Machine Monitoring in a CNC Swiss Shop

The Amsaw R series saw, combined saw/drill unit is designed to cut rails for the railroad industry. According to the company, the saw's benefits include smooth, accurate cuts and long tool life. Designed for high-production cutting of high-alloy rails, the rail saw features a saw blade change-over time of less than 3 minutes; hardened spindle gears ground for minimum backlash; a special saw-blade guide and dampening device for accurate cutting to stabilize the TCGT Insert blade; a low-maintenance design; and dry operation in which Shallow Hole Indexable Insert no coolant is needed, the company says. An electronic overload device monitors cutting performance and stops the saw feed when necessary. A chip conveyor passes chips to the rear of the machine for deposit into a tote box. It can be combined with an integrated or inline rail hole drilling machine for bolted joints at the rail ends or with in-feed and out-feed material handling systems.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Milling Inserts

The Amsaw R series saw, combined saw/drill unit is designed to cut rails for the railroad industry. According to the company, the saw's benefits include smooth, accurate cuts and long tool life. Designed for high-production cutting of high-alloy rails, the rail saw features a saw blade change-over time of less than 3 minutes; hardened spindle gears ground for minimum backlash; a special saw-blade guide and dampening device for accurate cutting to stabilize the TCGT Insert blade; a low-maintenance design; and dry operation in which Shallow Hole Indexable Insert no coolant is needed, the company says. An electronic overload device monitors cutting performance and stops the saw feed when necessary. A chip conveyor passes chips to the rear of the machine for deposit into a tote box. It can be combined with an integrated or inline rail hole drilling machine for bolted joints at the rail ends or with in-feed and out-feed material handling systems.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Milling Inserts

The Amsaw R series saw, combined saw/drill unit is designed to cut rails for the railroad industry. According to the company, the saw's benefits include smooth, accurate cuts and long tool life. Designed for high-production cutting of high-alloy rails, the rail saw features a saw blade change-over time of less than 3 minutes; hardened spindle gears ground for minimum backlash; a special saw-blade guide and dampening device for accurate cutting to stabilize the TCGT Insert blade; a low-maintenance design; and dry operation in which Shallow Hole Indexable Insert no coolant is needed, the company says. An electronic overload device monitors cutting performance and stops the saw feed when necessary. A chip conveyor passes chips to the rear of the machine for deposit into a tote box. It can be combined with an integrated or inline rail hole drilling machine for bolted joints at the rail ends or with in-feed and out-feed material handling systems.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Milling Inserts

CNC Grinder Series Supports High Production

Although Horn initially built its reputation on grooving and part-off technology, pigeonholing the tooling manufacturer as a specialist in those areas alone would be a huge disservice to the company and any potential customers. Moreover, a broader product line isn’t the only factor in Horn’s becoming a bigger contender during the past few decades. The company itself has grown steadily as well, a trend that management expects to continue throughout 2013 and beyond. 

These were two major takeaways from “Technology Days,” a biennial event at the company’s headquarters in picturesque Tubingen, Germany. Along with more than 2,000 customers and dealers from around the world—a reportedly CCMT Insert larger crowd than in previous years—press members including me and Chris Koepfer, editor-and-chief of MMS sister publication Production Machining, enjoyed a busy three days of demonstrations, tours and technical presentations.

Although Horn’s grooving expertise was evident from the get-go, demos and placards also showcased products that ran the gamut from milling and turning to broaching, reaming and thread-whirling. Notably, not all of these offerings were selections from the company’s 20,000-strong line of standard tools. Many were custom-designed models—which represent more than 50 percent of the company’s total annual turnover. The merits of custom tooling was also the topic of a particularly interesting technical presentation, while others focused on high-feed-rate machining, cutting with ultra-hard diamond and CBN materials, and performing broaching on CNC machines. (Watch for in-depth coverage of these topics in upcoming issues of both MMS and PM.)

In the United States, standard and custom tools alike are manufactured at Horn USA’s facility in Franklin, Tennessee. The U.S. market’s strength and growth potential has spurred plans to more than double the size of that facility beginning this year.  The overall company is growing, too. With annual turnover expected to rise by € 5 million this year over the € 220 million reported in 2012, the company is constructing a new building at the Tubingen campus for additional capacity. That project is slated for completion in 2015.

These expansions follow close on the heels of the 2012 completion of another new facility in Tubingen: a 16,000-square-meter factory for Horn Hartstoffe, the company’s carbide manufacturing operation. Here, powdered carbide mixes are shaped into “green” inserts via three different processes: axial pressing, and, perhaps more notably, extrusion and injection molding. This aspect of Horn’s manufacturing process, as well as the custom machines it uses to grind inserts after sintering, CNC Carbide Inserts were among the most fascinating aspects of my trip. Click here for a brief virtual tour.  

The Cemented Carbide Blog: SNMG Insert

Although Horn initially built its reputation on grooving and part-off technology, pigeonholing the tooling manufacturer as a specialist in those areas alone would be a huge disservice to the company and any potential customers. Moreover, a broader product line isn’t the only factor in Horn’s becoming a bigger contender during the past few decades. The company itself has grown steadily as well, a trend that management expects to continue throughout 2013 and beyond. 

These were two major takeaways from “Technology Days,” a biennial event at the company’s headquarters in picturesque Tubingen, Germany. Along with more than 2,000 customers and dealers from around the world—a reportedly CCMT Insert larger crowd than in previous years—press members including me and Chris Koepfer, editor-and-chief of MMS sister publication Production Machining, enjoyed a busy three days of demonstrations, tours and technical presentations.

Although Horn’s grooving expertise was evident from the get-go, demos and placards also showcased products that ran the gamut from milling and turning to broaching, reaming and thread-whirling. Notably, not all of these offerings were selections from the company’s 20,000-strong line of standard tools. Many were custom-designed models—which represent more than 50 percent of the company’s total annual turnover. The merits of custom tooling was also the topic of a particularly interesting technical presentation, while others focused on high-feed-rate machining, cutting with ultra-hard diamond and CBN materials, and performing broaching on CNC machines. (Watch for in-depth coverage of these topics in upcoming issues of both MMS and PM.)

In the United States, standard and custom tools alike are manufactured at Horn USA’s facility in Franklin, Tennessee. The U.S. market’s strength and growth potential has spurred plans to more than double the size of that facility beginning this year.  The overall company is growing, too. With annual turnover expected to rise by € 5 million this year over the € 220 million reported in 2012, the company is constructing a new building at the Tubingen campus for additional capacity. That project is slated for completion in 2015.

These expansions follow close on the heels of the 2012 completion of another new facility in Tubingen: a 16,000-square-meter factory for Horn Hartstoffe, the company’s carbide manufacturing operation. Here, powdered carbide mixes are shaped into “green” inserts via three different processes: axial pressing, and, perhaps more notably, extrusion and injection molding. This aspect of Horn’s manufacturing process, as well as the custom machines it uses to grind inserts after sintering, CNC Carbide Inserts were among the most fascinating aspects of my trip. Click here for a brief virtual tour.  

The Cemented Carbide Blog: SNMG Insert

Although Horn initially built its reputation on grooving and part-off technology, pigeonholing the tooling manufacturer as a specialist in those areas alone would be a huge disservice to the company and any potential customers. Moreover, a broader product line isn’t the only factor in Horn’s becoming a bigger contender during the past few decades. The company itself has grown steadily as well, a trend that management expects to continue throughout 2013 and beyond. 

These were two major takeaways from “Technology Days,” a biennial event at the company’s headquarters in picturesque Tubingen, Germany. Along with more than 2,000 customers and dealers from around the world—a reportedly CCMT Insert larger crowd than in previous years—press members including me and Chris Koepfer, editor-and-chief of MMS sister publication Production Machining, enjoyed a busy three days of demonstrations, tours and technical presentations.

Although Horn’s grooving expertise was evident from the get-go, demos and placards also showcased products that ran the gamut from milling and turning to broaching, reaming and thread-whirling. Notably, not all of these offerings were selections from the company’s 20,000-strong line of standard tools. Many were custom-designed models—which represent more than 50 percent of the company’s total annual turnover. The merits of custom tooling was also the topic of a particularly interesting technical presentation, while others focused on high-feed-rate machining, cutting with ultra-hard diamond and CBN materials, and performing broaching on CNC machines. (Watch for in-depth coverage of these topics in upcoming issues of both MMS and PM.)

