Distributed by Bohle Machine Tools Inc., the Endura 825 milling machine from Fooke GmbH is for machining large aluminum billets. "It is the 9'-dia., low-vibration milling cutter, the core of the new Fooke Endura 825 concept, which is what makes this machine unique for in the milling of aluminum billets," said Ludger Wellner, manager of the plant construction and material processing technology business section of Fooke. This gives the new Germany-made machine the capability to produce a high quality finish milling process, while greatly increasing the productivity, according to the company. The uses of this aluminum billet-milling cutter, machine symbiosis are found in the aluminum processing industries, where low stress cutting of homogeneous, fine-grained crystalline-structured materials with high finish requirements is necessary. For this the Endura 825 cuts aluminum billets up to 200mm (high) x 2,500mm (wide) x 6,000mm (long) (8" x 100" x 600"). The milling tool is made of cast steel and can mill different aluminum materials. Regardless of the required aluminum alloy material, the high accuracies in thickness tolerance, flatness, parallelism and surface finish, is consistent for each machining cycle. In addition to the improved technical requirements, the Endura 825 offers a modern safety concept, complying with the latest standards and current guidelines. Safety aspects, especially during loading and unloading of the workpieces, protect the operators while making it easier, faster and more reliable for the users to complete parts. The machine manufacturer is participating in a current research project of the European Union, in cooperation with the University of Hannover and the company Invent GmbH of Braunschweig, for the development of a milling cutter body made of fiber-plastic composites (CFRP). In the future, large milling cutters that are currently made of cast steel, will be reduced in weight and thus provide more optimized handling, according to Wellner regarding the current Fooke research project.