Cutting tools are the key to tool and mold manufacturing. As the industry’s efficiency and quality requirements continue to increase, suppliers will use highly specialized tools to meet the needs of different customer applications.
Speed and fast cycle time are becoming more and more important in tool and mold manufacturing. Modern cutting and milling solutions offer great potential for speeding up production time and can even completely replace the entire processing step. Nevertheless, precision and surface quality are also important. Especially when narrow and deep contours and cavities must be cut, the requirements for milling cutters are very high.
The special and usually superhard materials to be processed in tool and mold making require equally professional and hard cutting tools. Therefore, companies that manufacture tools and molds need high-quality tools that ensure complete process reliability. They need their tools to provide the highest level of accuracy, long tool life, shortest set-up time, and of course they need to be provided at a cost-effective price. This is because modern mold manufacturing is facing continuous pressure to increase productivity. The continuous progress of automation is of great help in achieving this goal. The cutting tools used in the automation process must keep up with these developments to meet the high requirements of customers in terms of speed, stability, flexibility and production reliability.
Anyone who wants to optimize the cost-effectiveness of their processing should pay attention to the productivity of the entire process.
This can save costs, the tool manufacturer LMT Tools believes. Therefore, high-performance cutting tools that ensure high metal removal rates and maximum process reliability are essential. With Multiedge T90 PRO8, the company provides an effective solution for square shoulder milling operations.
LMT Tools’ Multiedge T90 PRO8 tangential indexable insert milling system sets the standard in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness. (Source: LMT Tools)
Multiedge T90 PRO8 is a tangential insert milling system, each insert has a total of eight available cutting edges. Cutting materials, geometries and coatings are particularly suitable for machining steel (ISO-P), cast iron (ISO-K) and stainless steel (ISO-M), and are designed for rough machining and semi-finishing applications. The tangential installation position of the blade ensures a good contact area and clamping force ratio, thereby ensuring maximum stability. It can ensure process reliability even at high metal removal rates. The ratio of the tool diameter to the number of teeth, combined with the high achievable feed rates, can achieve these high metal removal rates. Therefore, a shorter cycle time is achieved, thereby reducing the total process cost or the cost of each part. The large number of cutting edges per insert also helps to increase the efficiency of the milling system. The system includes a carrier body in the range of 50 to 160 mm and direct compression inserts with a cutting depth of up to 10 mm. The stamping process does not require grinding during the production process, thereby minimizing manual rework.
Shortening the cycle time directly affects productivity and thus the company’s profitability. The company claims that CAM suppliers are now developing cycles for circular arc milling cutters. Walter has introduced the new MD838 Supreme and MD839 Supreme series end mills, which can reduce cycle time by up to 90%. In finishing, the new arc segment tool can shorten the cycle time by significantly increasing the tool step. Compared with ball-end end mills, which are usually retracted when applied to profile milling at a speed of 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm, arc segment milling cutters can achieve a retract rate of 2 mm or higher, depending on the selection The diameter of the tool and the radius of the tool flank. This solution reduces the tool path movement, thereby shortening the cycle time. The new MD838 Supreme and MD839 Supreme series can engage the entire blade length, improve material removal rate, improve surface finish and extend tool life. Two-circle segment milling cutters of WJ30RD grade can be used for processing steel and cast iron materials. These tools are also available in Walter’s WJ30RA grade for efficient machining of stainless steel, titanium and heat-resistant alloy grades. Due to their specially developed geometry, these two milling cutters are ideal for semi-finishing and finishing of parts with steep walls, deep cavities, prismatic surfaces and transition radii. Walter said that this series of applications and materials make MD838 Supreme and MD839 Supreme ideal for efficient finishing in the field of mold and mold manufacturing.
Difficult-to-machine materials such as stainless steel and high-temperature alloys are often used in mold manufacturing and pose special challenges. Dormer Pramet has also added some new products to its series designed to handle these tasks. Its new generation solid carbide five-blade end mills are designed for dynamic milling in general machining and mold applications. The S7 solid carbide milling cutter series provided by Dormer Pramet covers a wide range of operations in various steel, cast iron and difficult-to-machine materials (including stainless steel and super alloys). The company claims that the feed rate of the newly added S770HB, S771HB, S772HB and S773HB is 25% higher than that of the four-flute milling cutter. All models have a positive rake angle to achieve smooth cutting action and reduce the risk of work hardening. AlCrN coating can provide thermal stability, reduced friction, excellent wear resistance and longer durability, while the small corner radius and tip design can provide stable performance and extend tool life.
For the five-axis machining center, the same manufacturer developed an advanced barrel end mill. According to the company, the new S791 tool has excellent surface quality and is suitable for semi-finishing and finishing of steel, stainless steel, cast iron and high-temperature alloys. It is the first design of its kind in the company’s Dormer series and includes a nose radius for fillet milling, and a larger tangential form for bending and deep wall surface machining.
Compared with traditional ball end mills, barrel-shaped tools provide more overlap, achieve a larger contact area with the workpiece, extend tool life and shorten cycle time. According to the manufacturer, the fewer passes required, the shorter the machining time, while continuing to realize all the common advantages associated with sturdy ball end mills. In a recent example, when machining with the same parameters, the cylindrical end mill requires only 18 passes, while the ball-end version requires 36 passes.
