The solid-carbide Universal Drill from Niagara Carbide Threading Inserts Cutter combines a multi-purpose geometry with advanced coating technology to provide reliable, predictable tool life and a lower cost per hole, especially in high-volume production environments. The drill’s rigid, four-facet point geometry provides good centering capability tolerance and is easy to regrind, according to the company. A polished aluminum-chromium-nitride coating gives the drill high abrasion resistance, toughness and good chip evacuation capabilities. Well-suited for hole-making applications in a variety of workpiece materials, including steels, stainless steels and cast irons, the Universal Drill’s versatility can reduce required tooling inventories.
Available drill diameters range from 3 to 20 mm in increments of 0.1 mm. For efficient chip evacuation, the 5×D- and 3×D-length drills with Tungsten Steel Inserts cylindrical shanks offer the option of through-tool coolant. All of these drills are compatible with Seco shrink-fit toolholders, hydraulic chucks and high-precision collet chucks.
The SDM toolholders feature one-touch drill length adjustment without the need for hand tools. Drill projection length can be adjusted by hand by rotating the knurled guide ring on the Shoulder Milling Inserts outside of the toolholder. The axial PVD Coated Insert adjustment range varies from approximately 0.394" to 0.984" (10 mm to 25 mm), depending on the size of the given toolholder.?The toolholders use the company’s FDC collet system, which provides runout accuracy within 0.0002" (5μm) at 4 × D for AA class?collets. FDC collets are available from stock in sizes ranging from 0.02" to 0.866" (0.5 mm to 22 mm). FDC–OH and FDC–C coolant collets can accommodate coolant pressure as high as 1,000 psi either through the drill or alongside the drill. The toolholders include a preset screw to prevent cutting tools with tangs from rotating within, and they are available from stock in CAT, BT and HSK styles.
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/product/factory-wholesale-cnc-lathe-cutting-tools-solid-carbide-inserts-milling-inserts-bdmt11t308er-jt/
Sandvik Coromant’s CoroMill 390 is now available with the company’s Silent Shallow Hole Indexable Insert Tools technology for more efficient machining of parts such as engine mounts as well as deep pockets on titanium-frame parts for the aerospace industry. Pockets are the most common feature in titanium structural parts for aircraft, often featuring depths of more than four times the diameter of the cutter, the company says. Lathe Carbide Inserts The updated tool range is designed to meet the resulting need for process stability and quality as well as increased metal-removal rates.
CoroMill 390 Silent Tools provide light-cutting insert geometries and high-performance grades that deliver low cutting forces and vibration-free machining for secure, cost-effective milling, the company says. These tools can be ordered in diameters ranging from 20 to 32 mm with both the new 07 insert size as well as insert size 11. They are available in either cylindrical shank or Coromant Capto coupling.
When a shop runs at full capacity, it must make efficiency High Feed Milling Insert gains any way possible. A few years ago, one such shop, Kennebec Tool & Die, embarked on a lean manufacturing program to eliminate waste and improve productivity. With 70 employees working in three shifts around the clock seven days a week, the Augusta, Maine-based company needed to standardize processes, equipment and tools in order to streamline its operations. One of the changes the shop made in order to meet its goals was to invest in a machining center equipped with through-spindle coolant.
However, the shop faced a persistent problem in its attempts to use the new machine and corresponding tooling for an important job—producing 700 assemblies per year for the semi-conductor industry. The shop was still on a learning curve for the new machine and tools, and cycle time issues on a particularly problematic component TNGG Insert of the seven-part assembly reduced productivity.
Made of 17-4 heat-treated stainless steel, the raw stock for the component arrives as a 4-inch-diameter bar that is cut to a rough length of 8.5 inches. After rough and finish turning, the component requires drilling of a 5-inch-deep internal bore with a tight tolerance. "Our turning operations were running pretty standard; it was really the drilling that was taking a long time," says Harvey Smith, vice president of operations.
Paul Owen, tooling room supervisor, says the source of the drilling operation’s lengthy cycle time could be traced to problems with consistent tool life. "Chips were wrapping around the drill, destroying the tool and/or scrapping the part," he explains. "We might get five parts from one insert and then six or eight from another."
Kennebec tried to work through the problem, but had to slow down the entire process in order to clean out the chips, further impacting productivity. The shop knew it needed to upgrade its drilling tools. However, in keeping with its lean manufacturing program, it sought to do so with the goal of not only addressing this specific application, but also reducing its total number of drill styles by finding a product that would work in a variety of situations. Soon, it had narrowed the vendors down to Seco Tools (Troy, Michigan) and a competitor.
