KOMET SERVICE Partner Razor Tool opened their new facility in Woburn, Massachusetts last month.

Razor Tool, a KOMET SERVICE® Partner, celebrated the grand opening of their new facility in Woburn, Mass on Wednesday, June 8th 2016. The evening, which featured a cocktail reception, tool demos and displays, and an announcement ceremony, drew a strong crowd on a warm summer evening. Attendees also enjoyed tours of the brand new facility. The new building provides ample space for Razor Tool’s state-of-the-art 5-axis tool and cutter grinding machinery. “The grand opening was a huge success,” Tom Whennen, Manager of KOMET SERVICE says. “As KOMET SERVICE continues to grow and expand its reach across North America, our Partners continue to expand as well. This new building is proof that Razor Tool is growing and can provide more and more customers with top-notch service. We were thrilled to have so many people come out and celebrate this achievement with us.” Razor Tool is the tenth KOMET SERVICE Partner, joining KOMET SERVICE in May of 2015. Razor Tool shares KOMET SERVICE’s commitment to quality service and fast, reliable refurbishment of solid carbide tools. Utilizing state-of-the-art CNC equipment to grind cutting tools of the highest quality, along with their focused, service-based strategy, Razor Tool quickly cultivated and maintained a strong base of repeat customers, and this customer base continues to grow.

Solid drilling to 6 × D without centering and guide strips

The new KOMET Pentron 6xD Productivity PLUS indexable high performance drill has been developed for the continuous solid drilling up to 6 x D and for extreme machining situations. The new KOMET Pentron 6xD Productivity PLUS has no guide elements, making it an affordable and powerful alternative that nevertheless guarantees high productivity and process reliability.

At 5 × D is closing – so the current state of knowledge when it comes to the length / diameter ratio of drilling tools. For larger ratios affect the rigidity enormously, whereby no process stable machining was previously possible with acceptable feed values. KOMET has used its many years of experience and modern development methods used to the new KUB Pentron 6xD Productivity PLUS develop convince its performance.

IN PRACTICE – IMPRESSIVE RESULTS

• Roughing in heat-treated steel 42CrMo4
• v f to 0.12 mm / rev
• v c to 176 m / min
• Standweg to 9.9 m

CONCLUSION

The new KOMET KUB Pentron 6xD Productivity PLUS without additional centering stands with said average values and the results obtained for a high productivity. These values are significantly higher than the comparable drills without guide elements and can compete with out tools.

YOUR PLUS

• Drilling and chamfering in one operation
• Cost effective and powerful alternative
• ensures high productivity and process reliability
• High rigidity due to optimized geometry of the base body

KOMET has developed a 6xD indexable insert high-performance drill bit that retains its stability even when working without a centring point or guide rails.

5xD is as good as it gets when it comes to the length/diameter ratio of drilling tools. Or at least, that’s what was previously thought, since larger ratios have a considerable adverse effect on stiffness; until now, stable machining operations and adequate feed rates have been mutually exclusive. But the KOMET GROUP has been hard at work, pooling its many years of experience and sophisticated development methods to come up with a new, 6xD drill bit with performance data that will not fail to impress.

The impetus for the project was provided by a customer who enquired about the possibility of a productive 6xD 33-mm drill bit for making large screw holes for bearing rings of the kind used in wind turbines, for example. Tools of this size normally have guide elements, such as a centring point or guide rails, which makes the manufacturing process significantly more complex and drives costs skywards. In the words of Dr. Michel Maes, Head of Development at the KOMET GROUP, “Although you can find cheap 6xD drilling tools on the market that do not feature guide geometries, these are generally only able to work at relatively low feed rates and are therefore not particularly productive.”

The new KOMET KUB Pentron® 6xD indexable insert drill bit has been designed to be a low-cost, high-performance alternative without guide elements, which does not compromise on productivity or process reliability – just like the successful KOMET KUB Pentron® 5xD, which the Besigheim-based drilling specialists used as the gold standard for stiffness in this latest endeavour. Development Engineer Julius Osterried explains, “Our finite element analyses concluded that the stiffness of a 6xD tool was up to 45 per cent less than that of a 5xD tool.” To counteract this, the developers had to make changes to the basic body, since both the substrate from the KOMET® KUB Pentron® and the successful Pentron W80 indexable inserts were to be retained for the new tool design.

