HAIMER is a premium partner and supporter of the Augsburger Panther hockey team in the German Hockey League. The prestigious system supplier around the machine tool took this opportunity to demonstrate the performance capabilities of its tools and tool holders by creating a model panther. The CAM specialists at OPEN MIND took on the challenging programming task using their hyperMILL® software.

The ‘Augsburger Panther’, a member of the DEL (German Hockey League) are the most renowned ‘panthers’ around. Haimer GmbH, headquartered in Igenhausen, located just 30 minutes from Augsburg, is a proud fan and sponsor of the professional hockey team. The family company, a market leader that develops, manufactures and sells high-precision metal cutting products, came up with the ingenious idea of milling a panther out of aluminum at the HAIMER application center. The panther is a masterful part showing that 5-axis-milling with HAIMER tool holders and solid carbide endmills, can compete with the sport of hockey in terms of speed, power and dynamics.

Head of the HAIMER application center Konstantin Brodowski sees even greater parallels: “Hockey isn’t just about speed and brute force. Each player must possess excellent technical skills and contribute them into a perfect team. HAIMER works in very much the same way by incorporating the perfect synergy of its high-tech products with most modern machine tools and the best in class CAD/CAM software.”

One-two between machining and programming experts
In their search for ‘teammates’ for the panther project, HAIMER turned to OPEN MIND, a longstanding partner and CAD/CAM manufacturer based in Wessling, Germany. Their hyperMILL® CAM system is the leader in 5-axis machining according to many players within the machining industry, making OPEN MIND the perfect match when it comes to programming completely freely shaped contours. They showed no hesitation in answering ‘yes’ to the question of whether an application engineer was up for the job of programming the unusual showpiece and joining us on the milling project. Manager of Global Engineering Services Christian Neuner explains: “A model such as this one is a great opportunity to put the versatility and flexibility of our software to the test. In many ways, the panther analogy very much applies to us. hyperMILL® has lots of functions that allow CAM users to truly put a machine’s power to the ultimate test to achieve the desired goal.”

That’s why Jakob Nordmann, application engineer at OPEN MIND, set up camp in Igenhausen, Germany for a few weeks, where he teamed up with HAIMER applications engineer Daniel Swoboda to set up the perfect programming and machining infrastructure. As for the milling machine, they chose the linear, 5-axis DMG MORI HSC70 machining center located in the HAIMER Application Center, which is ideally suited for precise aluminum machining and excellent surface finish.

Tool solutions for any challenge
Machining of the panther’s head proved especially challenging, in particular the extremely detailed mouth and teeth. The long and thin shape of the delicate tail section was equally difficult to master, as it was extremely sensitive to vibration. What’s more, access to many of the parts was extremely difficult, which is why those responsible decided to make the statue in two set-ups, for which a LANG macro grip 5-axis clamp was used as a fixture.

The limited accessibility also impacted the type of tools selected. Though already using the shortest tools possible, the application specialists still required tool lengths up to 278 mm. That’s why Daniel Swoboda opted to use the modular HAIMER Duo-Lock tools for the roughing applications. This system consists of carbide tool heads that are connected to different extensions via an extremely stable interface. He specifically chose a four-flute cutter with a corner radius from the Duo-Lock HAIMER MILL Alu series. These fine balanced tools feature superior length repeatability. They offer a degree of sharpness with just the perfect balance in terms of abrasiveness and resistance. “We clamped the coated, cylindrical extensions of the Duo Lock tools using the HAIMER Power Shrink Chucks,” says Daniel Swoboda. “This allowed us to achieve significantly more rigid clamping and less vibration than we would have had if we used standard tool holders. This, in turn, allowed us to achieve greater depth of cut and a higher metal removal rate.”

For the finishing process, we went with the full radius version of the solid carbide endmill from the HAIMER MILL Alu series because of its micro-geometrical properties, which are designed for smoothness and top surface quality. Those involved in this project took the very limited space conditions into account when clamping with the extra slim and low-vibration HAIMER Power Mini Shrink holders.

OPEN MIND colleague Jakob Nordmann adds: “What I found most helpful for me while working on this project was the fact that all the HAIMER holders and tools were also available in the form of DXF and STP files. The models are available on the HAIMER home page for easy download. It takes just three clicks of the mouse in our hyperMILL® Toolbuilder to enter them into the database. After this, they are immediately ready for programming and simulation.”