To make a decision, Mr. Smith issued a challenge to Seco technical specialist Bryan Daniels: "If you can make this particular operation work, then I’m changing over to Seco."
Mr. Daniels delivered. He suggested a 1.187-inch-diameter, 5×D Perfomax indexable drill for the troublesome assembly component application. The Perfomax drill features two coolant holes and large chip flutes with a flute angle that is said to promote efficient coolant flow and effective removal of coolant and chips. This flute and the tool’s coated body and inserts are designed to allow high feeds and speeds while avoiding deflection, poor tool life and quality, even with long lengths and deep-hole drilling applications. Unlike many other indexable drills, the Perfomax can use two different insert grades. A tougher grade is located in the inboard position, while a more wear-resistant grade is mounted in the periphery pocket. Inserts are square to provide a strong 90-degree corner and the economy of four cutting edges.
"The operation was pretty much nailed as soon as we tried it," Mr. Owen says. "Bryan suggested the feeds and speeds, and we had no problems. He worked with us and optimized the parameters until we got a good average of parts per insert."
The drill ended up producing about 20 parts per edge—a threefold improvement in tool life compared with the shop’s previous drill. Additionally, the tool reduced cycle time from 1.21 to 0.53 seconds. While this might not seem significant, Mr. Smith explains that the actual cycle time savings are greater than the numbers show because the shop previously changed tools every five to eight parts. The drill’s longer tool life provided cost benefits, as well. While the Seco inserts cost more than competitive inserts, the increased tool life achieved with Perfomax actually reduced the comparative cost by $1.05 per produced part, Mr. Smith says.
Now, Kennebec uses Perfomax for almost all of its standard drilling applications. In fact, the drill has worked well enough to prompt the company to give Mr. Daniels a chance to prove Seco’s worth in other areas, including an 8,000-part aerospace order that requires a combination of turning and milling operations. "After (Mr. Daniels’) dedication on this last process and the success we achieved, we will certainly at least give Seco a try," Mr. Smith says.
Probing has long been used for setup. With an inspection probe in its spindle, the machining center can touch a workpiece to quickly establish its location. Many manufacturers understand this, and many shops use the probe in this way. However, most of those shops fail to realize the many additional ways that on-machine probing can improve process efficiency. By using the probe strategically, a manufacturer can make 100% good parts—right the first time—in the lowest possible production time. The probe can even make it possible to do away with off-line inspection Carbide Turning Inserts as a regular part of production. Given all that the probe can do, calling it an "automation tool" is not enough. A probe is actually many automation tools in one.
The most effective machining processes use probing for different purposes throughout the cycle. Manufacturers that use probing only at the start, to locate parts and set tools, miss out on much of what probing can accomplish. Adaptive process control and part verification are where probing can deliver the greatest gains.
Here is how probing improves efficiency and accuracy at many stages throughout the machining cycle:
Absolutely. Most manufacturers will accept that probing can detect certain kinds of errors in the part, such as the errors resulting from tool wear or tool deflection. However, what so many manufacturers fail to recognize is that other sorts of errors can be detected as well. Machine tools today deliver accuracy and repeatability that can make them superb inspection devices. In addition, the performance of any particular machine can be established—and regularly checked—using easily accessible test and calibration technologies. One example is a telescoping ballbar, a machine-tool testing device that is affordable for almost any shop. When a precision machine tool is certified to be reliable and functioning well, that machine can be trusted to inspect its own work.
But what about thermal effects? Most machining doesn’t take place in a temperature-controlled environment, and thermal variation that affects machining accuracy would seem to affect the accuracy of probing, also. Can the machine tool be trusted to measure a hot part?
Yes! Even thermal effects can be overcome. By probing a calibrated "artifact"—an object that mimics the features, properties and dimensions of the part—the measurement can be adjusted for the prevailing thermal conditions at that moment. This artifact is part of the setup, and its dimensions are established in advance. If a measured dimension of the artifact is off by X because of thermal effects, and if the part and artifact are similar in size and composition, then a similar feature of the workpiece can be assumed to be off by X as well. The correction can automatically be factored into the measurement.
This method works. It produces a reliable means of automating High Feed Milling Insert inspection. Renishaw routinely uses this technique in its own machine shop. In fact, Renishaw routinely uses this technique to manufacture the components of probes—including the very probes that other manufacturers will use to put this method of automation to work.