The comprehensive new Aluflash production line includes 2A09 2-edge regular-length square end mills. (Source: ITC)
On the other hand, when aluminum is the material of choice, ITC’s Aluflash series guarantees high performance. The new series of end mills is a versatile milling cutter, ideal for slotting, ramp milling, side milling, plunge milling, interpolation, dynamic milling and spiral milling. This series can eliminate vibration and run at higher speeds and feed rates, including two- and three-flute solid carbide end mills with a diameter of 1 to 25 mm. Speed up execution
The new Aluflash allows steeper slope angles and combines many new technologies to meet the high requirements of high-performance milling. Aluflash has introduced a W-shaped chip flute to improve chip formation and chip evacuation, thereby enhancing process stability and reducing cutting forces. Complementing this is the parabolic core, which improves tool stability, reduces the possibility of deflection and damage, and improves surface finish. Aluflash also has double or triple tines, depending on whether the customer chooses a two-edged or three-edged variant. The front cutting edge further improves the chip removal ability, thereby increasing the slope processing ability and the Z-axis processing ability.
PCD integral milling cutter with “cold injection” option, which can be used to the maximum in the mass production of aluminum machining (Source: Lach Diamant)
When it comes to aluminum processing, Lach Diamant reviewed 40 years of experience. It all started in 1978, when the world’s first PCD milling cutter-straight cut, shaft angle or contour was produced for customers in the wood, furniture, plastics and composites industries. Over time, with the continuous development of CNC machine tools, the company’s polycrystalline diamond (PCD) cutting material has become the most advanced material for mass production and processing of aluminum and composite parts in the automotive and accessories industry.
High-performance milling of aluminum requires special protection for the diamond cutting edge to prevent unnecessary heat generation. To solve this problem, Lach Diamant cooperated with Audi to develop a “cold injection” system. In this new technology, the cooling jet from the carrier tool is directly transmitted to the generated chips through the diamond cutting edge. This eliminates the generation of harmful heat. This innovation has received a number of patents and has received the Hessian Innovation Award. The “cold injection” system is the key to PCD-Monoblock. PCD-Monoblock is a high-performance milling tool that enables series manufacturers to obtain the best advantages from HSC/HPC aluminum processing. This solution allows the maximum width of the available PCD cutting edge to be used for feed.
Horn is expanding its M310 milling system for slot milling and slot cutting. (Source: Horn/Sauerman)
With the expansion of the range of tools used for slot milling and slot cutting, Paul Horn is responding to user requirements to better control the heat generated during machining. The company now offers its M310 milling system with an internal cooling supply for the cutter body. The company expanded the slot milling cutter and slot milling cutter series with the new tool body, extending the service life of indexable inserts, thereby reducing tool costs. Since no heat is transferred from the cutting area to the part, the internal coolant supply can also improve the accuracy of slot milling. In addition, the flushing effect of the coolant combined with the geometry of the cutting edge reduces the tendency of chips to get stuck in the deep groove.
Horn offers two types of milling cutters and grooving tools. The screw-in milling cutter has a diameter of 50 mm to 63 mm and a width of 3 mm to 5 mm. As a shank milling cutter, the diameter of the main body ranges from 63 mm to 160 mm, and the width is also from 3 mm to 5 mm. The three-edged S310 carbide inserts are bolted to the left and right sides of the main body to ensure a good distribution of cutting force. In addition to more geometries for machining different materials, Horn has also developed inserts with geometries for milling aluminum alloys.
Seco solid carbide hobbing cutters with patented HXT coating are also suitable for processing medical components, such as femoral implants. (Source: Seco)
3+2 or 5-axis pre-finishing and finishing of tough ISO-M and ISO-S materials (such as titanium, precipitation hardened steel or stainless steel) may require low cutting speeds and the use of multiple tools. In addition to the use of traditional balls In addition to the long cycle time for head end mills, the use of new and technically demanding machining strategies in metal cutting is often a challenge. Compared with traditional ball-end milling cutters, Seco Tools’ new hob machining tools can shorten the time-consuming finishing process by up to 80%. The tool geometry and shape can achieve rapid machining with large steps without increasing the cutting speed. The company stated that users benefit from shorter cycle times, fewer tool changes, high reliability and consistent surface quality.
Mapal’s Tritan-Drill-Reamer: Three cutting edges and six guiding chamfers for high-precision and economical assembly holes. (Source: Mapal)
Combine multiple processing steps in one tool to make manufacturing as economical as possible. For example, you can use Mapal’s Drill-Reamer to drill and ream at the same time. This internally cooled knife for tapping, drilling and reaming is available in 3xD and 5xD lengths. The new Tritan drill reamer has six guiding chamfers to provide excellent guiding performance, and the precision ground chip flute has a matching groove shape to achieve good chip removal and self-centering chisel edge, which is convincing. Self-centering chisel edge ensures good positioning accuracy and improved tapping performance. Three cutting edges ensure the best roundness and highest performance of the hole. The reaming cutting edge produces a high-quality surface.
Compared with traditional full-radius milling cutters, Inovatools’ Curve Max milling cutters have a special geometry that can achieve greater path distances and straight-line jumps during pre-finishing and finishing. This means that although the working radius is larger, the tool still has the same diameter (Source: Inovatools)
Every company has different cutting requirements. This is why Inovatools presents a series of tool solutions in its new catalog, divided into their respective application areas, such as tool and mold making. Whether it is milling cutters, drills, reamers and counterbores, modular cutting system Inoscrew or various types of saw blades-from micro, diamond-coated and XL to special versions, users will always find what they need for a specific operation Tool of.
An example is the Curve Max curve segment milling cutter, which is mainly used for tool and mold manufacturing. Due to its special geometry, the new Curve Max milling cutter allows greater path distances and straight-line jumps during pre-finishing and finishing. Although the working radius is larger than the traditional full-radius milling cutter, the tool diameter is still the same.
Like all the solutions presented here, this new process is expected to improve surface quality and reduce processing time. These aspects are at the core of any purchasing decision for new cutting tools manufactured by tool and mold manufacturers to help achieve the company’s speed, efficiency, and ultimate profitability goals.
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Post time: Sep-08-2021