Erosion Efficiency: Inspection Efficiency
Cutting Tool Engineering Editor Alan Richter includes a grinding machine that enables a PCD- or PCBN-tipped cutting tool to be processed in one setup for his August 2011 Look Ahead column.
Eroding and polishing PCD- and PCBN-tipped cutting tools in one clamping helps ensure toolmakers accurately and efficiently produce those tools, and Vollmer of America Corp. has introduced a universal machine to do that. The QXD 200 is a 6-axis machine for manufacturing such cutters up to 250mm in diameter and 200mm in length.
To boost productivity, the machine has a generator that reduces EDM erosion times by up to 30 percent compared to the company’s previous generator, according to Scott Ries, product manager for the PCD group at Vollmer. The rotary, or disc, erosion process typically leaves 10µm to 20µm of superhard material for polishing with a grinding wheel, he noted.
Ries added that the erosion process is able to impart a cutting edge finish as fine as 0.18µm Ra, and a polished edge can be as fine as 0.05µm Ra.
Courtesy of Vollmer
Through the integrated polishing capability, a toolmaker can produce a PCD- or PCBN-tipped tool in one clamping on the QXD 200 from Vollmer.
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August 2011
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