Chip Free Drilling Process Creates Holes And Bushings

Mack Tool and Engineering is a successful South Bend, Indiana, contract shop that primarily serves customers in the aerospace, defense and medical industries. It taps a wide range of advanced equipment to machine parts from materials such as aluminum, stainless steel and high-nickel-content alloys that often have a variety of application-critical features. Joel Christensen says micro grooves are features that fall into that category, and they require tight tolerances in terms of width, corner radii and surface finish.

Mr. Christensen is a setup machinist in the shop’s two-axis turning center area, which has a couple of Mazak Quickturn Nexus 200 machines and a Mori Seiki SL-203. He says that because micro-groove specifications have become increasingly stringent over the years, he has considered new, more effective ways to machine them. Mr. Christensen points to a part the shop produced a few years ago that required a 0.02-inch-wide, full-radius groove. At that time, the decision was made to modify an existing Swiss-type toolholder and inserts for use in one of the two-axis turning centers. This required in-house grinding operations to add the full radius to the end of the inserts as well as shimming of the toolholder. In the end, the modified tool would produce the groove, but insert life was limited and unpredictable. Mr. Christensen says he sometimes was able to complete only five parts before the tool would break.

When this job returned for the third time, Mr. Christensen was given the okay to try a different grooving solution. He was aware of the Thinbit brand of grooving tools from Kaiser Tool (Fort Wayne, Indiana) and ordered a toolholder and a pack of Groove ‘N Turn inserts that feature the Dura-Max 2000 sub-micron grain carbide substrate. The inserts were off-the-shelf models that had the proper 0.02-inch-wide, full-radius tip. After switching to this Thinbit tool, Mr. Christensen was able to complete an entire batch of 60 parts with a single insert while achieving a surface finish of 32 Ra. Not only did this enable him to complete the job much faster because no grooving tool inserts needed to be replaced during the run, but it also eliminated the need to modify inserts to match the grooving application.

The success with this part is spurring Mr. Christensen to consider Thinbit tools for other parts that require micro grooves, especially given that he is now programming and choosing tooling for an increasing number of jobs in his area. One example is the aluminum aerospace part shown in photo 1 that requires two sets of three grooves. Thinbit offered another off-the-shelf solution for this part with inserts that have the proper 0.03-inch width and 0.01-inch corner radii. Each plunge of this tool completed a groove with a 32-Ra finish.

Another example is the high-nickel-alloy part shown in photo 2. The challenge with this part is not so much the three full-radius grooves at the end of the cylindrical body. Rather, it is the facing operation required for the boss and the 0.051-inch full-radius groove where the boss meets the body. Although the facing operation presents a heavily interrupted cut, a single full-radius Thinbit insert was able to face the boss and machine the groove for an entire batch of 25 parts, showing just a limited amount of wear afterwards. This speaks to the durability of these inserts, Mr. Christensen says.

Similarly, Mr. Christensen recently ordered and received Thinbit inserts to replace another brand for a face-grooving job he is currently running. The tool has a 0.002-inch full radius with a chipbreaker geometry ground into it. He believes the insert will hold the necessary ±0.0002-inch tolerance that’s required while the chipbreaker will enable this tool to do a better job of preventing unacceptable burrs from forming because it causes the insert to be even sharper. He also sees value in Thinbit Form-A-Groove inserts, which have multiple groove profiles on a single insert. That way, a single tool can create a number of grooves in a single plunge, which would be ideal for the aluminum part mentioned above.

To date, Mr. Christensen has used Thinbit groove inserts in widths ranging from 0.0195 to 0.065 inch with sharp and full-radius tips. In fact, Thinbit tooling has since been used to perform grooving work on the shop’s Swiss-type lathes and turn-mill multitasking machines. Mr. Christensen continues to consider and suggest Thinbit for future grooving work in his area, too,especially as he is becoming more involved in programming and choosing tooling to be used on the two-axis turning centers. Plus, he has recently replaced another cutting tool brand with Thinbit triangular carbide inserts for an ID boring operation. These inserts hold up just as well as those they replaced and are less expensive, he notes.