In the United States, standard and custom tools alike are manufactured at Horn USA’s facility in Franklin, Tennessee. The U.S. market’s strength and growth potential has spurred plans to more than double the size of that facility beginning this year.  The overall company is growing, too. With annual turnover expected to rise by € 5 million this year over the € 220 million reported in 2012, the company is constructing a new building at the Tubingen campus for additional capacity. That project is slated for completion in 2015.

These expansions follow close on the heels of the 2012 completion of another new facility in Tubingen: a 16,000-square-meter factory for Horn Hartstoffe, the company’s carbide manufacturing operation. Here, powdered carbide mixes are shaped into “green” inserts via three different processes: axial pressing, and, perhaps more notably, extrusion and injection molding. This aspect of Horn’s manufacturing process, as well as the custom machines it uses to grind inserts after sintering, CNC Carbide Inserts were among the most fascinating aspects of my trip. Click here for a brief virtual tour.  

The Cemented Carbide Blog: SNMG Insert

Multi Character Tool Can Simplify Marking

Effective as of June 1, 2022, Index Corporation established a service department dedicated to rebuilding tool holders at its North American headquarters in Noblesville, Indiana. Previously, the company processed Shoulder Milling Inserts all similar rebuilds at its parent company in Germany. By bringing this capability to the United States, Index expects to cut lead times for rebuilds by 50 percent to 70 percent.

When Index rebuilds one of its tool holders, engineers fully disassemble the unit and inspect the housing and shafts. Any internal mechanical component demonstrating signs of wear is replaced, promoting the tool holder’s restoration to its original operating condition. Index offers this service for toolholders sold with any of its machines, including its production turning centers, turn mills, CNC multi-spindles and the Traub line of sliding-headstock lathes. Each rebuilt toolholder is backed by a 6-month warranty, Index reports.

“We are constantly looking for ways to more comprehensively Lathe Carbide Inserts meet our customers’ needs,” says Matt Voyles, director of customer support and operations at Index. “We’ve had a lot of customers tell us that they want the level of quality we provide when rebuilding a tool holder, but that they can’t wait the amount of time it takes to send their unit to Germany. The investment we’ve made in creating a U.S.-based tool holder rebuild department provides an immediate and clear benefit to customers.”

The engineers performing toolholder rebuilds are factory trained at Index’s global headquarters in Germany, and the process in the U.S. mirrors Index’s longstanding procedures, according to the company. Manufacturers wishing to receive a quote for having a toolholder rebuilt can log into their iXshop account on Index’s website or submit a request via email.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Effective as of June 1, 2022, Index Corporation established a service department dedicated to rebuilding tool holders at its North American headquarters in Noblesville, Indiana. Previously, the company processed Shoulder Milling Inserts all similar rebuilds at its parent company in Germany. By bringing this capability to the United States, Index expects to cut lead times for rebuilds by 50 percent to 70 percent.

When Index rebuilds one of its tool holders, engineers fully disassemble the unit and inspect the housing and shafts. Any internal mechanical component demonstrating signs of wear is replaced, promoting the tool holder’s restoration to its original operating condition. Index offers this service for toolholders sold with any of its machines, including its production turning centers, turn mills, CNC multi-spindles and the Traub line of sliding-headstock lathes. Each rebuilt toolholder is backed by a 6-month warranty, Index reports.

“We are constantly looking for ways to more comprehensively Lathe Carbide Inserts meet our customers’ needs,” says Matt Voyles, director of customer support and operations at Index. “We’ve had a lot of customers tell us that they want the level of quality we provide when rebuilding a tool holder, but that they can’t wait the amount of time it takes to send their unit to Germany. The investment we’ve made in creating a U.S.-based tool holder rebuild department provides an immediate and clear benefit to customers.”

The engineers performing toolholder rebuilds are factory trained at Index’s global headquarters in Germany, and the process in the U.S. mirrors Index’s longstanding procedures, according to the company. Manufacturers wishing to receive a quote for having a toolholder rebuilt can log into their iXshop account on Index’s website or submit a request via email.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Effective as of June 1, 2022, Index Corporation established a service department dedicated to rebuilding tool holders at its North American headquarters in Noblesville, Indiana. Previously, the company processed Shoulder Milling Inserts all similar rebuilds at its parent company in Germany. By bringing this capability to the United States, Index expects to cut lead times for rebuilds by 50 percent to 70 percent.

When Index rebuilds one of its tool holders, engineers fully disassemble the unit and inspect the housing and shafts. Any internal mechanical component demonstrating signs of wear is replaced, promoting the tool holder’s restoration to its original operating condition. Index offers this service for toolholders sold with any of its machines, including its production turning centers, turn mills, CNC multi-spindles and the Traub line of sliding-headstock lathes. Each rebuilt toolholder is backed by a 6-month warranty, Index reports.

“We are constantly looking for ways to more comprehensively Lathe Carbide Inserts meet our customers’ needs,” says Matt Voyles, director of customer support and operations at Index. “We’ve had a lot of customers tell us that they want the level of quality we provide when rebuilding a tool holder, but that they can’t wait the amount of time it takes to send their unit to Germany. The investment we’ve made in creating a U.S.-based tool holder rebuild department provides an immediate and clear benefit to customers.”

The engineers performing toolholder rebuilds are factory trained at Index’s global headquarters in Germany, and the process in the U.S. mirrors Index’s longstanding procedures, according to the company. Manufacturers wishing to receive a quote for having a toolholder rebuilt can log into their iXshop account on Index’s website or submit a request via email.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Tool Presetter Offers User Friendly Operating System

Carbide inserts proved to be Carbide Milling inserts too slow in the milling of three Inconel high-performance alloys used in the manufacture of valve components for oil drilling and other industrial and commercial applications. FMC technologies, Inc. Fluid Control Division’s plant (Stephenville, Texas) turned to Kennametal (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) for a solution.

“After 6 to 8 hours of training, productivity gains that our engineers and machinists saw in the tests made them absorb this technology instantly, because the time and money savings are significant,” says Fred Charlton. Mr. Charlton, a senior manufacturing engineer led to FMC’s inclusion of Kyon 2100 RNG 45-T ceramic inserts in the production process to meet customers’ increasing demand for valves made of longer-lasting exotic metals.

In addition to being impressed with the ability of the ceramic inserts to Carbide Threading Inserts cut six times faster than the carbide ones, Mr. Charlton and his colleagues were also amazed by the fact that all three materials—825,718 and 625 Inconel can be milled successfully with Kyon 2100, making it unnecessary to experience long periods of downtime to change tooling.

Kyon 2100 is a silicon nitride-based ceramic (SiALON) with a high resistance to thermal and mechanical shock, and depth-of-cut notching, two properties that are said to be useful for milling nickel- and cobalt-based heat-resistant materials.

FMC Technologies began comparing the performance of carbide inserts to Kyon 2100 RNG 45-T ceramic inserts in the high-performance milling of 825 Inconel to produce an integral tee, of 718 Inconel for manufacturing a part of the valve stem, and of 625 Inconel for creating a weld inlay of the valve body. Three months later, FMC moved the ceramic inserts onto the shop floor.

“The cutting speed and quality of the finish that Kyon 2100 gives are most impressive, especially on 718 Inconel, which is some nasty stuff,” says Mr. Charlton.

FMC, a Chicago-based producer of mission-critical technology solutions for the energy, food processing and air transportation industries, then moved production, and a half-dozen workers, to Stephenville, which is located about 80 miles southwest of Ft. Worth. The plant employs 450 people in the manufacture of fluid-control products, including metering equipment, flow control valves and joints, pumps, and manifold systems. Valve diameters of these devices range from 2 inches to 26 inches, and they are used in a variety of industrial applications.

“I am impressed by how Fred and his people have taken the technology and run with it,” says Robert White, the Kennametal MSE who helped Mr. Charlton decide on the Kyon 2100 inserts. “They have done an outstanding job of applying our high-performance milling solution in textbook fashion.”

Using a 12-year-old LeBlond Makino 86 horizontal machining center that is capable of a maximum 4,000 rpm and 50 taper, FMC was able to reach cutting speeds of 80 to 100 sfm (depending on specific part) using carbide inserts. In contrast, Kyon 2100 enabled the machine to cut at 4,000 sfm.

“The tooling is capable of allowing us to reach higher sfm values, but the machine’s limitations forced us to stop at 4,000 sfm,” explains Mr. Charlton.

