Thread milling tool and thread milling insert

A thread milling tool comprising:

• an elongated tool body having a front end and an opposite rear end, the rear end being configured for attachment to a machine, wherein a longitudinal axis of the tool body extends between the rear end and the front end of the tool body;
• at least one pair of insert seats provided in the tool body and including a first insert seat and a second insert seat, the first and second inserts seats being angularly offset from each other with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tool body and axially offset from each other in the longitudinal direction of the tool body with the first insert seat being located closer to the front end of the tool body than the second insert seat, wherein each one of the first and second insert seats has a first end and an opposite second end, the first end of each one of the first and second insert seats being arranged closer to the front end of the tool body than the opposite second end of the same insert seat;
• and
• several substantially geometrically identical thread milling inserts, each being detachably mountable in a respective insert seat of the at least one pair of insert seats and comprising:
• an elongated insert body having a first end and an opposite second end, wherein the insert body includes first and second major faces arranged on opposite sides of the insert body and serving as top and bottom faces of the thread milling insert, and wherein the insert body is provided with an axial abutment surface, which is located at the first end of the insert body and which is configured to abut against a corresponding axial support surface in the first insert seat when the thread milling insert is mounted in the first insert seat and to abut against a corresponding axial support surface in the second insert seat when the thread milling insert is mounted in the second insert seat, and
• a plurality of teeth arranged one after the other in a row along a peripheral side of the insert body that is located between the first and second major faces and that extends between the first and second ends of the insert body, wherein each tooth of the plurality of teeth has a first cutting edge on a first side of the tooth facing the first major face and a second cutting edge on an opposite second side of the tooth facing the second major face, the first cutting edges of the plurality of teeth forming a first group of cutting edges and the second cutting edges of the plurality of teeth forming a second group of cutting edges, wherein the first group of cutting edges and the second group of cutting edges are mirror symmetrical to each other with respect to a median plane of the insert body that extends halfway between the first and second major faces of the insert body, wherein
• the axial support surfaces in the first and second insert seats of said at least one pair of insert seats are arranged:
• with the axial support surface in the first insert seat located at the second end of the first insert seat and facing the front end of the tool body, and the axial support surface in the second insert seat located at the first end of the second insert seat and facing the rear end of the tool body, or
• with the axial support surface in the first insert seat located at the first end of the first insert seat and facing the rear end of the tool body, and the axial support surface in the second insert seat located at the second end of the second insert seat and facing the front end of the tool body;
• and
• each one of the thread milling inserts is configured with the first and second insert seats of said at least one pair of insert seats such that the thread milling insert is:
• mountable in the first insert seat in one single working position with the axial abutment surface on the insert body of the thread milling insert abutting against the axial support surface in the first insert seat and with one of said first and second groups of cutting edges in an active cutting position,
• mountable in the second insert seat in one single working position with the axial abutment surface on the insert body of the thread milling insert abutting against the axial support surface in the second insert seat and with the other one of said first and second groups of cutting edges in an active cutting position, and
• wherein the shape of the insert body of each one of the thread milling inserts is so configured to the shape of the first and second insert seats of said at least one pair of insert seats such that the insert body fits into the first insert seat only in a position with the axial abutment surface on the insert body abutting against the axial support surface in the first insert seat and into the second insert seat only in a position with the axial abutment surface on the insert body abutting against the axial support surface in the second insert seat.