Mr. Christensen says he’ll do this because there are three aspects of Kaiser Tool—which celebrated the 50Tungsten Carbide Inserts th anniversary of the Thinbit brand in June—that he particularly appreciates. First, the company keeps a wide range of grooving tools in stock, offering fast delivery of inserts having various widths and tip geometries. Second, it turns custom tooling requests quickly. Although only a small fraction of Mr. Christensen’s jobs require custom grooving tool profiles, he says Kaiser Tool has turned some of those requests around in a matter of days. Finally, the company provides quality customer service. Mr. Christensen says he receives an email reply or phone call within 15 minutes of contacting Kaiser Tool to ask a question or place an order. The company will even contact him right away even if it isn’t able to provide a quote at that time. Mr. Christensen says he doesn’t always get this type of immediate RCMX Insert response from other tooling companies. 

The Cemented Carbide Blog: tungsten carbide cutting tools

Walter Xtra tec XT Milling Tools Feature Pocket Design

The performance of diamond cutting tools in particular points to one of the most harmful misconceptions affecting the use of high-performance tooling. That is, the belief that the price of the cutting tool equates to the cost of the process.

Diamond Innovations machining products manager Jim Graham calls this the “sticker shock” fallacy. A shop compares the price of, say, a high-performance CBN tool to the price of a general-purpose carbide insert. Seeing the price difference, the shop assumes the high-performance tool is less economical. Is it?

In truth, the gravity turning inserts high-performance tool may or may not be the right choice—but the price is too small a factor to make that determination.

While the cutting tool’s price does add to the cost of the process, the same cutting tool also subtracts from the cost of the process through savings in various areas.

To make the point even more clearly, consider that a machining facility is not delivering a tool to its customer—it’s delivering a part. Therefore, the cost of the part should be the focus. And the price of the tool is such a tiny portion of the cost of the part that it is actually very easy for a high-performance cutting tool to bring the overall cost down.

The pie chart illustrates this. In a typical machined part, the cutting tool accounts for only 3 percent of a machined part’s cost. By contrast, labor and machine time account for much larger percentages—around 30 percent apiece. By allowing more parts to be machined per hour or per shift, a high-performance cutting tool reduces the impact of both of these big contributors to part cost.

The price of tooling is actually an ineffective place to look for savings. Would you rather have a 30 percent savings on your cutting tools or a 20 percent increase in cutting speed? The analysis on this page shows that the right choice is not even close. Assuming the baseline cost of the part is $10, the reduced tooling cost would save only 9 cents. By comparison, the increased speed would save 16 times that much—even after assuming that the tool that achieves this speed increase is 50 percent more expensive.

Now try that same analysis with a BTA deep hole drilling inserts tool that costs two times or three times as much as the baseline tool. It can easily be shown that even very large increases in tool cost do not affect the savings resulting from even conservative gains in productivity.

In addition, some shops apply high-performance tooling to achieve levels of savings that are truly off the chart—at least off of the chart on this page. Tooling engineered to provide both long life and high reliability can make it possible for shops that have never done so before to achieve successful “lights out” machining processes. If the shop can run unattended after hours, capturing machine capacity that is not even being used today, then arguably the costs of both labor and machinery for this work drop to zero. After all, no operators are present, and the machinery has been paid for by the daytime machining. That is why unattended machining can be one of the most profitable ways for a high-performance tool to can transform the machining process.

Next: Rule #5 - Consider the Cutting Tool from the Very Beginning

The Cemented Carbide Blog: grooving Insert

Browser Based Software Simplifies Custom Tool Ordering

Many machine shops today are machining with inserts much larger than are required. There are two trends in the machining industry today that influence the decision to consider downsizing your inserts size. The first is the raw materials (tungsten and cobalt) used to produce carbide inserts are dramatically increasing in price. The second is manufacturing technology is advancing and parts to be machined are considered “near net”. That means the unmachined part is near its net size or there is little material to be removed.  Over 75% of the turning market takes depth of cuts of 0.117" (3mm) or less. Yet many machine shops insist on using large size inserts.  The most common turning insert sold in North America today is a CNMG 432. This insert is capable of almost 0.250" (6.35mm) depth of cut. Yet as mentioned earlier over 75% of the machining industry takes cuts of less than half of that depth.  This seems wasteful.