With Kyon 2100, FMC achieved a federate of 81 to 84 ipm, compared to just 1.02 to 2.80 ipm when using carbide inserts. For all three applications, the axial and radial depths of cut are both an identical 0.100”.

Although the cost of the new ceramic inserts is 70 percent higher than carbide, the longer lifespan of each insert has decreased the cost per part by 86 to 94 percent.

Using the ceramic inserts has enabled FMC to maximize uptime because the company can use the same kind of insert to mill all three Inconel materials. By having a cutter stocked with fresh inserts always ready to replace spent inserts, changeout time is 10 seconds, compared to minutes when using carbide inserts—a difference that can reduce a job’s time by several hours.

Besides milling valve components made of Inconel faster than ever, using Kyon 2100 ceramic inserts has opened FMC’s eyes to other high-performance milling applications.

“With Kyon 2100, the possibilities are endless for milling Inconels and other exotics, and I look forward to exploring them,” says Mr. Charlton. “These inserts are so versatile that I am also considering their use with 410 stainless steel.”

The Cemented Carbide Blog: APKT Insert

Carbide inserts proved to be Carbide Milling inserts too slow in the milling of three Inconel high-performance alloys used in the manufacture of valve components for oil drilling and other industrial and commercial applications. FMC technologies, Inc. Fluid Control Division’s plant (Stephenville, Texas) turned to Kennametal (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) for a solution.

“After 6 to 8 hours of training, productivity gains that our engineers and machinists saw in the tests made them absorb this technology instantly, because the time and money savings are significant,” says Fred Charlton. Mr. Charlton, a senior manufacturing engineer led to FMC’s inclusion of Kyon 2100 RNG 45-T ceramic inserts in the production process to meet customers’ increasing demand for valves made of longer-lasting exotic metals.

In addition to being impressed with the ability of the ceramic inserts to Carbide Threading Inserts cut six times faster than the carbide ones, Mr. Charlton and his colleagues were also amazed by the fact that all three materials—825,718 and 625 Inconel can be milled successfully with Kyon 2100, making it unnecessary to experience long periods of downtime to change tooling.

Kyon 2100 is a silicon nitride-based ceramic (SiALON) with a high resistance to thermal and mechanical shock, and depth-of-cut notching, two properties that are said to be useful for milling nickel- and cobalt-based heat-resistant materials.

FMC Technologies began comparing the performance of carbide inserts to Kyon 2100 RNG 45-T ceramic inserts in the high-performance milling of 825 Inconel to produce an integral tee, of 718 Inconel for manufacturing a part of the valve stem, and of 625 Inconel for creating a weld inlay of the valve body. Three months later, FMC moved the ceramic inserts onto the shop floor.

“The cutting speed and quality of the finish that Kyon 2100 gives are most impressive, especially on 718 Inconel, which is some nasty stuff,” says Mr. Charlton.

FMC, a Chicago-based producer of mission-critical technology solutions for the energy, food processing and air transportation industries, then moved production, and a half-dozen workers, to Stephenville, which is located about 80 miles southwest of Ft. Worth. The plant employs 450 people in the manufacture of fluid-control products, including metering equipment, flow control valves and joints, pumps, and manifold systems. Valve diameters of these devices range from 2 inches to 26 inches, and they are used in a variety of industrial applications.

“I am impressed by how Fred and his people have taken the technology and run with it,” says Robert White, the Kennametal MSE who helped Mr. Charlton decide on the Kyon 2100 inserts. “They have done an outstanding job of applying our high-performance milling solution in textbook fashion.”

Using a 12-year-old LeBlond Makino 86 horizontal machining center that is capable of a maximum 4,000 rpm and 50 taper, FMC was able to reach cutting speeds of 80 to 100 sfm (depending on specific part) using carbide inserts. In contrast, Kyon 2100 enabled the machine to cut at 4,000 sfm.

“The tooling is capable of allowing us to reach higher sfm values, but the machine’s limitations forced us to stop at 4,000 sfm,” explains Mr. Charlton.

With Kyon 2100, FMC achieved a federate of 81 to 84 ipm, compared to just 1.02 to 2.80 ipm when using carbide inserts. For all three applications, the axial and radial depths of cut are both an identical 0.100”.

Although the cost of the new ceramic inserts is 70 percent higher than carbide, the longer lifespan of each insert has decreased the cost per part by 86 to 94 percent.

Using the ceramic inserts has enabled FMC to maximize uptime because the company can use the same kind of insert to mill all three Inconel materials. By having a cutter stocked with fresh inserts always ready to replace spent inserts, changeout time is 10 seconds, compared to minutes when using carbide inserts—a difference that can reduce a job’s time by several hours.

Besides milling valve components made of Inconel faster than ever, using Kyon 2100 ceramic inserts has opened FMC’s eyes to other high-performance milling applications.

“With Kyon 2100, the possibilities are endless for milling Inconels and other exotics, and I look forward to exploring them,” says Mr. Charlton. “These inserts are so versatile that I am also considering their use with 410 stainless steel.”

The Cemented Carbide Blog: APKT Insert

Carbide inserts proved to be Carbide Milling inserts too slow in the milling of three Inconel high-performance alloys used in the manufacture of valve components for oil drilling and other industrial and commercial applications. FMC technologies, Inc. Fluid Control Division’s plant (Stephenville, Texas) turned to Kennametal (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) for a solution.

“After 6 to 8 hours of training, productivity gains that our engineers and machinists saw in the tests made them absorb this technology instantly, because the time and money savings are significant,” says Fred Charlton. Mr. Charlton, a senior manufacturing engineer led to FMC’s inclusion of Kyon 2100 RNG 45-T ceramic inserts in the production process to meet customers’ increasing demand for valves made of longer-lasting exotic metals.

In addition to being impressed with the ability of the ceramic inserts to Carbide Threading Inserts cut six times faster than the carbide ones, Mr. Charlton and his colleagues were also amazed by the fact that all three materials—825,718 and 625 Inconel can be milled successfully with Kyon 2100, making it unnecessary to experience long periods of downtime to change tooling.

Kyon 2100 is a silicon nitride-based ceramic (SiALON) with a high resistance to thermal and mechanical shock, and depth-of-cut notching, two properties that are said to be useful for milling nickel- and cobalt-based heat-resistant materials.

FMC Technologies began comparing the performance of carbide inserts to Kyon 2100 RNG 45-T ceramic inserts in the high-performance milling of 825 Inconel to produce an integral tee, of 718 Inconel for manufacturing a part of the valve stem, and of 625 Inconel for creating a weld inlay of the valve body. Three months later, FMC moved the ceramic inserts onto the shop floor.

“The cutting speed and quality of the finish that Kyon 2100 gives are most impressive, especially on 718 Inconel, which is some nasty stuff,” says Mr. Charlton.

FMC, a Chicago-based producer of mission-critical technology solutions for the energy, food processing and air transportation industries, then moved production, and a half-dozen workers, to Stephenville, which is located about 80 miles southwest of Ft. Worth. The plant employs 450 people in the manufacture of fluid-control products, including metering equipment, flow control valves and joints, pumps, and manifold systems. Valve diameters of these devices range from 2 inches to 26 inches, and they are used in a variety of industrial applications.

“I am impressed by how Fred and his people have taken the technology and run with it,” says Robert White, the Kennametal MSE who helped Mr. Charlton decide on the Kyon 2100 inserts. “They have done an outstanding job of applying our high-performance milling solution in textbook fashion.”

Using a 12-year-old LeBlond Makino 86 horizontal machining center that is capable of a maximum 4,000 rpm and 50 taper, FMC was able to reach cutting speeds of 80 to 100 sfm (depending on specific part) using carbide inserts. In contrast, Kyon 2100 enabled the machine to cut at 4,000 sfm.

“The tooling is capable of allowing us to reach higher sfm values, but the machine’s limitations forced us to stop at 4,000 sfm,” explains Mr. Charlton.

With Kyon 2100, FMC achieved a federate of 81 to 84 ipm, compared to just 1.02 to 2.80 ipm when using carbide inserts. For all three applications, the axial and radial depths of cut are both an identical 0.100”.

Although the cost of the new ceramic inserts is 70 percent higher than carbide, the longer lifespan of each insert has decreased the cost per part by 86 to 94 percent.

