Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Advanced Materials & Tools Company (President – Fumio Tsurumaki, Headquarters: 1-3-2 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo) has added an radius type to the MS plus solid carbide end mill series.

MS plus end mills are regarded as tools with a stable tool life when machining a broad range of workpiece materials up to 50HRC that are commonly used in the mould and die industry. Now the MS plus end mill series has been further expanded to include a new type, MPMHVRB, a 4 flute corner radius end mill with irregular helix flutes. Additionally 2 square corner types, with an external diameter of 16 mm and 20 mm have been added. Both are suitable for high efficiency machining of stainless and carbon steels.

Features of MPMHVRB of MS plus end mills series

• MS+ coating is used because it displays excellent wear resistance over a broad range of workpiece materials from carbon steels through to hardened steels up to 50HRC.
• It delivers overwhelmingly high vibration resistance by adopting flutes with different helix angles. This helps reliability when machining long overhang applications.
• MPMHVRB provides a wider general-purpose use because both the cutting edge and overall length are slightly longer than conventional products.

The Jabro-Solid² JS554 range of solid-carbide end mills gains further utility and versatility with smaller neck diameter options. These latest tools provide greater clearance when machining complex components, such as those found in aerospace, medical and general machining applications.

Smaller neck dimensions make it easier to access parts clamped in complicated fixturing arrangements, as well as enable users to take full advantage of 4-axis and 5-axis machining capabilities. The neck sizes are optimised to retain tool rigidity while providing full compatibility with standard toolholder connective systems. The tools maintain their ability to productively machine materials in the ISO P, M, S and other material groups.

JS554 end mills provide high stability and low deflection. They also bring an excellent price-performance ratio to a range of applications, and these latest additions further expand the line’s advanced capabilities.

The range of JS554 end mills covers tool diameters from 3 mm to 20 mm and typical cutting lengths 2xD + 2 mm. Reach lengths are 3xDc. The range also includes corner radius and 45˚-chamfer versions, for both Cylindrical and Weldon shanks.

Most shops evaluate new cutting tools in an effort to reduce machining time, increase tool life, or improve part quality, and sometimes all three. Stellar Precision Components Ltd., a Tier II aerospace supplier in Jeanette, Pennsylvania, did it for an entirely different reason. “We’d just taken an order for some Inconel parts,” says production manager Edward Frieze. “None of us were really worried at that point about tool life or making a profit on the job—our only concern then was how the heck could we get them shipped in eight weeks.”

Opening Doors
Four decades earlier, Mike Vucish Sr. was working for a manufacturer of naval nuclear components when he saw an opportunity to go into business for himself. He bought some equipment, invited a few students from the technical school where he taught shop class at night, and opened the doors of Stellar Precision in 1978. He continued to work at his day job until his fledgling company was firmly established, but in the meantime brought some family members on board to help out.

“We started out doing a lot of overload work from other larger shops in the area, but that evolved into direct support of several nuclear programs because of my father’s experience in this area,” says daughter Lori Albright, now owner and president of Stellar Precision. “We’ve since become a key supplier to a number of prime aerospace and defense contractors including Boeing, Lockheed, and Raytheon, as well as various nuclear and medical customers, and have over 70 employees and sales revenues of nearly ten million dollars US.”

Stellar prides itself on continual updates to its equipment list, and has an eclectic mix of CNC machine tools from Haas Automation and Okuma, although that balance is steadily tipping in Haas’ favor as the shop’s older machines go into retirement. Albright says not only is the Haas equipment less expensive than its foreign-built competition, but that “Made in America” resonates with many of Stellar’s customers. “This approach also lets us replace our equipment on a more regular basis, which in turn keeps us current on technology.”

Key equipment includes an Okuma LB-45 lathe able to turn 36 in. diameter parts up to 120 in. long (91 mm x 305 cm), and a Haas VF-11 5-axis machining center with 10 ft. of X-axis travel (305 cm) and a table load capacity 4000 lb. (1814 kg). Stellar also has several wire EDMs, a dozen or so 3, 4, and 5-axis machining centers and mill-turn lathes, and offers value-added services such as non-destructive testing, welding, heat treating, and Teflon coating.

