Hard material does not automatically mean hard to cut

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Tool material is of fundamental importance

Cutting tool producers continue to place a greater emphasis on developing progressive tools for the efficient machining of titanium. Manufacturing titanium parts is a process with significant buy-to-fly ratio when a large amount of metal needs to be removed. The eventual weight of a finished titanium part may be only 10%, or less of the original weight of a workpiece.

Frequently, these parts will have cavities, pockets and ribs that dictate milling as the main method for manufacturing. As a consequence, every new tool that is intended for the milling of titanium creates intense interest amongst the global technical community. Therefore, the latest products from Iscar, an acknowledged innovator in the field, always attract the attention of the world’s manufacturers involved in machining titanium.

Tool material is of fundamental importance in the success of cutting tools, especially for use when indexable-milling difficult-to-cut aerospace materials, in particular titanium. Within this challenging field, Iscar has developed the new carbide grade IC840. The word “new” relates to all grade elements: IC840 is characterised by a newly cemented carbide substrate and an innovative, hard PVD coating. The grade substrate is highly resistant to thermal cracks; the bronze-colour “chocolate” coating boasts high oxidation and chipping resistance; whilst an advanced post-coating treatment improves overall toughness. The advantageous combination of the above IC840 provides users with great opportunities in milling titanium. Iscar believes that the new “chocolate” will definitely suit the taste of the manufacturer of titanium components and increase the performance of indexable cutters.

As previously mentioned, milling titanium usually involves removing considerable stock. True “workhorses” in this field are extended flute indexable tools (porcupines) that are intended for the rough cutting of deep pockets, cavities and wide edges. For these operations, Iscar has developed the Helitang H490, a family of advanced milling tools with tangentially clamped inserts, and also the Millshred P290, a range of milling tools carrying serrated inserts that provide an efficient chip-splitting (even chip-chopping) effect. In addition, the company offers Helitang Fin, a family of tangential porcupines that was designed especially for semi-finish milling.

Iscar has recently introduced a new group of extended flute shell mills related to the proven and popular Heliquad family. These mills carry one-sided square inserts, which are clamped radially. Why has the company, so well known for its commitment to innovative advantageous cutting geometries, equipped the new mills with “traditional” simple square inserts? The deceptively simple, new extended flute tools feature a well-designed structure resulting in significantly improved dynamic rigidity and anti-vibration strength.

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