In order to maintain the same performance, integrity and fracture resistance of the tool the smaller insert should have a thickness close to equal that of the large inserts. The insert numbering system or “nomenclature” indicates the size of the insert. The first number specifies the size of the inscribed circle of that particular insert geometry. In the case of a CNMG 432, the 4 gravity turning inserts would translate to 4/8 or ½ inch inscribed circle. The second number points to the thickness of the insert. In this case a CNMG 432 the 3 shows a 3/16 inch thick insert and the last number indicates the radius of the insert.  So if you are using a CNMG 432 insert, you can simply downsize to a CNMG 332 insert. Since the insert thickness is the same, the chip breaker and grade are the same the performance will be equal.  However the price will be 20% less.

Some shops are reluctant to change, since they consider they have an investment in the tool holder. A typical holder for a CNMG 432 would be an ACLNR 16-4 which would typically list for $85.00. A CNMG 432 insert typically has a list price of around $11.25 where as a smaller CNMG 332 would typically have a list price  20% less or around $9.00. By BTA deep hole drilling inserts downsizing your insert the break even on the tool holder would occur after only using 38 inserts. A typical tool holder is capable of lasting several hundred inserts. Of course this is only an extra cost on the first replacement as all tool holders eventually will wear out and need replacing. Of course there is no extra cost involved if the shop simply waits until the holder wears out and replaces it. However this is not recommended as the shop would be spending too much money on larger inserts.

This leads to another topic: Tool holders. Many shops tend to push the life of the tool holder without realizing the negative consequences. Tool holders are subjected to intense pressure, heat and abuse. Over time the pocket in a tool holder will “coin” or deform making the insert “fit” loose. This may cause the insert to move while in cut. This will lead to shorter tool life, slower performance and may result in catastrophic failure. It is sensible to change your holder often as it will help maintain high productivity, extend tool life and reduce the chance of catastrophic failure. Trying to save a few dollars by extending the life of the $85 tool holder generally ends up cost much more in reduced productivity, poor tool life and probable tool failure.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: tungsten long inserts

Indexable Insert Broaching Tool Technology For Lathes

The company has introduced the New Axis keyway cutter, a Carbide Milling Inserts fluid-driven solution designed to decrease floor-to-floor cycle times by eliminating secondary broaching or milling operations, the company says. Driven by a machining center's coolant system, the cutter machines keyways and splines--without spindle rotation--in bores down to a 1/2" in diameter.

By harnessing the pressure of the machining center's coolant system, the cutter is said to combine keyway cutting with turning and/or boring operations. It reduces cycle times, tool wear and increases throughput, according to the company.

It is available in five standard shank sizes: BT 40, CT 40, CT 50, HSK63A and straight shank. Four head sizes are available, each matched with one of three cutter diameters. Odd-sized keyways are said to be produced via multiple passes to achieve the required depth and width. Custom designs are also gravity turning inserts offered. The cutter uses the same coupling as the company’s New Axis right angle head, allowing those who already own the shank to purchase only the appropriate cutter head.

Spindle rotation is not required for power, according to the company. The positive displacement ball piston motor in the head achieves speeds and torque relative to coolant flow and pressure. Light duty applications require as little as 300 psi, and heavier duty applications require 1,000 psi or more. The drive shaft transmits power from the motor to the arbor-type stagger tooth cutter via the drive pins. The cutter also loads from an automatic toolchanger.

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The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Range of Hydraulic Chucks Increase Tool Productivity

Sandvik’s CoroThread 266 family of rigid, high-precision threading tools are available in 0.5" and 0.625" insert sizes. The tools are buil to high levels of stability through the iLock insert locking system. With this design, an insert contains a slot for each of its three indexable cutting edges. When locked into place, these slots correspond to a raised guide rail on the actual tool, providing a much more stable interface. According to the company, the iLock system simplifies tool setups, eliminates potential insert movement rod peeling inserts during machining and provides repeatability with high levels gravity turning inserts of accuracy. Additionally, iLock disperses cutting forces with no pressure points to reduce the strain on both tool and insert.

