Longus Tool Vita

Long tool life, as the headline states in Latin, benefits every metalcutting application, but especially flying saw ones cutting welded tube in which the machine is already running at the maximum parameters, according to Richard Otter, R&D for ICO Surface Coatings Inc., a division of saw blade manufacturer Tru-Cut Saw Inc. That’s because stopping the operation to change a blade is expensive, he noted.

Courtesy of ICO Surface Coatings

The new ViTA-Nano PVD coating reportedly extends tool life 30 to 50 percent.

The sawing machine clamps onto a welded tube and travels with the tube to cut it to a specific length, from about 10 ‘ to 40 ‘, depending on the customer’s requirements, Otter explained. Stopping the sawing mill can cause $1,000 of scrap steel tubing because of what is called “open seam,” where the rolled steel has not been welded to form the finished product. “If the customer can run the mill longer without tooling changes, this will reduce the amount of scrap tubing they have to recycle and increase profits,” he said.

To increase circular saw blade life 30 to 50 percent vs. the company’s standard multilayer AlTiN coatings, ICO developed ViTA-Nano, a nanocomposite physical vapor deposition coating. “Vita is Latin for life, so this is our extended life coating,” Otter said.