Using the ceramic inserts has enabled FMC to maximize uptime because the company can use the same kind of insert to mill all three Inconel materials. By having a cutter stocked with fresh inserts always ready to replace spent inserts, changeout time is 10 seconds, compared to minutes when using carbide inserts—a difference that can reduce a job’s time by several hours.

Besides milling valve components made of Inconel faster than ever, using Kyon 2100 ceramic inserts has opened FMC’s eyes to other high-performance milling applications.

“With Kyon 2100, the possibilities are endless for milling Inconels and other exotics, and I look forward to exploring them,” says Mr. Charlton. “These inserts are so versatile that I am also considering their use with 410 stainless steel.”

The Cemented Carbide Blog: APKT Insert

Allied Machine & Engineering's 4TEX Indexable Carbide Drill Designed for High Temperature Alloys

Dorian Tool International’s new CNC Marker is a dynamic-pressure, multi-character marking WNMG Insert tool that has been engineered to operate in conjunction with a manual machine, CNC turning or machining center, lathe, mill and drill dress.

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Useful for a variety of applications involving single-piece marking or for high-production marking operations, the marker is lightweight enough for use in virtually any CNC machine like any TNGG Insert other cutting tool. The tool offers a dynamic pressure adjustment to control the depth of marking, the number of characters used and the range of materials and hardness to be stamped.

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Industry standard steel characters are used up to 3/8" height and can be quickly removed or changed from the tooholder, where they are positive held with a safety pin. The quick- change steel stamp toolholder system will fit in the tool head of marker. A positive locking system ensures that neither the steel stamp nor the quick-change toolholder will come loose while operation, says the company.

?

With a stamping cycle of less than one second, the marker can replace any secondary stamping operation. It is available in two sizes.

?

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Dorian Tool International’s new CNC Marker is a dynamic-pressure, multi-character marking WNMG Insert tool that has been engineered to operate in conjunction with a manual machine, CNC turning or machining center, lathe, mill and drill dress.

?

Useful for a variety of applications involving single-piece marking or for high-production marking operations, the marker is lightweight enough for use in virtually any CNC machine like any TNGG Insert other cutting tool. The tool offers a dynamic pressure adjustment to control the depth of marking, the number of characters used and the range of materials and hardness to be stamped.

?

Industry standard steel characters are used up to 3/8" height and can be quickly removed or changed from the tooholder, where they are positive held with a safety pin. The quick- change steel stamp toolholder system will fit in the tool head of marker. A positive locking system ensures that neither the steel stamp nor the quick-change toolholder will come loose while operation, says the company.

?

With a stamping cycle of less than one second, the marker can replace any secondary stamping operation. It is available in two sizes.

?

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Dorian Tool International’s new CNC Marker is a dynamic-pressure, multi-character marking WNMG Insert tool that has been engineered to operate in conjunction with a manual machine, CNC turning or machining center, lathe, mill and drill dress.

?

Useful for a variety of applications involving single-piece marking or for high-production marking operations, the marker is lightweight enough for use in virtually any CNC machine like any TNGG Insert other cutting tool. The tool offers a dynamic pressure adjustment to control the depth of marking, the number of characters used and the range of materials and hardness to be stamped.

?

Industry standard steel characters are used up to 3/8" height and can be quickly removed or changed from the tooholder, where they are positive held with a safety pin. The quick- change steel stamp toolholder system will fit in the tool head of marker. A positive locking system ensures that neither the steel stamp nor the quick-change toolholder will come loose while operation, says the company.

?

With a stamping cycle of less than one second, the marker can replace any secondary stamping operation. It is available in two sizes.

?

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Eliminating Tool Pullout in Titanium Milling

CAM Cemented Carbide Inserts software that supports 3 + 2 machining has helped make this technique a valuable option for users of five-axis machining centers. The 2014 R2 release of PowerMill CAM software from Delcam includes new utilities that enable the programmer to more quickly find the most advantageous workplane orientation, cutting tool tilt angle and tool length. This speeds the process of optimizing the 3 + 2 program, and makes checking for collisions faster and more thorough. One of these utilities, Dynamic Machine Control, enables the programmer to simulate the motion of the tool tip dynamically and instantly evaluate the effects of program edits to avoid collisions in the tool path.

Operating in 3 + 2 mode involves using the two rotational axes to lock the cutting tool in a tilted position before executing a three-axis milling program. This combination of three-axis milling and two-axis tool positioning gives this technique its 3 + 2 nickname. The main advantage of 3 + 2 machining is that it allows for the use of a shorter, more rigid cutting tool than would be permissible with conventional three-axis machining.

With 3 + 2, the spindle head can be lowered closer to the workpiece with the tool angledtoward the surface. Using a shorter tool, in turn, enables faster feeds and speeds with less tool deflection. This means that a good surface finish and more accurate dimensional results can be achieved in a shorter cycle time. Other benefits include shorter tool movements, fewer lines of program code and fewer machine setups.

Nevertheless, a 3 + 2 tool path requires the same careful preparation, verification and optimization as a full five-axis part program.

For example, one of the new utilities is a software toolbar that can be opened when a toolpath simulation stops after it detects a potential collision. Called Dynamic Machine Control, this toolbar enables the user to quickly and easily adjust any axis position in an existing tool path in order to avoid the collision. The programmer can test and evaluate these adjustments instantly by dynamically moving the repositioned tool tip around that tool path while it remains in constant contact with each toolpath segment. If this movement of the tool tip detects further collision points, the programmer can click on graphical “grab handles” that enable the tool to be tilted and rotated manually into a new position that avoids the problem area. For each repositioning, the software can create a workplane that is aligned to the adjusted cutting tool axis and machine tool orientation.

To aid this process, the toolbar includes a machine tool position dialog box, also new,that can be opened to view data on the position of the machine tool, together with the limits set for each axis. This dialog box also shows the range of motion set for each axis of the tool in its current orientation. This is depicted by a slide bar representing the travel limits for that axis. Sliding the indicator on the bar automatically controls the position of the tool as displayed SNMG Insert in the simulation, and it is a handy way to jog the machine components into position during the editing process. A warning pops up if an axis limit is exceeded.

At any point, the programmer can return to dynamic control of the tool tip. When finished making whatever adjustments in the tilt and rotation of the cutting tool are necessary to avoid all potential collisions, the programmer simply updates the tool path and runs the simulation as an additional check. A video demonstration of Dynamic Machine Control can be found at short.mmsonline.com/clear3+2.

Other enhancements in PowerMill 2014 R2 include an enhanced boundary editing history form, a composite curve creator that merges adjacent arcs and surface edges, an improved hole creation and editing utility, and more.

Learn more about Autodesk Inc.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Carbide Inserts

CAM Cemented Carbide Inserts software that supports 3 + 2 machining has helped make this technique a valuable option for users of five-axis machining centers. The 2014 R2 release of PowerMill CAM software from Delcam includes new utilities that enable the programmer to more quickly find the most advantageous workplane orientation, cutting tool tilt angle and tool length. This speeds the process of optimizing the 3 + 2 program, and makes checking for collisions faster and more thorough. One of these utilities, Dynamic Machine Control, enables the programmer to simulate the motion of the tool tip dynamically and instantly evaluate the effects of program edits to avoid collisions in the tool path.

Operating in 3 + 2 mode involves using the two rotational axes to lock the cutting tool in a tilted position before executing a three-axis milling program. This combination of three-axis milling and two-axis tool positioning gives this technique its 3 + 2 nickname. The main advantage of 3 + 2 machining is that it allows for the use of a shorter, more rigid cutting tool than would be permissible with conventional three-axis machining.

With 3 + 2, the spindle head can be lowered closer to the workpiece with the tool angledtoward the surface. Using a shorter tool, in turn, enables faster feeds and speeds with less tool deflection. This means that a good surface finish and more accurate dimensional results can be achieved in a shorter cycle time. Other benefits include shorter tool movements, fewer lines of program code and fewer machine setups.

Nevertheless, a 3 + 2 tool path requires the same careful preparation, verification and optimization as a full five-axis part program.

For example, one of the new utilities is a software toolbar that can be opened when a toolpath simulation stops after it detects a potential collision. Called Dynamic Machine Control, this toolbar enables the user to quickly and easily adjust any axis position in an existing tool path in order to avoid the collision. The programmer can test and evaluate these adjustments instantly by dynamically moving the repositioned tool tip around that tool path while it remains in constant contact with each toolpath segment. If this movement of the tool tip detects further collision points, the programmer can click on graphical “grab handles” that enable the tool to be tilted and rotated manually into a new position that avoids the problem area. For each repositioning, the software can create a workplane that is aligned to the adjusted cutting tool axis and machine tool orientation.