Not Too Tough
Stellar is used to meeting demanding requirements. Recent projects include components for RAM Block II anti-ship missiles, the CCtCap crew transport vehicle, 155mm Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP) advanced gun system, rocket motor cases for the Atlas Five launch vehicle, and others. Their newest project, however, would be one to test the mettle of machinists and management alike.

Frieze explains that Stellar had just received a purchase order for a handful of Inconel 625 prototypes. The raw material blanks for the job measured 18 in. square x 3 in. thick (457 x 457 x 76 mm), and weighed nearly 300 lb. each (134 kg). The project team suffered little indigestion over the tough material’s poor machinability; Stellar routinely cuts Inconel and other nickel-based superalloys, as well as tungsten, maraging steels, 60 Rc 4340 (300M), and tool steel.

Nor was tolerance an issue. Frieze points to one recent titanium part that called out a 0.005 in. (0.127 mm) profile tolerance over its 12 in. length (304 mm), the equivalent of holding “a couple tenths” in parts that cost over $5000 apiece before machining. Meeting the relatively wide open tolerances on the Inconel part was not a concern.

The problem was one of raw material removal: when finished, the Inconel plates weighed in at a svelte 30 lb. (13.6 kg), 90-percent lighter than their starting weight. Frieze knew there weren’t enough hours in the day to remove that much material using conventional carbide tooling, not if he were to meet the deadline. He needed a better solution.

Seminar Payoff
Earlier that year, Frieze and several of his coworkers had attended a learning event sponsored by a local chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA), and hosted at the Kennametal technical center in the nearby town of Latrobe. There he met product manager Matthieu Guillon, who introduced him to a cutting tool that Frieze was initially skeptical of. “It looked and felt like a plastic toy end mill,” he laughs.

That tool was Kennametal’s series of 4 and 6-flute high performance full ceramic end mills. Constructed of SiAlON KYS40 grade ceramic and designed specifically for roughing in nickel-based high-temperature alloys, these end mills often out-produce carbide by up to 20 times. Says Guillon, “We recommend a starting speed of 825 SFM up to 3300 SFM (250 to 1000 m/min) and feedrates starting at around 0.001 IPT (0.03 mm) depending on the tool diameter and other conditions. Despite the far higher cutting speeds, we have some customers who have reported 2 to 3 times greater tool life than carbide.”

Stellar didn’t have any immediate use for the ceramic tools, but after making some quick feed and speed calculations, Frieze knew they would be an effective solution given the right application. Several months later, that application arrived with the Inconel plates. He called Guillon to say he might have a good use for those ceramic cutters they were talking about, and wondered how soon he could get some.

Skeptic to the Last
Frieze remained skeptical. He’d tried indexable ceramic cutting tools on both milling and turning jobs in the past and had mediocre results. In this case, however, he was willing to try anything if it meant meeting the customer’s deadline. When Guillon arrived a few days later with the ceramic end mills, Frieze followed Kennametal’s feed and speed recommendations to the letter, crossed his fingers, and pushed cycle start.

“We weren’t certain what would happen so started out with a block of test material,” he says. “You don’t use cutting fluid with ceramic—only an air blast—and everyone in the shop was crowded around the machine saying, ‘Wow, look at that!’ There was fire shooting everywhere. It was something we’d never seen before. But within the first hour, we knew it was going to work.”

“The tools aren’t inexpensive,” he says. “At one point, Lori had around $20,000 worth of end mills sitting in her office and we were starting to question the investment. But once you calculated in the machine costs and reduced cycle time, we figured it was three to four times more cost-effective to go this route. Each end mill gave us one half hour of cut time, at which time we replaced it whether it was worn or not. The process was so predictable we were able to run lights out. It was a drastic savings.”

Enjoying the Heat
Best of all, Stellar delivered the parts on time with zero scrap, and is now quoting a second, even larger order. Owner Lori Albright was quite pleased with the outcome. “This type of situation is the nature of our business. We have to react to our customers’ needs and employ the best technology available to do so. That’s one of the reasons why Kennametal is so welcome here. We work together as a team to solve challenges.”

