Cutting Tools & Tooling

Controx presents the Panel Cut line of tools, which reportedly allow feed rates up to 400 ipm for maximum productivity and a clean surface finish. Designed specifically for machining lightweight composite sandwich panels, these shank tools employ sophisticated tool geometry to drill through sandwich panels with no delamination on the glass or carbon fiber skins or flagging of the honeycomb in between.

Emuge Corp. has announced the expansion of its MultiTAP line, high-performance taps designed to cut a range of materials, including carbon steel, steel alloys, stainless steel, aluminum, cast iron, copper, brass and bronze. With 87 new SKUs, the Emuge MultiTAP line comprises an expansive offering of both regular and extended-length spiral-point and spiral-flute taps, as well as roll form taps.

LACH DIAMOND says its newly developed PCD twist drill type PS saves up to 75 percent of time by reducing three previously necessary steps to one process. The new PCD twist drill completes piloting, drilling and reaming all in one "shot."

Without a doubt, cutting tools for machining titanium must be well-engineered. This was reinforced for me while attending Horn Technology Days 2017 May 10 to 12 at Hartmetall-Werkzeugfabrik Paul Horn GmbH's in Tübingen, Germany.

Ingersoll Cutting Tools offers dovetail with a positive-rake-angular advantage and 6-flute productivity performance.

J.W. Winco Inc. offers GN 784 metric size, aluminum mounting clamps with swivel ball joint. The GN 784 aluminum mounting clamps, which are RoHS compliant, allow precise and variable adjustment of the ball pivot within the rotation range.

Bob Warfield of the CNCCookbook.com analyzes the impact of tool deflection in the fourth episode of The CNC Chef, a video series from Cutting Tool Engineering.

The Dormer Force X upgrades the Dormer MPX solid-carbide drill family with new geometry, corner design and edge preparation. The upgrade applies to the 3xD R457 and R458 and the 5xD R453 and R454, bringing them in-line with the newly launched 8xD R459.

Carmex Precision Tools LLC has announced the latest addition to its family of tooling for Swiss-style applications. The Swiss-Line combines a new type of polygon insert and holder for external turning, grooving, parting and threading. The precision ground inserts are constructed of solid carbide with specialty coating for longer tool life and increased productivity, according to the company.

Just in time (JIT) manufacturing, by nature, increases setups and shrinks batch sizes. This puts shops in a bind, because more setups and smaller batches are typically less profitable; but saying "no" to work can be even more painful. The burden to search out creative ways to reduce cycle and setup time in order to realize a profit falls to the shops that commonly perform JIT work and on the shops that can't afford to turn it down when the opportunity arises.

New, ultraresilient workpiece materials with high strength-to-weight ratios have cutting tool vendors and CAM developers scrambling to design new tools and toolpaths to efficiently cut them. To succeed, the vendors and developers must collaborate with unprecedented frequency.