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Die casting is a particularly harsh operation. The process involves forcing molten metal into a mold cavity at high pressure, and is commonly used to make automotive parts such as engine blocks, wheels and engine cradles. The tooling that produces these parts must be durable, and buyers are not likely to trust a new surface milling cutters process easily. In other words, die cast tooling is not an obvious place to experiment — but the challenge of the process makes it exactly the kind of application that is ideal for testing the limits of metal 3D printing. 

This is what Exco Engineering (located in Toronto) has done over the last four years. In an initiative led by Wes Byleveld, now director of additive manufacturing, the company has not only proven that 3D printed tooling can withstand the die cast process, but that it also provides benefits to that process in the form of better cooling, reduced cycle time and longer tool life.

Getting to this point has been an uphill battle. Steps along the way have involved finding the right metal printer that could handle the work; a change in material; and pushing the limits of conventional tungsten carbide inserts design rules with simulation. Mr. Byleveld and his team still aren’t finished. The challenge Exco faces now? Explaining to customers the value that this 3D printed tooling offers.

Read the full story of Exco’s journey into 3D printed die cast tooling in this story from Senior Editor Brent Donaldson.

Swiss-type tooling provider GenSwiss is releasing a line of hexagonal rotary broach tools, each of which features a dished gravity turning inserts cutting face and vent holes for relieving hydraulic pressure.  Two overall lengths will first be introduced to the market, 28 and 32 mm, with hexagonal cutting features ranging from 1.5 to 10 mm in diameter. 

Each broach is machined from a proprietary material for use in alloys commonly machined in the medical industry. These rotary broach tools can be used with any holder that can accept an 8-mm shank size for use in Swiss-type CNC machines, CNC lathes and turning centers. 

The broach tools are being released within GenSwiss’s Signature Series alongside such products as Ti-Loc end mill extensions, Signature Series saw arbors and compact straddle knurling holders. Signature Series broach tools are engineered and manufactured for use in the aerospace industry and medical slot milling cutters industry, among others.

In large, complex manufacturing operations, even small errors can result in scrapping thousands of parts before anyone notices a problem. At Advanced Green Components (AGC), insufficient management of cutting tools and indirect materials made such errors all the more likely. The CribMaster inventory management system from WinWare (Marietta, Georgia) helped the company reduce scrap, downtime, and most importantly, costs.

AGC produces forgings and machined rings that are used in the manufacture of bearings. Founded in 2002 as a joint venture between Sanyo Special Steel, Showa shoulder milling cutters Seiko and the Timken Company, the company operates out of a 117,000-square-foot facility in Winchester, Kentucky. The shop floor is home to a number of hot and cold forming presses and blanking lines as well as 28 production lines, each containing four to five CNC machine tools.

Part numbers at AGC are numerous, and the CNC production lines are continually changed over to increase production as needed on any given job. Moreover, many machines in these lines use multiple tools for every operation, each performing a unique function to complete a given part. Whether planned or unplanned, retooling a production line to accommodate a new part is a detailed and often lengthy process that interrupts workflow, says Keith Kegley, AGC’s senior production analyst.

As if retooling weren’t complex enough, line cemented carbide inserts operators faced a host of challenges with every change-over before the company implemented the CribMaster system. Retrieving needed materials necessitated a lengthy walk to the tool crib, extending the downtime required for each change-over. Once there, things didn’t get any easier, Mr. Kegley says. Inside, the operator had to sort through metal cabinets with drawers—only some of which were labeled—containing an assortment of insert boxes, spare parts and other maintenance, repair and operating inventory. Standard procedure was akin to a grab-bag, as the operator would simply take two or three boxes and hope one was the correct size. And although AGC had security procedures in place for the tool crib, it wasn’t uncommon to find the gate unlocked or not properly secured.

Compounding these difficulties was the fact that to the human eye, many of the different inserts used at AGC look virtually identical. While the precisely engineered inserts will machine flawless parts if used correctly, using the wrong size could result in scrapping thousands of parts and wasting a considerable amount of raw material and machining time.

To save money, the company employs a reconditioning or regrinding process to prolong the use of special cutting tools used to manufacturer its bearings. However, the haphazard organization of the tool crib undercut this cost-saving measure, Mr. Kegley says. Given the choice of a shiny new tool or a reground one, most machine operators would naturally choose the new tool and leave the remaining regrinds in the back of the drawer.

