Materials & Raw Stock

Machining P/M steels for powertrain parts is tough, but answers abound.

Primary Cutter LLC has added 7-flute endmills to its Supermill high-performance carbide endmill line.

Ingersoll Cutting Tools' 3n1-Rounds series 45D...RP solid-carbide roughing endmills feature not only high-feed geometry but variable pitch and chip splitters, as well. This series covers a range of applications including slotting, pocketing, helical interpolation and contouring. Four- and 5-flute versions are available with a 38-degree helix and large corner radii to enable high-feed milling.

Milling plastics is just easy enough to be difficult.

Production and application of cermet-tipped circular saw blades continues to grow, eating into carbide's market share.

Rather than using taps to thread steel prior to hardening, a growing number of shops are opting to thread mill heat-treated steel.

In recent years, monolithic machined aluminum components have been replacing sheet metal assemblies throughout the aerospace industry. The monolithic structures are lighter, less expensive and stronger than their conventional sheet metal counterparts. Machining the components requires fewer special tools, fewer hand operations and less assembly time.

Reaming titanium is a challenging task, but new tools can give shops an edge as they battle this difficult-to-machine material.

Maximizing productivity and calculating required machining power when facemilling titanium alloys.

Cutting Tool Engineering Editor Alan Richter's September cover story, titled "Smart Weighting," takes a close look at the practice of "lightweighting." In short, automakers are switching from mild steel and iron to components made of lower weight materials.

New cutting tool materials are required for new generation airframes.

Learn when to apply motorized, hand-held drills; fine-toothed, diamond-cut routers; compression routers and veined PCD tools to machine composite materials.