Helpful tips: CAD for CAM and simulation
Creating a visually appealing model demanded careful and excellent programming. The first core issue we encountered: The panther was presented as an STL data model, hyperMILL® specialist Jakob Nordmann explains: “Since conversion into a surface model would have taken too long, we decided to mill on the STL network, but with line-by-line milling of 1mm in order to ensure that the faceted structure is not visible.”
“For especially detailed areas, like the mouth and tail section or with the creases of the joints, we generated additional surfaces that can be combined with the STL network in hyperMILL®.” For this, Nordmann used hyperCAD®-S, the ‘CAD for CAM’ system specially designed by OPEN MIND to help meet all the needs of programmers.

Since the limited space required different tilts of the tool, his focus was on maintaining the exact line spacing and a seamless transition without any visible gaps. “I used the ‘edit toolpath’ command for this, Nordmann reveals. “This allowed me to determine the entire toolpath and divide it into sections, which then made it possible to edit in various tilts using different tools. This saved me a lot of time.”

Equally imperative when it came to milling the panther was the hyperMILL® VIRTUAL Machining Center, a process-safe NC simulation solution where virtual machine movements fully mimic real movements and ensure reliable collision detection.

It took the team approximately three intensive weeks to complete the first free-standing panther. Anyone who is interested can admire the model at both the HAIMER and OPEN MIND booth at future exhibitions. And, of course, the Augsburger Panther will also be receiving a model for the entrance area of the stadium as well as the dressing room tunnel so that the players always have the right motivation when they hit the ice.

You can find the panther at HAIMER’s and OPEN MIND’s EMO booth at EMO Milano 2021. HAIMER is located in Hall 4, booth C20; OPEN MIND can be found in Hall 7, booth G12.

Igenhausen 26th January 2017 – The cooperative partnership between the HAIMER Group and DMG MORI has been further strengthened. Both companies signed a cooperation agreement which sets the standards for a premium partnership of HAIMER products. Furthermore, on the 1st of January 2017, HAIMER acquired the DMG MORI Microset GmbH company, which is now operating under the name HAIMER Microset GmbH.

Successful machining requires both powerful machines and highly-precise toolholding technology, which ensures that the precision is transferred from the spindle right to the cutting edge. That is why the business relationship between the HAIMER Group, an international leader in high-precision toolholding, and DMG MORI, a global leader in machine tool manufacturing, has been very successful and trustworthy for many years.

With the acquisition of the DMG MORI’s Microset Tool-Presetting Technology, the HAIMER Group, a family-run company with nearly 600 employees, complements its existing product portfolio. In addition to high-precision tool holders in all popular interfaces and lengths, the current product portfolio includes a variety of shrinking and balancing machines.

Claudia Haimer, CEO of HAIMER, explained, “Since the company location of HAIMER Microset GmbH with about 35 employees will remain in Bielefeld, Germany, this will be our second HAIMER production site, including our main headquarters in Igenhausen, Augsburg, Germany. The Bielefeld facility will be further expanded to become our Northern Germany sales and marketing hub, where we will be able to present the complete process chain that surrounds the machine tool to current and prospective customers. We are looking forward to the long-term development of the new HAIMER facility together with the employees in Bielefeld and an intensified partnership with DMG MORI.”

The cooperation agreement establishes an even stronger relationship between the two companies with a premium partnership. Henceforth, DMG MORI will purchase all products related to tool presetting, balancing and shrinking including shrink fit holders as well Tool Rooms exclusively from HAIMER. All DMG MORI technology and solution centers and production plants worldwide will be equipped with HAIMER products.

“We are looking forward to a successful cooperation together with HAIMER as a Premium Partner,” said Christian Thönes, CEO of the DMG MORI AG. “We will present our first joint products regarding the Smart Tool Management as early as the 2017 EMO show in Hannover.” The cooperation agreement additionally includes that DMG MORI will continue to display HAIMER Microset products during exhibitions and open houses and that they will continue to distribute these products through their worldwide sales and service companies.

Andreas Haimer, Managing Director and President of the HAIMER Group, further added, “HAIMER Microset tool presetting technology complements our existing portfolio of high-precision tooling, shrinking and balancing technology perfectly, thereby making us a system provider for tool management around the machine tool.”