To aid this process, the toolbar includes a machine tool position dialog box, also new,that can be opened to view data on the position of the machine tool, together with the limits set for each axis. This dialog box also shows the range of motion set for each axis of the tool in its current orientation. This is depicted by a slide bar representing the travel limits for that axis. Sliding the indicator on the bar automatically controls the position of the tool as displayed SNMG Insert in the simulation, and it is a handy way to jog the machine components into position during the editing process. A warning pops up if an axis limit is exceeded.

At any point, the programmer can return to dynamic control of the tool tip. When finished making whatever adjustments in the tilt and rotation of the cutting tool are necessary to avoid all potential collisions, the programmer simply updates the tool path and runs the simulation as an additional check. A video demonstration of Dynamic Machine Control can be found at short.mmsonline.com/clear3+2.

Other enhancements in PowerMill 2014 R2 include an enhanced boundary editing history form, a composite curve creator that merges adjacent arcs and surface edges, an improved hole creation and editing utility, and more.

Learn more about Autodesk Inc.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Carbide Inserts

CAM Cemented Carbide Inserts software that supports 3 + 2 machining has helped make this technique a valuable option for users of five-axis machining centers. The 2014 R2 release of PowerMill CAM software from Delcam includes new utilities that enable the programmer to more quickly find the most advantageous workplane orientation, cutting tool tilt angle and tool length. This speeds the process of optimizing the 3 + 2 program, and makes checking for collisions faster and more thorough. One of these utilities, Dynamic Machine Control, enables the programmer to simulate the motion of the tool tip dynamically and instantly evaluate the effects of program edits to avoid collisions in the tool path.

Operating in 3 + 2 mode involves using the two rotational axes to lock the cutting tool in a tilted position before executing a three-axis milling program. This combination of three-axis milling and two-axis tool positioning gives this technique its 3 + 2 nickname. The main advantage of 3 + 2 machining is that it allows for the use of a shorter, more rigid cutting tool than would be permissible with conventional three-axis machining.

With 3 + 2, the spindle head can be lowered closer to the workpiece with the tool angledtoward the surface. Using a shorter tool, in turn, enables faster feeds and speeds with less tool deflection. This means that a good surface finish and more accurate dimensional results can be achieved in a shorter cycle time. Other benefits include shorter tool movements, fewer lines of program code and fewer machine setups.

Nevertheless, a 3 + 2 tool path requires the same careful preparation, verification and optimization as a full five-axis part program.

For example, one of the new utilities is a software toolbar that can be opened when a toolpath simulation stops after it detects a potential collision. Called Dynamic Machine Control, this toolbar enables the user to quickly and easily adjust any axis position in an existing tool path in order to avoid the collision. The programmer can test and evaluate these adjustments instantly by dynamically moving the repositioned tool tip around that tool path while it remains in constant contact with each toolpath segment. If this movement of the tool tip detects further collision points, the programmer can click on graphical “grab handles” that enable the tool to be tilted and rotated manually into a new position that avoids the problem area. For each repositioning, the software can create a workplane that is aligned to the adjusted cutting tool axis and machine tool orientation.

To aid this process, the toolbar includes a machine tool position dialog box, also new,that can be opened to view data on the position of the machine tool, together with the limits set for each axis. This dialog box also shows the range of motion set for each axis of the tool in its current orientation. This is depicted by a slide bar representing the travel limits for that axis. Sliding the indicator on the bar automatically controls the position of the tool as displayed SNMG Insert in the simulation, and it is a handy way to jog the machine components into position during the editing process. A warning pops up if an axis limit is exceeded.

At any point, the programmer can return to dynamic control of the tool tip. When finished making whatever adjustments in the tilt and rotation of the cutting tool are necessary to avoid all potential collisions, the programmer simply updates the tool path and runs the simulation as an additional check. A video demonstration of Dynamic Machine Control can be found at short.mmsonline.com/clear3+2.

Other enhancements in PowerMill 2014 R2 include an enhanced boundary editing history form, a composite curve creator that merges adjacent arcs and surface edges, an improved hole creation and editing utility, and more.

Learn more about Autodesk Inc.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Carbide Inserts

Milling Cutter Provides Multiple Cutting Edges

Ibag North America will feature the new 25-mm backworking spindle designed for Star Swiss-type machines that features 60,000 rpm with grease-packed Carbide Turning Inserts lubrication and 80,000 rpm with oil-mist lubrication. This HSC (high-speed cutting) motor spindle is designed for machining applications involving micro milling and drilling tools as well as engraving and fine milling. The spindle features rigid precision bearings near the spindle nose to enhance true running, ensuring better surface quality and greater machining accuracy. In addition, Ibag offers a ready-to-install kit for Micro Line spindles that includes the supply unit, all electrical and pneumatic lines to enable precision radial drilling, milling and tapping, expanding overall turning center capability.

The company also offers a full line of high-speed machine tool spindles with complete repair and rebuilding services as well as Witte vacuum workholding systems to serve metalworking manufacturers and precision product and component High Feed Milling Insert applications.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Ibag North America will feature the new 25-mm backworking spindle designed for Star Swiss-type machines that features 60,000 rpm with grease-packed Carbide Turning Inserts lubrication and 80,000 rpm with oil-mist lubrication. This HSC (high-speed cutting) motor spindle is designed for machining applications involving micro milling and drilling tools as well as engraving and fine milling. The spindle features rigid precision bearings near the spindle nose to enhance true running, ensuring better surface quality and greater machining accuracy. In addition, Ibag offers a ready-to-install kit for Micro Line spindles that includes the supply unit, all electrical and pneumatic lines to enable precision radial drilling, milling and tapping, expanding overall turning center capability.

The company also offers a full line of high-speed machine tool spindles with complete repair and rebuilding services as well as Witte vacuum workholding systems to serve metalworking manufacturers and precision product and component High Feed Milling Insert applications.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

Ibag North America will feature the new 25-mm backworking spindle designed for Star Swiss-type machines that features 60,000 rpm with grease-packed Carbide Turning Inserts lubrication and 80,000 rpm with oil-mist lubrication. This HSC (high-speed cutting) motor spindle is designed for machining applications involving micro milling and drilling tools as well as engraving and fine milling. The spindle features rigid precision bearings near the spindle nose to enhance true running, ensuring better surface quality and greater machining accuracy. In addition, Ibag offers a ready-to-install kit for Micro Line spindles that includes the supply unit, all electrical and pneumatic lines to enable precision radial drilling, milling and tapping, expanding overall turning center capability.

The company also offers a full line of high-speed machine tool spindles with complete repair and rebuilding services as well as Witte vacuum workholding systems to serve metalworking manufacturers and precision product and component High Feed Milling Insert applications.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Cemented Carbide Inserts

MP Systems' Purge Keeps Machine Tool Coolant Tanks Clean

Although carbide inserts are proven performers in virtually all types of CNC machining, aerospace alloy finishing presents a particularly good opportunity to start exploring alternatives. In recent testing, a new type of cubic boron nitride (CBN) finish-turning insert ran three times faster, lasted three times longer and removed nine times the material as cemented carbide in titanium 6AL-4V, all on the same cutting edge. “Consistent chip control and a long-lasting edge make this a great candidate to replace current stable finishing processes using carbide,” the researchers wrote.

The primary difference between this CBN and other inserts is not what it contains, but what it lacks: a binder to hold the sintered material together. Rather, the nanoparticles are fused directly to one another to form a virtually solid, continuous cutting surface. This construction enables taking full advantage of CBN’s extreme hardness and thermal conductivity in a material that is notorious for work hardening.

The higher-temperature, higher-pressure sintering process that makes binderless construction possible is significant for more than just machining performance. Cobalt, a critical ingredient in the “cement” that holds cemented tungsten carbide together, is increasingly rare and costly. The case is the same for tungsten, Niobium and other elements of these inserts. Eliminating the need for these materials in a cutting tool eliminates the need to pull them from the Earth, thus preserving precious resources while benefitting the environment as well as people directly affected by the mining.