The E-tolerance of the system is 0.0004" axially and 0.002" radially, minimizing the effects of changing cutting edges to ensure maximum product consistency, the company says.

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Custom Tools For Critical Grooves

Getting manual lathe operators comfortable with CNC is not the only benefit of a CNC toolroom lathe, says Haas Automation applications manager gun drilling inserts gun drilling inserts Jeff Endean. While programming a part using CAM software can produce a more efficient machining cycle, the ability to program the job quickly at the control can lead to greater time savings overall if the run of parts is small—or even if the run is somewhat large. Details of the part will determine where the break point lies, but based on users' experiences, Mr. Endean estimates the productive maximum quantity for a typical turned part to be as high as 120 pieces. If the run is smaller than this, he says, then it is likely that an operator can complete the job faster by entering parameters into the CNC and using the program that results, as opposed to waiting for the CAM department to generate a program that is more efficient.

The CNC on Haas's TL-1 toolroom lathe allows the operator to create programs using only the knowledge shoulder milling cutters and information that a manual machinist would possess. An operator touches off the part to find program zero coordinates, then enters parameters relevant to the cut to allow the contol to create the tool paths. For an OD turning operation, for example, the operator enters values such as the intended diameter and the maximum depth of cut. Speed and feed rate default to conservative settings, but these can be entered directly as well. By inputting such parameters for one operation after another, the operator can create the program for a relatively complex part without any G-code understanding.

The G-code program is still there, however. It's written in the background. For users who do understand G code, the program can be called up and edited in this form.

This method of programming—entering part dimensions directly, without translating them for the machine—takes a variety of lathe operations that have traditionally been difficult and makes them easy to perform. Threading is an example. No expertise is required; the operator simply enters thread dimensions that can be found on the part print. Chamfering is another example; it can be performed using an automatically generated diagonal tool path instead of a manual adjustment to the tool block. Also, consider a turned radius. Instead of machining this feature using a tool with the radius ground in, the operator can simply enter the desired dimension and let the control produce this form by means of an interpolated arc.

Advantages such as these can make an intuitively programmable machine into a productive resource not just for the manual machinist, but also for users who are comfortable with G code or have access to CAM. Requiring the operator to enter only straightforward information about the part and the cut reduces the mental effort necessary to think through the correct moves for every feature.

Still, the opportunity to provide an easy entry into CNC is also significant. Though the TL-1 comes with handwheels, they are intended to be used infrequently by anyone familiar with the machine. Instead of using the wheels, it is generally easier to push a button and let the machine rapid to position electronically. The handwheels are there to a certain measure for psychological effect, Mr. Endean says. They ease the transition—during the first week or so—for an operator who is coming to CNC for the first time.

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Inserts For Aggressive Metalcutting

Cause of wear on Cutting tool include the following ones:

Cutting tool materials

Tool material is the fundamental factor to determine the cutting performance of the tool, which has a great influence on the machining efficiency, machining quality, machining cost and tool durability. The harder the tool material is, the better the wear resistance, the higher the hardness, the lower the impact toughness and the more brittle the material is. Hardness and toughness are a pair of contradictions and a key to overcome for tool materials. For graphite cutting tools, the common TiAlN coating can choose the materials with relatively better toughness, that is, the cobalt content is slightly higher; for diamond coated graphite cutting tools, the hardness is relatively better, that is, the cobalt content is slightly lower.

Geometric Angle of Tool

Choosing the appropriate geometric angle of graphite cutter can help to reduce the vibration of the cutter. Conversely, graphite workpiece is not easy to collapse.