Looking forward, Albright anticipates continued growth. Having expanded Stellar’s existing facility six times, she figures it might be time to put up an entirely new building on nearby property. She also looks forward to bringing additional young people to the machining trade. “We have apprenticeship programs with several of the area schools, one of which my father used to teach at,” she says. “I find that it’s often our younger people that drive our innovation. It’s too easy to keep doing things the old way and not invest in tooling and equipment, or pursue new technology. The days of high volume, round-the-clock fender clip manufacturing are gone, and it’s only by continually improving their manufacturing processes that companies can succeed and grow. For us, Kennametal is part of that success.”

Following the successful introduction of the ECK-H4M-CFR 4 flute endmill, ISCAR is introducing a new ECK-H7/9-CFR endmill family featuring 7 and 9 flute different helix and variable pitch configurations. The new family was designed for finishing and high-speed machining applications.

Features

• 7/9 flutes with different helix and variable pitch solid carbide endmills for high-speed milling of titanium
  Assortment of corner radii
• Optimized edge preparation suitable for stable machining of titanium, which prevents chipping on cutting edges and corners
• Unique patent design
• h6 shank tolerance

Advantages

• Chatter dampening
• Optimal flute and tooth geometry delivering very high metal removal rates
• Suitable for a wide range of speeds, feeds and applications
• High accuracy

The new tools are available in a diameter range of 6 to 20 mm; each tool diameter is available with cylindrical and Weldon shanks. The tools are made from PVD coated grade IC900 providing longer tool life when machining titanium.

Highlights 

• 4-flute FINISHRED geometry with coolant channels directed to each individual cutting-edge
• Designed for both roughing and semi-finishing operations
• Excellent chip evacuation at up to 2XD full slot depth applications
• Made from IC300 tough submicron PVD coated grade

As a result of the successful penetration and excellent performance of the EFS-B44 FINISHRED solid carbide endmills made from IC300, ISCAR has added coolant channels featuring outlets directed to each cutting edge.These coolant channels further improve performance and tool life.

 Features

• 4 flutes with a 45° helix – two serrated flutes and two continuous flutes
• Coolant channel with outlets directed to each cutting edge
• Fully effective and enables running at rough machining parameters, resulting in semi-finish surface quality
• Unique tool design reduces vibration at high load applications
• Produces short and long chips simultaneously. This chip mixture evacuates more easily than each individual chip type, resulting in an excellent solution for slotting and cavity milling applications
• A single tool replaces the roughing and finishing endmills, dramatically reducing cycle time and increasing productivity
• Extra tool position is gained on the machine
• Eliminates the need to keep a large amount of stock
• Excellent performance and tool life at interrupted cut and unfavorable conditions
• Impressive results in machining titanium, Inconel, stainless steel and high temperature alloys, as well as hard materials and carbon steel

IC300 features excellent thermal shock resistance. It should be used with emulsion cooling at low to medium cutting speed.

The new EFS-B44-C solid carbide endmills are available in a diameter range of 6 to 16 mm.

ISCAR is expanding the EFF-S solid carbide FEEDMILL endmill diameter range by adding 1 to 5 mm small diameter tools.

The EFF-S endmills utilize a large radius cutting edge configuration that allows greatly increased feed rates. The unique cutting edge geometry axially directs the resultant cutting forces towards the spindle. This results in high stability and enables machining at high feeds even with
long overhang.

In addition, the new tools feature 2 and 4 flutes comprised of grade IC902 – an ultra-fine grain substrate that is protected by the advanced AL-TEC coating technology. The combination of these parameters offer outstanding wear resistance and toughness.

Due to the above, the solid FEEDMILL can operate at very high feed rates and small depths of cut, thus providing a significant reduction in cycle time and increasing productivity.
These features are particularly attractive for the die & mold industry, when rough machining is required on materials such as hardened steel up to 65 HRc, P20 or H13. Similarly, the solid FEEDMILL exhibits excellent performance on cast iron, stainless steel, titanium and nickel based alloys.