USA’s leading CNC machine manufacturer Hurco is expanding its presence in the country by opening another technical centre at Pune in Maharashtra, India. The inauguration ceremony held on August 31, 2016 at Hurco Technical Centre, Chinchwad. This is the company’s Second tech centre in the country.

The tech centre will primarily focus on demonstrating the capability of High Performance High speed Vertical Machining Centres from Takumi line…Hurco Companies Inc., acquired Takumi Machinery Co Ltd., in 2015. Takumi Machinery Co., Ltd, is pioneer in the field of High Speed High Performance Double Column Bridge Type Machining Centres.

Kaushik Bhattacharjee, MD, Hurco India Pvt Ltd says, “With this new technology centre we will be able to serve our customers even better by offering Total Solution for application related to Die & Mold….we are now in a position to shorten the learning curve for end user, we are in a position to offer any end user of our machine to visit us, interact with our Application Team & try out process that will be optimum. Our motto is to keep the machines of our valued customers making chips & thus money….use our facility to carry out the process R & D or Prototype Machining along with our team & partners. Most important, it comes Absolutely Free !!”

After the formal inauguration ceremony, the center was opened for the visitors for Live Demonstration of machining Real Time Part from industry. The Live Demonstration were carried out with active participation from the Partners – WorkNC, Hitachi, Speroni, along with Haimer, Hangsterfer’s, BLUM, Schunk & AMT Vice (ALLMATIC Spannsysteme).

The Open House was attended by more 150 professionals from industries in Pune & other parts of India.

The technology centre has installed
– High Speed Double Column Bridge Type Graphite Machining Centre Model H7G (20k spindle with HSK A63 tooling interface complete with Superior Dust Collection System & Protection from graphite ingress into vital machine elements),
– High Speed High Performance Double Column Bridge Type VMC Model H10 (20k spindle with HSK A63 tooling interface complete with Linear Scale, Ball Screw Core Cooling) ,
– High Speed Double Column Bridge Type VMC Model B5 (Table Size 600 x 500 with 30k spindle with HSK E40 tooling interface)

All the above machines are designed for application in the sector of Die & Mold.

“We have come to the door step of our valued customers….we expect our customers to visit us, try our products. We strongly believe that with our business model, we can be seriously considered as an option for the Die & Mold market segment in India” added Bhattacharjee

The importance of the tool holder is still understated, especially when it comes to roughing and heavy dutymachining. Metal removal rates in these types of processes are absolutely crucial for the productivity of the machining operation. By using special shrink fit chucks with drive pins and spiral grooves in the tool shank it is now possible to performhigh-feed full slotting of up to 2 x D (50 mm) or more indifficult to machine materials. Application studies conducted by the machine tool manufacturer Heller have proven the effect of the HAIMER Safe-Lock system.

Especially within the aerospace, energy and mechanical engineering sector, production managers have to bridge the gap between economic efficiency and high process reliability when working with materials that are difficult to machine. Fortunately there is peace of mind in knowing that the machine technology innovations continue to develop to meet the ongoing demands of manufacturing.Heller machine tools is known as a source of inspiration for these kinds of innovations. The company, located in Nuertingen, Germany, is known for its high quality 4 and 5-axis CNC machining centres, CNC mill/turning centres, CNC machines for crankshaft and camshaft machining as well as flexible manufacturing systems. Customers value their availability of products and their competency in managing special processing demands. Both qualities stem from Heller’s in-house manufacturing, which relies on closer collaboration with customers, suppliers and researchinstitutes to remain on the forefront of innovation.

Roughing is a highly promising process

Werner Kirsten, who is working in the Technology Development Department at Heller and is responsible for the area of “difficult to machine materials“, explains: “our service includes optimizing the machining processes together with our customers and suppliers. To support such services with practical trials, our Technology Center is equipped with a variety of machines”. In most cases the aim is to increase the productivity without compromising the process reliability. Technologist Kirsten adds, “We often achieve this aim with an optimized roughing operation which ultimately results in a reduced finishing process. By maintaining the same technological values, but shortening the finishing depth of cut by 50%, the overall machining time is reduced to half. However, this requires process reliable and controllable systems during roughing.”