1. When graphite is machined with negative rake angle, tool edge strength is better, impact resistance and friction resistance are better. With the decrease of absolute value of negative rake angle, the wear area of flank changes little, but the overall trend is decreasing. When graphite is machined with positive rake angle, the tool becomes sharper with the increase of rake angle, but the strength of tool edge is reduced.  Weakening, on the contrary, leads to worsening of flank wear. When the negative rake angle is machined, the cutting resistance is large and the cutting vibration is increased. When the large positive rake angle is machined, the tool wear is serious and the cutting vibration is large. Generally, the tool with smaller rake angle or negative rake angle should be selected for rough machining.

2. If the back angle increases, the strength of the tool edge decreases and the wear area of the flank increases gradually. When the tool’s back angle is too large, the cutting vibration is strengthened. The smaller the rear angle is, the longer the friction contact length between the elastic restoring layer and the flank is. It is one of the direct causes of the wear of the cutting edge and the flank. In this sense, increasing the rear angle can reduce friction and improve the machined surface quality and tool life.

3. When the helix angle is small, the cutting edge length of graphite workpiece cut into at the same cutting edge is the longest, the cutting resistance is the greatest, and the cutting impact force is the greatest, so the tool wear, milling gravity turning inserts force and cutting vibration are the greatest. When the helix angle is larger, the direction of the milling resultant force deviates from the workpiece surface to a large extent, and the cutting impact caused by the disintegration of graphite material increases, so the tool wear, milling force and cutting vibration also increase. Therefore, the influence of tool angle change on tool wear, milling force and cutting vibration is caused by the combination of front angle, rear angle and helix angle, so more attention must be paid to the selection.

Through a large number of scientific tests on the processing characteristics of graphite materials, PARA tool optimizes the geometric angle of the relevant tools, which greatly improves the overall cutting performance of the tool.bar peeling inserts

Coating of Cutting Tools

Diamond coated cutting tools have the advantages of high hardness, good wear resistance and low friction coefficient. At present, diamond coated cutting tools are the best choice for graphite processing, and can best reflect the superior performance of graphite cutting tools. The advantages of diamond coated carbide cutting tools are the combination of hardness of natural diamond and strength of cemented carbide. And fracture toughness; but the technology of diamond coating in China is still in its infancy, and the investment of cost is very large, so the development of diamond coating will not be too great, but we can optimize the angle of tools, material selection and other aspects and improve the structure of common coating on the basis of common tools, in a certain process. Degree can be used in graphite processing.

The geometric angle of diamond coated cutter is essentially different from that of common coated cutter, so when designing diamond coated cutter, due to the particularity of graphite processing, its geometric angle can be enlarged appropriately, the volume cutting groove will be enlarged, and the wear resistance of cutter edge will not be reduced. For ordinary TiAlN coating, though it is better than uncoated one. Compared with diamond coating, the geometric angle of graphite cutting tool should be appropriately reduced to increase its wear resistance.

Tool surface treatment technology has also made new development. Mobile spinach has released the latest foreign news: using solid nano-structure boron atoms to modify the tool surface can greatly improve tool life.

For diamond coating, many coating companies in the world have invested a lot of manpower and material resources to research and develop related coating technology, but up to now, mature and economic coating companies abroad are limited to Europe; PARA, as an excellent graphite processing tool, also uses the most advanced coating technology in the world. Tool surface treatment to ensure the processing life, while ensuring the economic and practical tool.

Strengthening of Tool Edge

Tool edge passivation technology is a very important problem which has not been paid attention to universally. After grinding with diamond grinding wheel, there are different degrees of micro-notches in the carbide tool edge (i.e. micro-breaking edge and saw edge). The performance and stability of graphite high-speed cutting tools require higher requirements, especially the diamond coated tools must be passivated before coating, in order to ensure the firmness and service life of the coating. The purpose of tool passivation is to solve the defects of the micro-notches on the cutting edge after grinding, to reduce or eliminate the edge value, and to achieve the goal of smoothness, robustness and durability.

Processing conditions

Choosing appropriate processing conditions has a considerable impact on tool life.