Julius Osterried describes the next stage in the development process: “To establish the kinds of loads that would be encountered, machining tests were conducted in which forces were measured, and the results from these were compared with results achieved using simulation tools – both numerical and hybrid.” “We collaborated with other organisations such as universities, who were able to bring the latest scientific expertise to the table.” In a screening, the KOMET® developers then established which geometric characteristics have a significant influence on stiffness. Armed with these findings and their experience, they used the design of experiments (DoE) and finite element (FEM) methods to optimise the geometry of the basic body in order to achieve a stiffness that is sufficient to withstand the specific loads to which it is subjected on the lateral force plane. The development team turned promising design variants into prototypes and validated them by means of drilling tests.

The results of this testing were used to create the final design of the new, 6xD drill bit, which was then taken to the customer for field testing. The drill bit needed to prove itself for roughing operations in 42CrMo4 quenched and tempered steel. At feed rates of up to 0.12 mm/rev and cutting speeds of up to 176 m/min, the new, 6xD drill bit has done just that, achieving positive results in terms of the hole diameters it can drill, which are within the tolerance limits set out in the specifications. In addition to this, the anti-penetration cutting forces of the drill bit, chip evacuation and quality of the drilled hole fulfil the customer’s requirements.

Head of Development Dr. Michel Maes concludes, “With this kind of cutting data and the results it has achieved in testing, the new KOMET®KUB Pentron® 6xD indexable insert drill bit without additional centring point is set to be a highly productive tool for 42CrMo4V machining. It allows us to achieve tool life travel of up to 9.9 m. Not only are these figures considerably higher than comparable drill bits without guide elements, but they also demonstrate that the new tool can hold its own against its guided counterparts. Ultimately, our customers are very pleased with the outcome.”

The new KOMET KUB Pentron® 6xD indexable insert drill bit is now already in use in the field, and developers have wasted no time getting to work on additional 6xD drill bits with other diameters.

Image Credit: KOMET Group

The KOMET GROUP is continuously working to further develop its range of tools, which will afford the user even greater gains in terms of productivity. The results of the latest efforts are a choice of two new centring points for the KOMET KUB Centron^® Powerline core bit drill which, with its multiple cutting edges, enables high feed rates and, as a result, short production times.

The points that have been available until now are standard carbide points, which can be used universally. However, for machining certain materials that require, for example, low cutting speeds, or for unstable situations such as working on lathes, where there is a certain degree of axial misalignment, tougher cutting tool materials offer a number of advantages.

This is why drilling specialists at KOMET^® have come up with a second centring point which, with its special ground section and coating, is optimised for use with stainless steels. The substrate consists of carbide that has predominantly been used for the purpose of wear protection in the past, and is much tougher than the carbide grade originally used. This makes the new centring point suitable for working situations in which vibrations and minor impacts are likely to occur, as well as for materials that are difficult to machine and require cutting speeds of between 30 and 80 m/min. For large tool diameters where the centring point is subjected to even lower cutting speeds (between 10 and 30 m/min), the KOMET GROUP offers a third centring point, which is made from HSS. It too has the special ground section for stainless steels and the corresponding coating.

The centring point is a crucial element of the KOMET KUB Centron^® Powerline. It guides the tool precisely along the drilling axis, ensuring dimensional accuracy, straightness and outstanding process reliability at drilling depths of up to 9xD. The core bit has two or, depending on the diameter, more than two Quatron indexable inserts, which provide a high level of stability and optimal chip evacuation. The cutting distribution on each side allows short chips to be produced even when using materials that are extremely difficult to machine. The four cutting edges per indexable insert, various substrates and coatings and tailored topographies for excellent chip control, soft cutting action, etc. allow for a long tool life and help make machining cost effective.

At EMO Milano 2015, the KOMET GROUP presented a full range of indexable insert milling cutters covering every milling task as a result of different topographies, substrates and coatings matched to each other. Alongside the well-established KOMET^® Quatron hi.feed, KOMET^® hi.aeQ and KOMET^® hi.apQ milling cutter lines, six more milling cutter systems (four single-sided and two double-sided indexable inserts) are now available ex stock.

