting edge is disposed at one end and the at least one cutting insert has a insert length that extends between the opposed ends, and wherein the center axis of the damping arrangement is located at a distance of at least one insert length of the at least one cutting insert away from the active cutting edge.

10. The grooving tool according to claim 1 , wherein the damping arrangement is fixed to the blade by of a screw connection or one or more magnets.

11. A method of grooving a rotating metallic workpiece with a grooving tool, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a grooving tool according to claim 1 ;

moving the grooving tool towards a rotating workpiece such that a cutting edge thereof produces a groove in the workpiece by removal of chips thereof;

moving the grooving tool until a desired groove depth is obtained while keeping the damping arrangement remote from the workpiece.