In this regard,all machining components in the process chain have to be considered in order to improve productivity. The machine tool is the most evident component of the machining process, however the tool, the tool holding system, the coolant supply and other elements are also essential for a successful operation. “In the end the weakest link of the process chain limits the success,” Werner Kirsten emphasizes. In his opinion most machine shops don’t pay attention to the tool holder even though it is especially significant for high performance cutting. “Many of the trials which we carried out during the last few years have proven this point”, Werner Kirsten explains. We realized that the tool holder hasan incredible influence on the machining process. In the case of reinforced shrink fit chucks, for example, the vibration node is closer to the bearing point (due to the larger mass). The result is a smoother machining process with less vibration and a better surface finish quality while using the same tool, machine, process parameters and fixturing technology.”

Tool holding – an important factorfor productivity

By selecting the right tool holder you can even achieve good productivity and surface quality results using basic standard cutting tools. Werner Kirsten refers to comparative tests with basic four-edge cutting tools without an inner coolant supply. As an alternative to a standard shrink fit chuck he selected a HAIMER Power Shrink Chuck with Cool Flash which ensures that the coolant is transported directly to the cutting edges. “Compared to using a normal shrink fit chuck and externalcoolant, we were able to achieve significantly better results.”

When a group of representatives from the aerospace industry, the Technical University of Dortmund and Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg visited Heller,an especially extensivemilling application study was conducted in Titanium Ti-6AI-4V.

Gaining new insights from difficult cases

The available machining center was a four axis Heller H 5000 with a gear unit and HSK-A100 spindle, which yields torques up to 2.290 Nm. In order to demonstrate the machining potential, different 25mm diameter end mills were used to mill full slots into a titanium plate. To simulate holder conditions used in the aerospace industry, the tools were clamped into reinforced shrink fit chucks. At an axial cutting depth of0.5 to 1.0x D the machining process was found to be very reliable. Since the spindle was not running at full capacity, the trial participants agreed to increase full slottingdepth to 2 x D. Werner Kirsten explains: “Under these conditions the tool pulled out of the shrink fit chuck during the machining operation, creating a slot closer to 2.5xD as it progressed through the part. Towards the end of the slot the tool finally broke as a result of increased cutting forces.”

The milling specialists all agreed that the clamping force of the chuck was the limiting factor in this process. As soon as the axial pressure and process related vibrations are too high the tool moves out of the chuck and further into the workpiece. At the same time the cutting pressure increases such thatin the end the tool breaks and the workpiece is irreversibly damaged.

Reasons and possible countermeasures were discussed intensively. In the end, Werner Kirsten developed the idea that the tools are forced to navigate towards the spindle when the holding forces are exceeded. This is how he ultimately noticed the patented HAIMER Safe-Lock system which in addition to frictional clamping forces, has the same helix pattern as the tool. Theoretically, he realized that even if the tool got loose while using Safe Lock, it would be pulled into the holder through the helical drive keys and not into the part. A movement that can be easily prevented through the use of length presetting screws.

Prevent tool pull-out

Werner Kirsten got in contact with HAIMER, the European market leader for tool holding technology, in order to test the Safe-Locksystem: “we wanted to know if our ideas could be put into practice using the HAIMER system in an even less forgiving environment.” The Heller technology developer repeated the described trial,with a few major changes. HAIMER Safe-Lock grooves were subsequently added on similar solid carbide tools, but the application would be run again with a reduced spindle taper interface (HSK 63 instead of HSK 100), with a less rigid 5-axis gear driven spindle and a less stable diagonally fixtured workpiece.

The result: Despite these additional limiting factors, the tool was able to process a full slot of 2 x D = 50mm with complete process reliability. Werner Kirsten says: “this way we were able to indirectly prove that Safe-Lock works and that the shrinking technology has even more potential with HSK-A100, especially on 5-axis machining centers withgear spindles.” Afterwards this samplemachining on Ti-6AI-4V was carried out various times, including during the Airshow in Farnborough, whereby it was proven that the previous limit of 1 x D = 25 mm full slotting in titanium could be doubled with the use of Safe-Lock.

Kirsten summarizes the results as follows: “For roughing operations this is a reliable process. Therefore I consider the HAIMER Safe-Lock system a practical, easy to handle and process reliable addition to the shrinking technology which we already utilize, especially in connection with standardized tools of other manufactures.”