1. Cutting mode (forward milling and reverse milling), the cutting vibration of forward milling is less than that of reverse milling. The cutter cut-in thickness decreases from the maximum to zero in downmilling, and there will be no bullet-cutter phenomenon caused by cutting no chips after cutter cut-in. The rigidity of the process system is good and the cutting vibration is small. In reverse milling, the cutter cut-in thickness increases from zero to the maximum, and the cutter cut-in thickness will be uniform on the surface of the workpiece at the initial stage because of the thin cutting thickness. Section path, if the edge encounters hard particles in graphite material or chip particles remaining on the surface of the workpiece, it will cause the bullet cutter or chatter of the cutter, so the cutting vibration of reverse milling is large.

2. Blowing (or vacuum) and impregnating EDM processing, timely cleaning of graphite dust on workpiece surface, is conducive to reducing tool secondary wear, prolonging tool life, reducing the impact of graphite dust on machine tool screw and guide rail;

3. Choose suitable high speed and corresponding large feed.

Summarize the above points. Tool material, geometric angle, coating, edge strengthening and machining conditions play different roles in tool life, which are indispensable and complementary. A good graphite cutter should have a smooth graphite powder chip removal groove, long service life, deep engraving processing, and can save processing costs.

Improvement method

1. Edge wear.

Improvements: increase feed rate; reduce cutting speed; use more wear-resistant blade materials; use coated blades.

2. Disintegration.

Improvement methods: use more tough material; use edge-strengthened blades; check the rigidity of the process system; increase the main deflection angle.

3. Thermal deformation.

Improvements: reduce cutting speed; reduce feed; reduce cutting depth; use more hot and hard materials.

4. Deep cutting damage.

Improvement methods: changing the main deflection angle; edge strengthening; changing the blade material.

5. Hot crack.

Improvements: correct use of coolant; reduce cutting speed; reduce feed; use coated blades.

6. Scrap accumulation.

Improvement: Increase cutting speed; Increase feed; Use coated blade or cermet blade; Use coolant; Make the edge sharper.

7. Crescent crater wear.

Improvements: reduce cutting speed; reduce feed; use coated blades or cermet blades; use coolant.

8. Fracture.

Improvement: use more tough material or groove; reduce feed; reduce cutting depth; check the rigidity of the process system.

Note: When the wear of the flank is up to 0.7 mm, the blade edge should be replaced; the maximum wear is 0.04 mm in finishing.

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What is carbide milling cutters？

Amarillo Gear Company (Amarillo, Texas) specializes in manufacturing right angle gear drives, spiral bevel gears up to 100-inch diameters, double reduction gear drives and fan drives.

Facing a backlog on their Cincinnati and LeBlond vertical machining centers, the company was looking for a more efficient way to cut the keyways of the different sizes of shafts for the gear drive units. The shafts are made out of various alloy and stainless steels. The company’s tooling was not performing well; it was unable to run the speed and feed needed to produce the parts in a timely manner. Tool rod peeling inserts life was short, resulting in continual tool change out, machine downtime and a large tooling inventory.

James Baker of Amarillo Gear attended a Milling Technical Training Seminar. “At the seminar, I saw some impressive demonstrations of the product capabilities of Iscar’s solid carbide end mills and Helimills,” he recalls. So he decided to give the company a call.

Dennis Vestal, an Iscar (Arlington, Texas) application specialist, brought in the appropriate tooling to run tests. After testing both Iscar and other suppliers, Amarillo Gear implemented Iscar’s Helimills for roughing the keyways and Iscar’s solid carbide end mills for finishing. On the vertical milling machines, the Helimills used to rough the keyways are running at 650 sfm and 0.004 ipt. The solid carbide end mills used to finish the keyways are running at 400 sfm, 0.004 ipt.

“Their product has given us the ability to actually run faster than we ever could before,” says Mr. Baker. “We actually have been able to realize a 50 percent increase in tool life and reduce our individual tool cost. This greatly reduces our overall cost, if we are actually using fewer tools and are still able to meet and beat production demands.”

Aggressively investigating other alternatives to further enhance both the roughing and finishing applications, Iscar tested the Iscar ShortIn collet chucks and ShrinkIn system.

To justify the cost of Amarillo Gear changing to these products, tool life had to be extended by 20 percent. By running the Helimills in the ShortIn collet chucks with exact size collets, feed rates were increased, improving tool life by as much as 20 percent. Because of the short projection, the new tooling also provided greater rigidity and less runout.