The unique radius geometry of the solid FEEDMILL enables high productivity when milling slots, pockets, helical interpolation or contouring up to 3XD deep. In fact, the feed rate obtained by the solid FEEDMILL is 5 to 10 times higher when compared to conventional ball nose endmills.

The new tools can successfully be applied on ISCAR’s SPINJET – coolant driven high speed compact spindles for small diameter tools on low RPM machine tools.
The combination of high cutting speed and high feed on low RPM machine tools is a guaranteed winning solution.

Features

• 2 / 4 flutes and durable bottom radius geometry
• An optimal solution for roughing operations; highly useful for the die & mold industry
• Covers a wide range of applications, including slotting, pocketing, helical interpolation 
and 3XD contouring

• Useful for machining materials such as hardened steel up to 65 HRc, P20, H13, cast iron, stainless 
steel, titanium and high temperature alloys
• 5 to 10 times higher feed rates when compared to conventional ball nose endmills
• Reduces cycle time and increases productivity

ISCAR is launching new solid carbide endmills made from grade IC608 designed mainly for milling hardened steel.

IC608 is a complementary grade to the existing PVD coated grades intended for machining hardened steel.

C608 H(01-10) P(05-20)
A tough submicron substrate with a hard PVD coating that provides substantially improved tool life and reliability.

Substrate: Tough submicron cemented carbide substrate featuring high deformation resistance.

Coating: New hard PVD brown coating, excellent oxidation resistance, high chipping and wear resistance.

The combination of the new substrate and new coating results in improved repeatability and accuracy.

Applications:
Milling hardened steel (45-60HRc) at moderate to high cutting speeds. Milling alloy steel at moderate to high cutting speeds.

In the initial stage، the new grade is being introduced into the most popular FINISHRED EFS-B44 (6-20 mm diameters) and CHATTERFREE EC-E4L-CF (3-20 mm diameters) endmill families. According to market response, more IC608 items in other tool families will follow.

Emuge Corp. recently introduced a new Solid Carbide Turbine End Mills Program designed for milling turbine blades, impellers, blisks and other complex 5-Axis components. Emuge Turbine End Mills feature a variety of styles including tapered ball nose, unique barrel-shape designs and optimum tool selections from their Top-Cut, Tinox-Cut, Multi-Cut and Indexable Insert Tooling programs.

We are very pleased to offer our customers excellent solutions for milling turbines blades,” said Mr. Charles Colonair, Milling Product Manager at Emuge Corp. “OEMs and job shops in industries such as automotive, aerospace and power generation will benefit from increased productivity using these tools.”

The Emuge Turbine End Mill line includes Barrel-Shaped Oval Form End Mills, which provide manufacturers with an exceptionally efficient finishing tool for high-strength materials. The unique barrel-shaped oval form simulates the attributes of ball nose end mills having a diameter range of 150-190 mm, to provide double the axial cut vs. a standard ball nose end mill, for a superior surface finish. The Barrel-Shaped Oval Form End Mills are offered with 3 and 4 flutes with ALCR (aluminum-chromium) coating and have a form tolerance of +/- 0.01 mm (0.0004”), providing highly accurate low-vibration machining.

Torus End Mills for the semi-finishing and finishing of turbine blades feature 5 – 13 flutes with variable spacing to minimize vibrations while machining. Designs include corner radius (0.8 mm, 1 mm and 2 mm), straight and 8° taper angle versions. Internal coolant supply capability is provided. Tapered Ball Nose End Mills are offered with a 4° taper angle and feature a design with 3 flutes in the ball nose section and 6 flutes radially, a design which provides tool stability and improved surface finish of turbine blades. Torus and Tapered Ball Nose End Mills are especially well suited for milling in high-strength materials such as nickel-based alloys and titanium alloys. Both styles of end mills feature advanced multilayered TiALN coating for high heat resistance.

Emuge also offers Tapered Ball Nose End Mills in the new program that excel in the roughing, semi-finishing and finishing of impellers. These Tapered Ball Nose end mills have a 3 flute design with a 4° taper angle and also feature a design with 3 flutes in the ball nose section and 6 flutes radially. ALCR coating allows for these tools to achieve higher feed speeds, metal removal rate and extremely high performance especially in difficult- to- cut materials.