A number of tool manufacturers are offering Safe-Lock products

From the onset of its creation, HAIMER recognized the incredible potential of the Safe-Lock system, which is why the company created a licensing program to give innovative tool manufacturers the ability to integrate the patented pull-out protection system into their tools. The result of their

vision to create a more open system has been a tremendous success, with leading cutting tool manufacturers having now signed licensing agreements, including Walter, Widia, SandvikCoromant, Seco Tools, Sumitomo, Kennametal, Helical, Emuge Franken, Data Flute, Niagara, OSG,SGS Tools and recently Mapal.

Through the steady increase of Safe-Lock tooling in the market via Haimer and its licensed partners, the system has become the new standard for heavy machining and roughing. In fact, the popularity and simplicity of Safe-Lock is such that it is also replacing the old Weldon clamping system, particularly when new milling strate-gies such as trochoidal (dynamic) milling are involved. President of HAIMER Group Andreas Haimer explains: “With our Safe-Lock system we found a solution that combines a high runout accuracy with 100% pullout protection. The system has es-tablished itself successfully as a standard in the aerospace industry and generally speaking for roughing and heavy duty machining. And now more and more compa-nies that make use of the trochoidal (dynamic) milling strategy are also making the switch to Safe-Lock, and for a good reason.”

During trochoidal milling operations, where the cutting speed and axial depth of cut can be increased through software support, productivity is significantly improved. However, the increased cutter engagement and cutting forces that result from the higher cutting performance create a situation where tool-pullout can occur very easily. Prior to Safe-Lock, this problem was prevented with Weldon shanks and chucks.However customer had to sacrifice speed and accuracy due to the nature of this clamping system. A shrink fit chuck with Safe-Lock offers the same safety as the Weldon system, but provides the additional advantage of accuracy and balance. The ideal balancing and runout characteristics of the shrinking technology in combi-nation with the clamping safety of the Safe-Lock system permit greater productivity achieve through fasterpermissiblespeedsand increased tool lif e all with complete tool security assurance

Within a wide range of
markets, such as the aerospace industry, cutting tools from MAPAL have successfully established themselves for high-performance machining operations like trochoidal milling. In order to offer users even greater protection
against tools being pulled out of the chuck during machining operations, and to prevent damaging single workpieces or the machine itself, MAPAL is going to rely on the Safe-Lock pull-out protection system from HAIMER. The two companies recently signed a corresponding licensing agreement.

HAIMER and MAPAL have reached a partnership and licensing agreement. The toolholding specialist from Igenhausen near Augsburg and the precision cutting tool manufacturer from Aalen are combining their strengths to form a new partnership.
In the future, they will work strategically closer together on the progression and further development of technologies and their applications
in the manufacturing market.

The two companies have signed an agreement that has contractually solidified their partnership. “We are proud and happy to have a strong partner at our side in MAPAL that is one of the world’s leading tool manufacturers,” emphasizes Claudia Haimer, managing partner of HAIMER. And the managing partner of MAPAL, Dr. Dieter Kress, is also looking forward to the future cooperation. “We value the high-level expertise of HAIMER whose innovative solutions in the field of tool holders represent the perfect complement to our high-tech tools.” Through the agreement, MAPAL has acquired a license to HAIMER’s Safe-Lock technology that is patented worldwide.

“The Safe-Lock system has proven itself both in the market and during our in-house trials. Consequently we have decided to use this leading system,” Dr. Jochen Kress, Member of the MAPAL Senior Management, says. “It is very frequently used for modern machining strategies. With Safe-Lock 
the productivity and tool life can be significantly increased,” Andreas Haimer, Managing Director and President of the HAIMER Group,explains .

When it comes to high-speed cutting, absolute safety is especially crucial. Considering the high value of the single workpiece or an unmanned production, scrap parts and machine downtime have to be avoided in order to guarantee process reliability. Through special drive keys in the tool holder and grooves in the cutting tool shank, the Safe-Lock system from HAIMER ensures high accuracy frictional clamping with the security of a form fit between grooves on the cutting tool and the drive keys in the chuck. This prevents the cutting tool from turning or being pulled out of the chuck during machining.

As a first step and starting in October, MAPAL will be offering selected cutting tools for high-performance machining with the Safe-Lock shank. As a second step, the MAPAL hydraulic chucks will follow and also be designed for this type of pull-out protection.