The ShrinkIn collets were set up in the ShortIn holders for the solid carbide end mills. Amarillo Gear was able to almost double its feed rates and achieve surface finishes as good as a 25 RMS, surpassing anything the company had previously achieved. Results went beyond the 20 percent increase in tool life needed to justify switching tooling to reach 60 percent better tool life.

Amarillo Gear has run these tools extensively for 2 years, and the company has experienced cost and time savings. On just one of the vertical milling machines running one of the shafts, the company saved 43 minutes per part, resulting in a savings of $51.48 on each part.

The ShrinkIn system is an enhancement to the existing ER system. The ShrinkIn collets use the Thermal Shrink phenomena for rigid clamping of solid carbide cutters. This system is said to provide higher torque, precision runout and better repeatability.

Among the advantages of ShortIn, according to the company, is the shortest possible overhang. Yet, the product is suitable for both regular and shrink collets. The short collets provide high gripping force, thereby reducing cutting vibrations and improving runout and repeatability. Each chuck is balanced to 2.5 G @ 20,000 rpm, has a symmetrical design for high speed machining and is cost effective. This short holder is now available for ER32 and ER40 spring and shrink collets and TG100 spring collets. These new short holders are said to provide rigidity and better cutting conditions.

Production time at Amarillo Gear has decreased by as much as a 40 hours a week. fast feed milling inserts This results from the reduced cycle time and increased tool life, which have eliminated the machining backlog the company was experiencing. Amarillo Gear is now able to run one shift instead of two to meet production requirements.

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Synthetic Cutting Fluid Keeps Shop Cleaner without Sacrificing Performance

Rollomatic’s LaserSmart laser and ablation machine produces sharp corner radii in the polycrystalline diamond (PCD) industry with a maximum radius on the cutting edge below 1.0 micron and can also produce a defined radius of 3, 6 and 9 microns. This machine is designed to provide higher quality in the production of high-performance PCD, cubic boron nitride (cBN), and CVD cutting tools which traditionally require production by a double Carbide Drilling Inserts process of spark erosion and polish grinding.

Fine laser cutting achieves a superfine cutting edge with a surface finish said to be unachievable by grinding, EDM or EDG. The company says that conventional grinding with diamond wheels will invariably “pull out” entire PCD crystals while laser cutting will slice through the crystal, leaving a portion of the crystal in the matrix. Linear technology on the linear and rotary axes is designed to provide highly-accurate trajectories for the complex cutting paths.

According to the company, fast feed milling inserts continuous testing over the last four years reveals that sharper cutting edges and superior surface quality in PCD tools enable longer tool life and higher feed rates during machining. Laser ablation enables optimization of tool geometries and manufacturing chip-form geometries in PCD is performed by the machine using the ablation process. Tools with HSK63 shanks can be accommodated on this machine.

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Choosing Your Carbide Grade： A Guide

Iscar’s Deca IQ Thread is a 5/8" round insert with five double-sided corners, providing 10 functional cutting edges. The line is designed to boost production, raise quality and reduce costs.

The insert features a positive, free-cutting geometry and is designed to promote accurate edge location and repeatability after corner indexing. The IC908-grade tube process inserts insert can be used in a variety of materials. The toolholders feature coolant channels designed for use with conventional and high-pressure coolant ability.

The coolant channels of the tools feature outlets that are close to the cutting edge, enabling shorter machining time, longer tool life, improved chip control, effective cooling-down of the cutting edge and a more stable process, the company says.

Toolholders are available in a variety of sizes ranging from 0.5" shoulder milling cutters to 1" (12 to 25 mm) to accommodate standard CNC machines as well as the Swiss industry. The front edge of the insert is parallel to the front edge of the toolholder, making it well suited for Swiss machining. According to the company, this enables the threading operation to get closer to the guide bushing, resulting in less vibration and better finishes. The smaller toolholders are also ported in three different locations to accommodate various coolant connections. 

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cutting Carbide Inserts