Emuge Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the 1,500+ employee German company EMUGE-Werk Richard Glimpel GmbH & Co. KG (Lauf, Germany) that has been the product technology and performance leader in their field for over 90 years. The company manufactures an extensive line of taps, thread mills, end mills, toolholders, clamping devices and other rotary cutting tools, over 100,000 items sold through distributors worldwide. Emuge also offers end-user technical support through a network of in-the-field engineers and in-house product specialists, all with extensive tooling and application experience.

Over 10,000 types of cutting tools and accessories are stocked in the company’s U.S. and Canadian Headquarters located in West Boylston, MA, U.S.A. The 21,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility also serves as a technology center with a machining and tooling demonstration showroom and classroom.

Destiny Tool, a supplier of high performance end mills for use in non-ferrous and high temperature alloys, and Machining Cloud GmbH, product data content provider for the digital shop, jointly announce that they will work together in order to publish Destiny Tool’s cutting tool product data onto the Machining Cloud.

The goal of this alliance is to significantly reduce the time associated with finding, selecting, purchasing and using Destiny Tool’s products.

Through the Machining Cloud, Destiny Tool’s product data – descriptive, usage and geometric information, application knowledge and price and availability – will be readily available to feed their customers’ CAM systems, simulation software and other data-hungry shop software and equipment.

Using the Machining Cloud tablet and desktop apps, Destiny Tool’s customers will have access to a rich set of software features including Selector, Job Management, Reporting and Commerce.

“Machining Cloud’s ability to feed Destiny Tool’s product data directly into their customer’s shop software offers a tremendous benefit over paper catalogs and websites that currently offer this type of data which is manually typed into the end user’s software,” says Pierre-Francois Tavard, Cloud Evangelist for the Machining Cloud GmbH. “By utilizing cloud technology and industry standards – including ISO13399, STEP, GTC and MTConnect – the Machining Cloud is capable of serving up-to-date product data to virtually any shop floor software or system.”

“In today’s manufacturing world it’s all about producing the most number of quality parts, in spec and in tolerance at the end of the work day. If you do that, your company makes money and beats the competition. Destiny Tool believes, that in order to be a top performer you have to pick out your niche and then constantly improve upon it. At Destiny Tool, we have developed unique tooling for those who are looking for the finest end mills. For many years at Destiny Tool we cut our teeth in non-ferrous and hi-temp alloys and we believe that our performance end mills are the very best available in the world for those specific material groups,” says Bernie Martin and Guy Calamia from Destiny Tool.

The Machining Cloud apps run on Microsoft Windows® 7 and 8 powered desktop and tablet computers, as well as Android tablets and iPads. The Machining Cloud is a neutral platform open to all partners and suppliers, making it suitable for the needs of most shops.

CoroMill® Plura Heavy Duty (HD) from Sandvik Coromant is a completely new solid end milling concept, developed for removing large amounts of metal in a short amount of time and to provide the reliability needed for heavy roughing.

CoroMill Plura HD is the first choice solid roughing end mill for shoulder milling, full slot milling, ramping and helical interpolation in steel and stainless steel. It can also be used with cast iron and heat-resistant materials. The tools offer secure and reliable machining in a wide range of cutting parameters.
​High process security and a long predictable tool life are essential in heavy roughing operations. The optimized flute shape was especially designed as a result of a Finite Element Analysis, and it assures effective chip evacuation when machining with a large depth of cut. This flute design also prevents re-cutting of chips and sudden tool breakage. By efficiently removing chips, full slot milling up to two times diameter with five-teeth end mills is possible without compromising process security. Stainless steel end mills also benefit from internal coolant for maximum chip evacuation and temperature control.

The geometrical features and grades allow for exceptional metal removal rates and tool life. Two new grades have been developed; one for all-round conditions, preferably in dry machining, and one to deal with tough conditions and large engagements in wet machining. The tough face geometry is developed to cope with demanding ramping operations. Other features include differential pitch and cylindrical land to help minimize vibration and to provide predictable performance for reliable roughing.