German based high precision products solution providers for metal cutting, HAIMER is showcasing its latest tool holding, clamping and balancing machines at the India’s largest die mould exhibition, Die Mould India 2016. The company is highlighting its revolutionary tool holding devices, power clamp range of shrinking technologies and balancing machines along with other technologies.

HAIMER will showcase:

Tool Holders
HAIMER offers the right clamping technology for every industry, application and typical machining operation. Take advantage of the innovative solutions from the technology leader for tool holders.

Shrinking Technology
For years, HAIMER has been the leading developer of inductive shrink fit technology for tool holders. Rely on our broad experience and use the world’s largest range of shrink fit equipment and coils. With the Power Clamp range, HAIMER provides its shrink-fit chucks with a comprehensive and well thought out range of devices of inductive shrink fit machines. By doing so, you profit from the fact that HAIMER perfectly coordinates shrink fit machines and chucks in its own production.

Balancing Machine
With the Tool Dynamic series HAIMER offers a universal machine concept for balancing tool holders, grinding wheels and other rotors. Increase your productivity with less unbalance in your production. With the Tool Dynamic balancing machine series, HAIMER offers a comprehensive solution for the balancing of tool holders, grinding wheels and big rotors with diameters up to 800 mm. Starting from the table and complementary machine TD 1002 to the automatic balancing machine TD 2010 Automatic, HAIMER has for every need the suitable balancing machine.

German based high precision products solution providers for metal cutting, HAIMER will be giving live demonstration of its latest tool holding, clamping and balancing machines at the India’s largest die mould exhibition, Die Mould India 2016. The company is going to highlight its revolutionary tool holding devices, power clamp range of shrinking technologies and balancing machines along with other technologies.

The company will showcase:

Tool Holders
HAIMER offers the right clamping technology for every industry, application and typical machining operation. Take advantage of the innovative solutions from the technology leader for tool holders.

Shrinking Technology
For years, HAIMER has been the leading developer of inductive shrink fit technology for tool holders. Rely on our broad experience and use the world’s largest range of shrink fit equipment and coils. With the Power Clamp range, HAIMER provides its shrink-fit chucks with a comprehensive and well thought out range of devices of inductive shrink fit machines. By doing so, you profit from the fact that HAIMER perfectly coordinates shrink fit machines and chucks in its own production.

Balancing Machine
With the Tool Dynamic series HAIMER offers a universal machine concept for balancing tool holders, grinding wheels and other rotors. Increase your productivity with less unbalance in your production. With the Tool Dynamic balancing machine series, HAIMER offers a comprehensive solution for the balancing of tool holders, grinding wheels and big rotors with diameters up to 800 mm. Starting from the table and complementary machine TD 1002 to the automatic balancing machine TD 2010 Automatic, HAIMER has for every need the suitable balancing machine.

After a record year in 2014 with a 20% sales increase the HAIMER Group can also announce a double-digit growth for 2015. The newest shrinking and balancing technology from the European market leader for tool holding technology played a big part in this successful growth. The newly developed carbide milling systems offer a very promising future and are being met with great interest in the area of high performance machining.

In comparison to 2014, the HAIMER Group reported a sales increase of 10.5% for 2015. Andreas Haimer, who amongst other things, is responsible for the international business, explains that “especially the subsidiaries developed very well and within the last years we often noticed that being present in other countries increases the turnover. This way we can offer our dealers on-site support and present ourselves as a global partner to our Key Accounts.” In 2015 HAIMER UK was founded in Manchester and for 2016 establishing a French subsidiary is planned. Furthermore, the new Application Center at the Haimer North America headquarters will celebrate its opening in the middle of May. In the future the biggest subsidiary located near Chicago, can offer application support, live cutting tests, and a high-quality regrinding service for all HAIMER carbide tools.

In each country the shrinking technology has proven to be a growth driver. Especially Safe-Lock, the patented pullout protection system for end-mills, continues to grow rapidly. Due to its constantly increasing distribution, Safe-Lock is said to be the new standard for heavy machining and roughing operations. The system combines highest runout with process reliability and pullout protection and “the results are outstanding” as Andreas Haimer explains. “Even when it comes to new milling strategies such as trochoidal machining, Safe-Lock replaces the outdated Weldon clamping system.”