Some examples: The new KOMET^® milling cutters include the KOMET^® Q55-KCM (KOMET^® copy-milling) copy miller that is particularly suitable for machining turbine blades, but can also be used very universally. The 45° KOMET^® Q63-KFM (KOMET^® face-milling) face-milling cutter is also part of the new product range. It is designed for face-milling operations with a cutting depth of up to 6.5 mm and a tooth feed of up to 0.5 mm. The KOMET^® Q56-KHF (KOMET^® high-feed) face-milling cutter is a particularly efficient tool. It was designed for high-feed applications and achieves a very high chip volume per unit of time. Its angled cutting edge also achieves optimum surface quality. The KOMET^® Q43-KSM (KOMET^® shoulder-milling) shoulder milling cutter produces shoulders that are step-free and are exactly 90° as a result of its soft-cutting geometry.

More than 70 new indexable inserts are available for the KOMET^® milling cutters – from extremely soft-cutting topographies for machining in a way that protects the spindles on small to medium-sized machines to extremely stable cutting edges for hard machining. Four new kinds of high-performance cutting material which ensure an even longer tool life when machining steel and cast iron materials, high-strength or high-temperature resistant steels and titanium and titanium alloys are particularly notable. These are accompanied by high-performance coatings, which extend the range of standard coatings which already have very good properties.

With over 60 new basic body designs, the result is a full product range, ideal for handling all milling tasks, from face, shoulder and chamfer milling to straight, 45° and T-slot milling, circular and plunge milling, angled plunge milling and free-form milling.

KOMET GROUP has recently developed draw bar tools which can be utilised for highly productive machine tools. They should not first be maintained when production quality decreases due to wear. When several different draw bar tools are used on a machine for manufacturing workpiece variants with differences in duration of use, it is easy to lose sight of each particular period of use. The duration of use can no longer be determined. As a result, it is also not be possible to draw conclusions about possible wear, and maintenance intervals cannot be determined in advance.

The new KomTronic® service indicator provides a remedy for this problem. It is located directly on the tool so that the user can read off the duration of use and the displacement travelled. In addition, digital recording of the operation times can be used to organise maintenance in strictly defined intervals.

A higher degree of production reliability and cost savings through timely maintenance of wear parts can be achieved as a result. Furthermore, compromises in component quality can be avoided.

The KomTronic® service indicator is an option that can be integrated in new and existing draw bar tools alike.

In times of increasing awareness in relation to issues of energy, energy economy and energy efficiency, the lightweight construction sector, and composite materials in particular, are growing in importance. Outstanding material properties such as the extremely high strength and complex structure of these materials, however, place new demands on precision tools: Because of the high degree of abrasiveness, conventional tools used in drilling and milling operations achieve a tool life of only a few metres.

The KOMET GROUP, which manufactures precision tools, has therefore developed a special lightweight construction tool range that focuses on composite materials (the corresponding brochure for these tools is available for download on their website at www.kometgroup.com). For excellent machining results with significantly longer tool life, a completely new class of KOMET® tools has been developed which is characterised not only by innovative geometry but also by intelligent cutting materials, and which can be employed using new machining strategies with generally very high cutting parameters.

The newly developed solutions range from single-edge to multi-tooth milling cutters, and from drills with a new first-cut geometry to indexable insert tools with a special insert arrangement. The cutting materials also set new standards: In addition to PCD solutions, solid carbide tools, in particular, which were coated with the new KOMET RHOBEST® NCD diamond layers, have established themselves for machining composite materials.

Which type of tool is more suitable, whether PCD or solid carbide NCD, depends on the particular machining task in each case. The usual practice is, in most cases, that solid-carbide NCD tools are used in the trial stage, partly for price considerations and partly because the behaviour of the material can then be more easily and conveniently tested. PCD tools, on the other hand, are preferably used in cases where stable clamping conditions are of more importance and maximum tool life is to be achieved.