The extent of these broader benefits depends on the extent to which performance benefits and economies of scale drive the expansion of binderless CBN (and perhaps other varieties of binderless insert) into new applications and materials. Meanwhile, the new NCB100 binderless CBN offering provides a ready alternative for work that otherwise would require redundant tooling and/or accounting for insert changes, wear-offset entry and the risk of tool breakage during lengthy, automated machining cycles.

The finish-turning tests were conducted at the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center (OMIC), a nonprofit collaborative research organization near Portland, at the request of the inserts’ developer, Sumitomo Electric Carbide, Inc. OMIC ran three NCB100 binderless CBN turning inserts against the AC51015S cemented carbide grade that Sumitomo would otherwise have recommended for the application. As expected, the carbide performed well in repeated tests, exhibiting 0.00208 inch of tip wear after 45 minutes in the cut. “There were no anomalies to note during these trials,” reads an OMIC report on the tests. “The insert showed even and predictable wear over time, creating a great baseline to compare from.”

Two of the CBN inserts, one with a low Helical Milling Inserts rake angle and one with a high rake angle, experienced similar levels of tip wear after 45 minutes (0.0024 inch for both CBN geometries). At this point, the carbide insert required indexing to maintain chip control. However, both CBN inserts continued to produce short, tightly curled chips. A third binderless CBN insert, this one with a medium rake angle, performed even better, wearing only half as much (0.0012 inch) at the 45-minute mark.

The biggest difference was speed. In repeated testing, all three CBN geometries ran at 400 sfm, versus only 200 sfm for the cemented carbide. Nonetheless, OMIC was not finished. Researchers pushed the highest-performing CBN insert (with the medium rake angle) well past the 45-minute mark, and they extended periodic wear measurements from 15- to 30-minute intervals. After 230 minutes, chips Carbide Turning Inserts were virtually indistinguishable from those generated at the 45-minute mark. In contrast, the carbide insert had worn twice as much, was removing only half the material, and was leaving a rougher surface.

Testing continued. Pushed to 600 sfm – three times the speed of carbide – the binderless CBN lasted more than 400 minutes before exhibiting the same level of flank wear as the carbide insert at 45 minutes (although with CBN, surface roughness had reached nearly 65 Ra by the 400-minute mark). At the 435-minute mark, chips began to become progressively long and stringy. Finally, at 555 minutes, the insert tip wore into a crescent shape, “much like sanding a block of wood down on a belt sander,” says Cody Apple, machining solutions researcher at OMIC. “This was predictable and easy to detect when it occurred.”  

Urmaze Naterwalla, OMIC head of R&D, analogizes traditional, “bindered” inserts to a road, with the individual particles embedded in the surface representing the cutting material (CBN in this case) and the tar representing the binding material. The binding material is softer, so it breaks down first as the surface deteriorates. It tears away in chunks to leave potholes. Without the tar, the particles are fused directly to one another. There are no potholes because the surface wears away at a relatively constant and predictable rate, resulting in two parallel divets carved from the wheels of passing traffic.

Yet, binder can do more than just hold insert material together. Jason Miller, a national applications engineer with Sumitomo at the time of this writing, says it also acts much like an automobile suspension, which employs springs and other shock absorbers to smooth the ride. In fact, specially formulated binders help other CBN inserts withstand the forces associated with gear machining and other interrupted-cutting applications that are hard on tooling. Applying the new binderless inserts for such work would be “akin to applying a drag car to drive over a mountain,” he says. “It doesn’t work.”

Nonetheless, a drag car is ideal for rocketing down a perfectly smooth road. And for binderless CBN, the continuous surfaces of titanium aerospace parts like the ones machined at OMIC are essentially racetracks. Interruptions are rare, and cutting depths are shallow, recommended at only 0.020 inch in titanium.

This is not to suggest that titanium turning is the only potential application of binderless CBN, nor that milling or other interrupted cutting is out of the question. On the contrary, Sumitomo reports that the inserts have been applied successfully in interrupted cuts in both powder metal and cast iron, as well as hardened steel milling in certain conditions. Meanwhile, development continues on different edge geometries and CBN particle-size formulations that add strength and toughness. The tools have also been been applied to turn medical parts from such materials as cemented carbide and cobalt chrome (Co Cr).

Research also continues into other binderless formulations. In fact, Sumitomo first applied its new direct conversion sintering process for binderless polycrystalline diamond (PCD), which is useful for machining tungsten carbide drawing dies and wear plates as well as ceramic materials. The company expects applications for these tools, and potentially others, to expand along with demand for new, highly durable yet difficult-to-machine materials for spacecraft, aircraft, automobiles, medical and electronic components and more. “We should recognize that there’s going to be an evolution, just like there was with carbide,” Mr. Naterwalla says. “The more we adapt to what this is capable of, the more that evolution will move forward.”

Meanwhile, the advance of additive manufacturing could intensify focus on finishing and semi-finishing over roughing. Compared to carving out solid billets or blocks of material, machining 3D-printed, near-net-shapes requires different techniques and different cutting tools. “This means shifting to cutters that require less radial engagement but will move with more speed,” Mr. Apple says.  

The Cemented Carbide Blog: CNC Carbide Inserts

Although carbide inserts are proven performers in virtually all types of CNC machining, aerospace alloy finishing presents a particularly good opportunity to start exploring alternatives. In recent testing, a new type of cubic boron nitride (CBN) finish-turning insert ran three times faster, lasted three times longer and removed nine times the material as cemented carbide in titanium 6AL-4V, all on the same cutting edge. “Consistent chip control and a long-lasting edge make this a great candidate to replace current stable finishing processes using carbide,” the researchers wrote.

The primary difference between this CBN and other inserts is not what it contains, but what it lacks: a binder to hold the sintered material together. Rather, the nanoparticles are fused directly to one another to form a virtually solid, continuous cutting surface. This construction enables taking full advantage of CBN’s extreme hardness and thermal conductivity in a material that is notorious for work hardening.

The higher-temperature, higher-pressure sintering process that makes binderless construction possible is significant for more than just machining performance. Cobalt, a critical ingredient in the “cement” that holds cemented tungsten carbide together, is increasingly rare and costly. The case is the same for tungsten, Niobium and other elements of these inserts. Eliminating the need for these materials in a cutting tool eliminates the need to pull them from the Earth, thus preserving precious resources while benefitting the environment as well as people directly affected by the mining.

The extent of these broader benefits depends on the extent to which performance benefits and economies of scale drive the expansion of binderless CBN (and perhaps other varieties of binderless insert) into new applications and materials. Meanwhile, the new NCB100 binderless CBN offering provides a ready alternative for work that otherwise would require redundant tooling and/or accounting for insert changes, wear-offset entry and the risk of tool breakage during lengthy, automated machining cycles.

The finish-turning tests were conducted at the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center (OMIC), a nonprofit collaborative research organization near Portland, at the request of the inserts’ developer, Sumitomo Electric Carbide, Inc. OMIC ran three NCB100 binderless CBN turning inserts against the AC51015S cemented carbide grade that Sumitomo would otherwise have recommended for the application. As expected, the carbide performed well in repeated tests, exhibiting 0.00208 inch of tip wear after 45 minutes in the cut. “There were no anomalies to note during these trials,” reads an OMIC report on the tests. “The insert showed even and predictable wear over time, creating a great baseline to compare from.”

Two of the CBN inserts, one with a low Helical Milling Inserts rake angle and one with a high rake angle, experienced similar levels of tip wear after 45 minutes (0.0024 inch for both CBN geometries). At this point, the carbide insert required indexing to maintain chip control. However, both CBN inserts continued to produce short, tightly curled chips. A third binderless CBN insert, this one with a medium rake angle, performed even better, wearing only half as much (0.0012 inch) at the 45-minute mark.

The biggest difference was speed. In repeated testing, all three CBN geometries ran at 400 sfm, versus only 200 sfm for the cemented carbide. Nonetheless, OMIC was not finished. Researchers pushed the highest-performing CBN insert (with the medium rake angle) well past the 45-minute mark, and they extended periodic wear measurements from 15- to 30-minute intervals. After 230 minutes, chips Carbide Turning Inserts were virtually indistinguishable from those generated at the 45-minute mark. In contrast, the carbide insert had worn twice as much, was removing only half the material, and was leaving a rougher surface.