The Safe-Lock system has evolved from a special solution to an industry standard: Leading tool manufacturers such as Walter, Widia, Sandvik Coromant, Seco Tool, Sumitomo, Kennametal and others have contributed to this fact by acquiring a license and adding more and more Safe-Lock tools to their product portfolio. And the numbers keep increasing. Since 2015 the OSG Group, Japanese market leader in the area of solid carbide end-mills, is offering their high-performance solid carbide cutters with the HAIMER Safe-Lock system. Also another leading American tool manufacturer, SGS Solid Carbide Tools, decided to start selling Safe-Lock tools within the last year. Most recently, in January 2016, Melin Tools and APN, the former is an American tool manufacturer and the latter a French tool manufacturer, got licensed for Safe-Lock. Andreas Haimer emphasizes the global availability of Safe-Lock: “With their range of milling tools our partners already dominate the majority of the global milling tool market. The annual sales of Safe-Lock cutting tools make up for double-digit million dollar turnover and there is even more potential.”

Solid carbide tools with HAIMER quality
Within the last months the Power Mill product portfolio was further expanded. Aluminum geometries and ball nose cutters were added to the selection of carbide milling tools. Furthermore, at EMO 2015 in Milano the Basic Mill, a round shank version and entry level cutter with universal use, was introduced.
With the Duo-Lock system HAIMER is providing a modular carbide milling system which shows an unheard of level of stability. Similar to the Safe-Lock system, Duo-Lock is offered to other tool manufacturers via licensing. But Haimer itself also has a large and ever expanding standard portfolio of Monobloc tool holders, milling heads and extensions with a Duo-Lock interface. The system runout of modular tools is better than 5 µm and has a Z-accuracy of 10 µm, which makes expensive presetting processes or set ups unnecessary.

Exhibitions and the first Open House event
In 2016 everyone who is interested will have the opportunity to experience firsthand, shrinking and balancing machines, tool holders and tools during one of our many global exhibitions. In Germany, HAIMER is going to participate in such events as Metav, Grindtec, AMB and many others. Furthermore, the company is hosting its first Open House event during the 26th and 30th of April. It offers top-class lectures and a sub-exhibitor program in the area of machine tools and tools, as well as guided tours throughout the Haimer facility.

The Tool Dynamic Automatic from HAIMER is a truly universal, vertical 4-axis CNC-based balancing machine with a Siemens 840 D sl control. Thanks to this innovation, machine users can measure the unbalance of their tools, locate and remove it by drilling or milling in one or two planes. Operators no longer need to go to a separate drilling machine. Thanks to highly accurate clamping and precise metal removal, excellent balance can be achieved. This innovative development of the time-tested HAIMER balancing systems has led to further increases in efficiency for tool balancing.

To bring efficient tool balancing to a completely new level, a flexible solution was sought to automate the manual process of loading and unloading tool holders. In addition to automation, further emphasis was placed how to avoid the issue of bulky safety guards, commonly associated with robotic equipment.

The sensitive lightweight robot LBR iiwa (intelligent industrial work assistant) from Kuka takes on this task. The LBR iiwa moves tools holders waiting in queue and inserts them in the balancing adapter of the TD Automatic, which automatically clamps the rotor with highest precision. After measuring and correction of unbalance in less than 1 minute the KUKA flexFELLOW removes the chuck from the balancing adapter again and places it back in its original docking position.

Due to the KUKA flexFELLOW ease of mobility, other Haimer balancing machines can be automated in less than 10 minutes, and productivity can realized for mid-sized and large batches.

In the complete loading and unloading process of the balancing machine, the machine operator can stay close to the KUKA flexFELLOW robot, and if necessary remove parts or make adjustments, without fear of injury. This is made possible by touch-sensitive sensors in the robot that stop movement immediately upon any disruption. These new touch-sensitive features make it possible to permanently eliminate bulky safety guards, thereby reducing space requirements. The KUKA flexFELLOW makes it possible to sustain a fully automated and autonomous work cell, ideally suited for Industry 4.0.

By recording process data and analyzing this data afterwards (which was previously only possible to a limited extent as all data was manually recorded) there now exists the possibility to optimize processes to a completely new level.