It is advisable in every case to establish a close collaboration with the lightweight construction specialists from the KOMET GROUP. All relevant factors can then be jointly tested in advance before work commences. These primarily include the material which is to be machined. Machining technology also plays an essential role. The choice of tools and cutting tool material depends on whether the component is to be machined on a machining centre, using a robot or with manually operated cutting machines. Finally, workpiece clamping must also be taken into consideration, and the associated risks of vibration. Other factors include cooling, cutting speed, machining task and extraction.

The KOMET GROUP is well-known as a leading innovator for high-precision drilling, reaming and threading, but the precision tools manufacturer also has a wide range of high-performance milling cutters. Amongst others, these include the new, extended range of KOMET JEL® F.line solid carbide end milling cutters. The range offers tools in the diameter range from 1.0 to 25.0 mm, which are suitable for use with iron and steel materials, aluminium and non-ferrous metal, soft and hard machining (up to 65 HRC), and in mould and die making.

With the new KOMET JEL® F.line generation, already existing solid carbide tools have been expanded in diameters and lengths, and new products have been added: For example, special graphite milling cutters, spherical milling cutters for aluminium and an HPC finishing end mill. The HPC finishing end mill is characterised by a high level of vibration damping and, thanks to the asymmetrical cutting edge spacing and variable pitch angle, enables a higher feed rate. This advantage is particularly effective for deeper milling paths and trochoidal milling and, when cutting, always produces an excellent surface finish.

The KOMET JEL® F.line forms part of a complete solid carbide portfolio that meets market requirements, and also includes the KUB® Drillmax VA, KUB® Drillmax 3xD and KUB® Drillmax 12xD drills as well as the KOMET DIHART® Fullmax solid carbide reamers.

An important addition to this customer-oriented range is provided by the KOMET SERVICE® offer with its comprehensive network of highly-qualified KOMET SERVICE® partners. It guarantees – at short notice and reliably – professional regrinding and individual re-coating services in original quality, alongside precise tool retipping. In addition, it provides new tools from the readily available TOOLlife range as well as simple solid carbide special tools.

KOMET DIHART® is expanding its solid carbide reaming range with the “Fullmax”, a completely revised universal reaming tool. With a new first-cut geometry and coating, it is suitable for use with almost all materials. Fullmax reaming tools are available ex stock in the main dimensions, both in H7 tolerance and in graduations of 1/100 mm.

The reaming specialists at KOMET DIHART® have packed all their experience gained from producing previous solid carbide reaming tools into consistently developing these tools further. Their creation is the new KOMET DIHART® Fullmax reamer, that brings a host of benefits at a range of technical levels.

The tool’s strong points include, for example, the further development of first-cut geometry which is available exclusively for Fullmax tools. The geometry enables a particularly high level of cutting performance in a range of different materials, even in hardened steels up to HRC62.

Particular strengths are demonstrated by the modified spacing of the cutting edges. The uneven spacing chosen with cutting edges arranged opposite each other in pairs produces significantly reduced deviations in roundness and cylindrical shape. The increase in the differences of the angles reduce the tendency of the tool to vibrate and for chatter marks to be created. Because the groove shape and its opening angle has been adapted to the new spacing, there is sufficient space for optimum chip evacuation, even in materials which produce relatively long swarf. Chip evacuation is also supported by the targeted delivery of coolant, which in addition provides substantial cutting edge cooling.

The new design is completed by the universal, high-performance “DBG-U” coating, a TiAlN multi-layered thin layer that was developed for Fullmax. The coating opens up a range of deployment options for this solid carbide reaming tool and, because of its improved wear resistance, contributes to longer tool life.

These characteristics and properties combine to create the kind of precision for which KOMET® is known on the market, as well as for its high standards of dimensional accuracy and surface finish quality. Through numerous trials in KOMET®’s own Tech Center, users are also provided with valuable recommendations in terms of cutting data suitable for each particular task.

KOMET DIHART® Fullmax reaming tools can be supplied in individually configurable dimensions in the diameter range from 3 to 20 mm. In addition, preferred ranges are available from stock for diameters of 4,5,6,8,10 and 12 mm. There are separate variants matched to blind-hole and through-hole machining.