Medical manufacturer prolongs tool life

END USER: Simeon Medical GmbH & Co. KG, +49 74-61-900-68-0, simeonmedical.com.
CHALLENGE: Boost productivity and extend tool life when cutting cast aluminum surgical light housings.
SOLUTION: A special PCD endmill with laser-machined cutting edges.
SOLUTION PROVIDERS: J.M. Sales USA, (248) 321-6170, www.jmsales-usa.com; Johs. Boss GmbH & Co. KG (JBO), +49 74-32-9087-0, www.johs-boss.de.

It’s common knowledge that superhard materials can be used to make cutting tools with exceptionally long life. But a medical device maker really hit the jackpot when it replaced a solid-carbide endmill with a PCD one and experienced a more than 5,600 percent improvement in tool life, while efficiently producing high-quality parts. Simeon Medical GmbH & Co. KG, Tuttlingen, Germany, experienced that outcome when the manufacturer of surgical light housings needed a longer lasting endmill to more productively mill circular pockets in the cast aluminum housings. Depending on the model, each housing has 24 to 36 pockets to hold LED lights.

The parts manufacturer was applying uncoated solid-carbide endmills that had roughing teeth with a chipbreaker geometry. Tool life averaged from 12 to 14 housings. Simeon tested a coated carbide tool, but tool life increased only three to five housings.

Courtesy of JBO

A special PCD endmill from JBO mills a circular pocket in cast aluminum at Simeon Medical.

Courtesy of JBO

Seeking to reduce costs and further extend tool life, Simeon commissioned Johs. Boss GmbH & Co. KG (JBO), Albstadt, Germany, to develop a solution. (J.M. Sales – USA, Troy, Mich., is JBO’s U.S. representative.) The toolmaker selected PCD as the cutting tool material and produced an endmill with chipbreaking roughing teeth. The 3-flute tool measures 16mm (0.63 “) in diameter and 90mm (3.54 “) in total length and has 24.90mm-long (0.98 “), 1.60mm-thick (0.06 “) PCD cutting edges with a 0.80mm (0.03 “) end radius.