Due to the positive form and frictional clamping system made by HAIMER, MTU Aero Engines in Munich was able to increase the reliability in the process of machining difficult-to-cut materials while also decreasing their processing times.

MTU Aero Engines is Germany’s leading engine manufacturer and an established global player in the industry. The company engages in the design, development, manufacturing and support of commercial and military aircraft engines in all thrust and power categories and stationary gas turbines. Due to HAIMER‘s patented Safe-Lockpull out protection system, MTU was able to optimize their machining process regarding the production of structural frames and castings.

Jet engines are high-tech products. In their production, innovative technologies and processes are used. To keep current technologically, MTU develops innovative manufacturing strategies, and if necessary obtains additional external expertise. So was the case when they contacted HAIMER, the tool holding specialists from Igenhausen, Germany, to help optimize the demanding machining process of manufacturing frames and castings.

Difficult-to-machine materials, high-quality components and the high degree of automation at MTU require an absolutely smooth and reliable machining process to maintain the highest levels of quality. In order to ensure this consistency and to control the high axial cutting forces during machining, MTU decided to implement the Safe-Lock pull out protection system by HAIMER.

In the HAIMER Safe-Lock system, special drive keys in the tool holder and grooves in the tool shank prevent the cutting tool from spinning during extreme machining, thus preventing tool pull out from the chuck. In addition to the frictional clamping forces of the selected clamping system, the cutting tool is held using positive form locking in the tool holder through the constructive design of the Safe-Lock system.

Alexander Steurer, Senior Manager NC-Programming Stator Components at MTU Aero Engines AG in Munich, explains the decision for the HAIMER system: “Through the introduction of Safe-Lock and the shrinking technology from HAIMER, we can guarantee process reliability even with milling challenging high temperature materials. This is a prerequisite to guarantee smooth processing during manufacturing of frames and castings, given our high degree of automation.“

The combination of pull-out protection and highest concentricity of the Safe-Lock system leads to low vibration and as a result, a very stable machining process. Due to the increased cutting depths and feeds, the metal removal rate can be increased significantly. And thanks to the improved runout accuracy of HAIMER shrink fit chucks, tool life is improved by up to 50%.

The benefits of less than 3 µm runout, that the symmetrical Safe-Lock design provides, coupled with optimum balance and the possibility for easy length presetting were substantial reasons for MTU to switch to the HAIMER system instead of continuing to use Whistle Notch or Weldon tooling systems. While these other systems do in fact prevent tool pull out, both are unsymmetrical by design, hence providing insufficient runout and balance accuracy.

Through the use of a set screw the cutting tool is wedged against the opposite wall of the clamping bore. The holder pushes the cutting tool off center and thereby leads to excessive amounts of runout. Any such design also allows for significant radial play between the tool shank and the bore itself. That way the aforementioned holders actually push the cutting tool off center, thereby inducing excessive amounts of runout. Hans Drahtmüller, Line Manager Machining Stator Components at MTU in Munich, explains the resulting problems: “Due to the deteriorated runout, the tool life could not be fully realized. As a result, the tools with a Weldon flat had to be exchanged early. With Safe-Lock regrinding could be automated due to the cylindrical form of the system, as the cutting tools no longer have to be inserted manually into the grinding machine compared to Weldon flat tooling. This saves tool costs!“

Easy and quick tool change

In addition to productivity improvements in the machining process, time is also saved outside of the machine via extremely fast and easy tool changes. HAIMER Power Clamp Premium NG, the high end shrink fit machine MTU is using currently, offers an ergonomic working space, perfect handling and linear guided cooling bodies with temperature monitoring for maximum safety. Presetting the tool length to exactly 0.02 mm (e.g. for sister tools) can optionally be integrated into this machine. The intelligent New Generation (NG) coil is adjustable. With one turn, you can set the coil to the size of the shrink fit chuck both in length and diameter. This new system obsoletes the former interchangeable ferrite stop disks, which were always at risk of breaking during change overs. Thanks to the multiple patented HAIMER technology, the shrink fit chuck is only heated in areas where it is necessary. This way the process of both heating and cooling the tool holders is much faster. During the cooling process different sized cooling bodies shorten the cooling time and create a gentle, even and clean cooling effect. The cooling bodies ride on linear guides, so that the cutting edges are always protected from collision with the cooling body.