Testing continued. Pushed to 600 sfm – three times the speed of carbide – the binderless CBN lasted more than 400 minutes before exhibiting the same level of flank wear as the carbide insert at 45 minutes (although with CBN, surface roughness had reached nearly 65 Ra by the 400-minute mark). At the 435-minute mark, chips began to become progressively long and stringy. Finally, at 555 minutes, the insert tip wore into a crescent shape, “much like sanding a block of wood down on a belt sander,” says Cody Apple, machining solutions researcher at OMIC. “This was predictable and easy to detect when it occurred.”  

Urmaze Naterwalla, OMIC head of R&D, analogizes traditional, “bindered” inserts to a road, with the individual particles embedded in the surface representing the cutting material (CBN in this case) and the tar representing the binding material. The binding material is softer, so it breaks down first as the surface deteriorates. It tears away in chunks to leave potholes. Without the tar, the particles are fused directly to one another. There are no potholes because the surface wears away at a relatively constant and predictable rate, resulting in two parallel divets carved from the wheels of passing traffic.

Yet, binder can do more than just hold insert material together. Jason Miller, a national applications engineer with Sumitomo at the time of this writing, says it also acts much like an automobile suspension, which employs springs and other shock absorbers to smooth the ride. In fact, specially formulated binders help other CBN inserts withstand the forces associated with gear machining and other interrupted-cutting applications that are hard on tooling. Applying the new binderless inserts for such work would be “akin to applying a drag car to drive over a mountain,” he says. “It doesn’t work.”

Nonetheless, a drag car is ideal for rocketing down a perfectly smooth road. And for binderless CBN, the continuous surfaces of titanium aerospace parts like the ones machined at OMIC are essentially racetracks. Interruptions are rare, and cutting depths are shallow, recommended at only 0.020 inch in titanium.

This is not to suggest that titanium turning is the only potential application of binderless CBN, nor that milling or other interrupted cutting is out of the question. On the contrary, Sumitomo reports that the inserts have been applied successfully in interrupted cuts in both powder metal and cast iron, as well as hardened steel milling in certain conditions. Meanwhile, development continues on different edge geometries and CBN particle-size formulations that add strength and toughness. The tools have also been been applied to turn medical parts from such materials as cemented carbide and cobalt chrome (Co Cr).

Research also continues into other binderless formulations. In fact, Sumitomo first applied its new direct conversion sintering process for binderless polycrystalline diamond (PCD), which is useful for machining tungsten carbide drawing dies and wear plates as well as ceramic materials. The company expects applications for these tools, and potentially others, to expand along with demand for new, highly durable yet difficult-to-machine materials for spacecraft, aircraft, automobiles, medical and electronic components and more. “We should recognize that there’s going to be an evolution, just like there was with carbide,” Mr. Naterwalla says. “The more we adapt to what this is capable of, the more that evolution will move forward.”

Meanwhile, the advance of additive manufacturing could intensify focus on finishing and semi-finishing over roughing. Compared to carving out solid billets or blocks of material, machining 3D-printed, near-net-shapes requires different techniques and different cutting tools. “This means shifting to cutters that require less radial engagement but will move with more speed,” Mr. Apple says.  

The Cemented Carbide Blog: CNC Carbide Inserts

Although carbide inserts are proven performers in virtually all types of CNC machining, aerospace alloy finishing presents a particularly good opportunity to start exploring alternatives. In recent testing, a new type of cubic boron nitride (CBN) finish-turning insert ran three times faster, lasted three times longer and removed nine times the material as cemented carbide in titanium 6AL-4V, all on the same cutting edge. “Consistent chip control and a long-lasting edge make this a great candidate to replace current stable finishing processes using carbide,” the researchers wrote.

The primary difference between this CBN and other inserts is not what it contains, but what it lacks: a binder to hold the sintered material together. Rather, the nanoparticles are fused directly to one another to form a virtually solid, continuous cutting surface. This construction enables taking full advantage of CBN’s extreme hardness and thermal conductivity in a material that is notorious for work hardening.

The higher-temperature, higher-pressure sintering process that makes binderless construction possible is significant for more than just machining performance. Cobalt, a critical ingredient in the “cement” that holds cemented tungsten carbide together, is increasingly rare and costly. The case is the same for tungsten, Niobium and other elements of these inserts. Eliminating the need for these materials in a cutting tool eliminates the need to pull them from the Earth, thus preserving precious resources while benefitting the environment as well as people directly affected by the mining.

The extent of these broader benefits depends on the extent to which performance benefits and economies of scale drive the expansion of binderless CBN (and perhaps other varieties of binderless insert) into new applications and materials. Meanwhile, the new NCB100 binderless CBN offering provides a ready alternative for work that otherwise would require redundant tooling and/or accounting for insert changes, wear-offset entry and the risk of tool breakage during lengthy, automated machining cycles.

The finish-turning tests were conducted at the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center (OMIC), a nonprofit collaborative research organization near Portland, at the request of the inserts’ developer, Sumitomo Electric Carbide, Inc. OMIC ran three NCB100 binderless CBN turning inserts against the AC51015S cemented carbide grade that Sumitomo would otherwise have recommended for the application. As expected, the carbide performed well in repeated tests, exhibiting 0.00208 inch of tip wear after 45 minutes in the cut. “There were no anomalies to note during these trials,” reads an OMIC report on the tests. “The insert showed even and predictable wear over time, creating a great baseline to compare from.”

Two of the CBN inserts, one with a low Helical Milling Inserts rake angle and one with a high rake angle, experienced similar levels of tip wear after 45 minutes (0.0024 inch for both CBN geometries). At this point, the carbide insert required indexing to maintain chip control. However, both CBN inserts continued to produce short, tightly curled chips. A third binderless CBN insert, this one with a medium rake angle, performed even better, wearing only half as much (0.0012 inch) at the 45-minute mark.

The biggest difference was speed. In repeated testing, all three CBN geometries ran at 400 sfm, versus only 200 sfm for the cemented carbide. Nonetheless, OMIC was not finished. Researchers pushed the highest-performing CBN insert (with the medium rake angle) well past the 45-minute mark, and they extended periodic wear measurements from 15- to 30-minute intervals. After 230 minutes, chips Carbide Turning Inserts were virtually indistinguishable from those generated at the 45-minute mark. In contrast, the carbide insert had worn twice as much, was removing only half the material, and was leaving a rougher surface.

Testing continued. Pushed to 600 sfm – three times the speed of carbide – the binderless CBN lasted more than 400 minutes before exhibiting the same level of flank wear as the carbide insert at 45 minutes (although with CBN, surface roughness had reached nearly 65 Ra by the 400-minute mark). At the 435-minute mark, chips began to become progressively long and stringy. Finally, at 555 minutes, the insert tip wore into a crescent shape, “much like sanding a block of wood down on a belt sander,” says Cody Apple, machining solutions researcher at OMIC. “This was predictable and easy to detect when it occurred.”  

Urmaze Naterwalla, OMIC head of R&D, analogizes traditional, “bindered” inserts to a road, with the individual particles embedded in the surface representing the cutting material (CBN in this case) and the tar representing the binding material. The binding material is softer, so it breaks down first as the surface deteriorates. It tears away in chunks to leave potholes. Without the tar, the particles are fused directly to one another. There are no potholes because the surface wears away at a relatively constant and predictable rate, resulting in two parallel divets carved from the wheels of passing traffic.

Yet, binder can do more than just hold insert material together. Jason Miller, a national applications engineer with Sumitomo at the time of this writing, says it also acts much like an automobile suspension, which employs springs and other shock absorbers to smooth the ride. In fact, specially formulated binders help other CBN inserts withstand the forces associated with gear machining and other interrupted-cutting applications that are hard on tooling. Applying the new binderless inserts for such work would be “akin to applying a drag car to drive over a mountain,” he says. “It doesn’t work.”

Nonetheless, a drag car is ideal for rocketing down a perfectly smooth road. And for binderless CBN, the continuous surfaces of titanium aerospace parts like the ones machined at OMIC are essentially racetracks. Interruptions are rare, and cutting depths are shallow, recommended at only 0.020 inch in titanium.

This is not to suggest that titanium turning is the only potential application of binderless CBN, nor that milling or other interrupted cutting is out of the question. On the contrary, Sumitomo reports that the inserts have been applied successfully in interrupted cuts in both powder metal and cast iron, as well as hardened steel milling in certain conditions. Meanwhile, development continues on different edge geometries and CBN particle-size formulations that add strength and toughness. The tools have also been been applied to turn medical parts from such materials as cemented carbide and cobalt chrome (Co Cr).

Research also continues into other binderless formulations. In fact, Sumitomo first applied its new direct conversion sintering process for binderless polycrystalline diamond (PCD), which is useful for machining tungsten carbide drawing dies and wear plates as well as ceramic materials. The company expects applications for these tools, and potentially others, to expand along with demand for new, highly durable yet difficult-to-machine materials for spacecraft, aircraft, automobiles, medical and electronic components and more. “We should recognize that there’s going to be an evolution, just like there was with carbide,” Mr. Naterwalla says. “The more we adapt to what this is capable of, the more that evolution will move forward.”

Meanwhile, the advance of additive manufacturing could intensify focus on finishing and semi-finishing over roughing. Compared to carving out solid billets or blocks of material, machining 3D-printed, near-net-shapes requires different techniques and different cutting tools. “This means shifting to cutters that require less radial engagement but will move with more speed,” Mr. Apple says.  

The Cemented Carbide Blog: CNC Carbide Inserts

Grade Features Positive Inserts for Difficult Turning

The Hi-Net DMC-1500HN by Johnford is designed for aerospace manufacturers and mold/die shops wanting speed, rigidity and precision in a double-column machining center. Absolute Machine Tools offers this 33,000-lb?bridge mill, which is specifically engineered for high speed, net-shape machining of complex 3D parts.?The the machining center?accommodates a variety of materials at high feed rates and with a high degree of accuracy, the company says, adding that it possesses DNMG Insert heavy Meehanite castings that provide the strength and vibration dampening required for quality surface finishes and long cutting tool life. The columns and bridge are a one-piece casting for rigidity. The Z-axis head and Y-axis saddle feature square box ways and diagonally arranged ribs to minimize distortion.?The machining center features a moving table/fixed-column design for maximum rigidity. A 90-degree bridge with offset Y-axis ways and a wide saddle keep the spindle center line close to the bridge for further rigidity. The X-axis table traverse is accomplished via Schneeberger roller linear ways for accurate positioning of heavy Carbide Milling Inserts workpieces. Large diameter, pretensioned ballscrews and powerful servomotors further ensure accurate positioning, the company says.?The bridge mill delivers X,Y and Z travels of 59" × 35" × 30" and rapid rates of 944" × 944" × 590" in X, Y and Z. The machine?can accommodate table loads as heavy as 10,120 lbs.?

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Carbide Inserts

The Hi-Net DMC-1500HN by Johnford is designed for aerospace manufacturers and mold/die shops wanting speed, rigidity and precision in a double-column machining center. Absolute Machine Tools offers this 33,000-lb?bridge mill, which is specifically engineered for high speed, net-shape machining of complex 3D parts.?The the machining center?accommodates a variety of materials at high feed rates and with a high degree of accuracy, the company says, adding that it possesses DNMG Insert heavy Meehanite castings that provide the strength and vibration dampening required for quality surface finishes and long cutting tool life. The columns and bridge are a one-piece casting for rigidity. The Z-axis head and Y-axis saddle feature square box ways and diagonally arranged ribs to minimize distortion.?The machining center features a moving table/fixed-column design for maximum rigidity. A 90-degree bridge with offset Y-axis ways and a wide saddle keep the spindle center line close to the bridge for further rigidity. The X-axis table traverse is accomplished via Schneeberger roller linear ways for accurate positioning of heavy Carbide Milling Inserts workpieces. Large diameter, pretensioned ballscrews and powerful servomotors further ensure accurate positioning, the company says.?The bridge mill delivers X,Y and Z travels of 59" × 35" × 30" and rapid rates of 944" × 944" × 590" in X, Y and Z. The machine?can accommodate table loads as heavy as 10,120 lbs.?

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Carbide Inserts

The Hi-Net DMC-1500HN by Johnford is designed for aerospace manufacturers and mold/die shops wanting speed, rigidity and precision in a double-column machining center. Absolute Machine Tools offers this 33,000-lb?bridge mill, which is specifically engineered for high speed, net-shape machining of complex 3D parts.?The the machining center?accommodates a variety of materials at high feed rates and with a high degree of accuracy, the company says, adding that it possesses DNMG Insert heavy Meehanite castings that provide the strength and vibration dampening required for quality surface finishes and long cutting tool life. The columns and bridge are a one-piece casting for rigidity. The Z-axis head and Y-axis saddle feature square box ways and diagonally arranged ribs to minimize distortion.?The machining center features a moving table/fixed-column design for maximum rigidity. A 90-degree bridge with offset Y-axis ways and a wide saddle keep the spindle center line close to the bridge for further rigidity. The X-axis table traverse is accomplished via Schneeberger roller linear ways for accurate positioning of heavy Carbide Milling Inserts workpieces. Large diameter, pretensioned ballscrews and powerful servomotors further ensure accurate positioning, the company says.?The bridge mill delivers X,Y and Z travels of 59" × 35" × 30" and rapid rates of 944" × 944" × 590" in X, Y and Z. The machine?can accommodate table loads as heavy as 10,120 lbs.?

The Cemented Carbide Blog: Carbide Inserts

Norton Introduces Grinding Wheels for Smear Free Finishes

GF Machining Solutions has expanded its line of laser texturing machines with the Laser P 400 three-axis and Laser P 400U five-axis machines, designed to provide easy, repeatable laser engraving, texturing and structuring for small parts, such as cutting tools, small inserts and micromachined workpieces. All machines in the Laser 400 family are said to offer repeatable high performance, accuracy and quality. The range’s fully digitized texturing process makes it easy to texture, mark, Tungsten Carbide Inserts engrave and add functional texture to parts, molds and dies, even when dealing with complex parts, the company says.

The P 400 accommodates workpieces as large as 23.6" × 15.7" × 9.8", while the P 400U accommodates workpieces with a maximum diameter and height of 4.7". The modular design features a dual-laser head that includes both a fiber nanosecond laser and femtosecond pulsed laser. This allows texturing Carbide Turning Inserts and engraving of a surface with a single setup, and extends the range of materials that can be used.

According to GF Machining Solutions, the systems are automation-ready and allow for unattended and lights-out operation. The machines can be equipped with a System 3R pallet changer to further boost efficiency and flexibility.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: TNGG Insert

GF Machining Solutions has expanded its line of laser texturing machines with the Laser P 400 three-axis and Laser P 400U five-axis machines, designed to provide easy, repeatable laser engraving, texturing and structuring for small parts, such as cutting tools, small inserts and micromachined workpieces. All machines in the Laser 400 family are said to offer repeatable high performance, accuracy and quality. The range’s fully digitized texturing process makes it easy to texture, mark, Tungsten Carbide Inserts engrave and add functional texture to parts, molds and dies, even when dealing with complex parts, the company says.

The P 400 accommodates workpieces as large as 23.6" × 15.7" × 9.8", while the P 400U accommodates workpieces with a maximum diameter and height of 4.7". The modular design features a dual-laser head that includes both a fiber nanosecond laser and femtosecond pulsed laser. This allows texturing Carbide Turning Inserts and engraving of a surface with a single setup, and extends the range of materials that can be used.

According to GF Machining Solutions, the systems are automation-ready and allow for unattended and lights-out operation. The machines can be equipped with a System 3R pallet changer to further boost efficiency and flexibility.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: TNGG Insert

GF Machining Solutions has expanded its line of laser texturing machines with the Laser P 400 three-axis and Laser P 400U five-axis machines, designed to provide easy, repeatable laser engraving, texturing and structuring for small parts, such as cutting tools, small inserts and micromachined workpieces. All machines in the Laser 400 family are said to offer repeatable high performance, accuracy and quality. The range’s fully digitized texturing process makes it easy to texture, mark, Tungsten Carbide Inserts engrave and add functional texture to parts, molds and dies, even when dealing with complex parts, the company says.

The P 400 accommodates workpieces as large as 23.6" × 15.7" × 9.8", while the P 400U accommodates workpieces with a maximum diameter and height of 4.7". The modular design features a dual-laser head that includes both a fiber nanosecond laser and femtosecond pulsed laser. This allows texturing Carbide Turning Inserts and engraving of a surface with a single setup, and extends the range of materials that can be used.

According to GF Machining Solutions, the systems are automation-ready and allow for unattended and lights-out operation. The machines can be equipped with a System 3R pallet changer to further boost efficiency and flexibility.

The Cemented Carbide Blog: TNGG Insert