Seeking a solution to these challenges, AGC consulted with Cutting Tools Inc., a Louisville, Kentucky-based industrial product distributor and provider of value-added in- formational services. Brian Davis, territory manager, recommended a customized solution using CribMaster, an inventory management solution for tools and indirect materials.

Mr. Davis’ first step was to bring the tools closer to the machining lines. All the tools and insert boxes previously stored in the cabinet drawers are now securely housed in point-of-use devices driven by CribMaster software. Among the dispensing units used at AGC are the CribMaster ToolBox, a helix-style vending machine, and the CribMaster ToolCube, a modular system with drawers and adjustable storage spaces for individual items. To operate one of these units, employees simply scan an identification badge and select the desired item on a touchscreen. They can then access only the approved quantity of the exact item requested.

Mr. Kegley says the new system provides the flexibility needed to streamline the company’s line change-over procedures and eliminate guesswork with minimal operator training on the software. After entering the line number, the operator uses a simple "drill-down" procedure to obtain the right insert. This involves selecting the part number, the operation and the slide in the machine for a given line. "When the product is issued, it is absolutely, without a doubt, the correct insert to machine that part," Mr. Kegley says.

Mr. Davis also helped the company implement a customized, value-added solution for managing reground cutting tools. AGC uses the regrinding process a maximum of three times on each tool. Tools returned after regrinding are identified in the system as different versions of the same cutter, a procedure otherwise known as "item morphing." This ensures that regrinds are cycled into use before brand new tools to provide additional cost savings.

With CribMaster’s ability to generate custom reports of tool costs and usage by line, the company can identify potential maintenance issues that otherwise might not be detected by line operators, Mr. Kegley says. For example, if one line shows higher tool costs than another, that could be an early warning of a malfunctioning machine that needs repair.

AGC’s experience demonstrates the importance of maintaining an orderly, efficient flow of needed items. By using the CribMaster systems to get a handle on its management of cutting tools and other indirect materials, the shop can produce quality bearing parts with greater efficiency and lower cost.

The Dormer Force X upgrades the geometry, corner design and edge preparation of the MPX solid carbide drill family. The upgrade applies to the 3×D R457, 3×D R458, 5×D R453 and Carbide Milling inserts 5×D R454, bringing them in line with the 8×D R459.

With a titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) coating, the drills are suitable for a range of machines and materials such as stainless steel, steel alloys, cast iron and non-ferrous materials. All Force X drills include continuously-thinned tungsten carbide inserts web technology designed to reduce thrust requirements during drilling. They also feature edge preparation that protects the cutting area and prevents premature chipping and flaking. A strong corner design across the range also increases stability and reduces the forces encountered when exiting the workpiece, according to the company.

The micrograin carbide substrate, along with the TiAlN coating, is said to offer high wear resistance and increased tool life, while the 140-degree split-point geometry provides centering capabilities and low thrust forces.

The company offers both solid and coolant feed options to improve cutting efficiency and chip evacuation. 

I have an application where I am milling a deep pocket in 6061 with a tight corner radius — 3/16 inch — into an angled surface. The maximum depth of the pocket is 1 inch deep (5× deep). The pocket is inside of another pocket, so toolholder clearance is also a problem. What’s more, the cut is very prone to chatter. How can I successfully mill this pocket?

Pockets like this are tricky because of so many competing factors, but identifying the overlying issues and constraints is a good first step to developing a solution. Ideally, you could use a larger tool, but you’re constrained by the pocket radius. Shortening the tool stick could help, but the primary pocket makes this impossible. The angled surface also leads to some interesting limitations as far as tool selection.

Even after you’ve selected the tool, the cut is prone to chatter, so you must determine the magnitude and direction of the cutting forces, as well as the system’s stiffness. Getting the cutting forces up into the spindle can be a huge benefit in this application, just like high feed milling in hard metals. Any cutting forces normal to the tool are the enemy. While you can’t eliminate all normal forces — given the pocket geometry, you must finish-mill the cut — you can reduce them. Anything you can do to add rigidity near the cut will also improve stiffness. Because this is a pocket within a pocket, you’ll also face significant clearance limitations.

With these difficulties in mind, it’s time to dive into the different components, and solve each as best as possible given the constraints.

The first thing you are up against is the tool diameter. Unfortunately, barring any design changes, the 3/16-inch tool at 5× deep is here to stay. Since you can’t change it, work with it. You want to reduce the amount of work you’re asking of this tool as much as possible.

One reduction strategy would be to use separate tools for finishing and roughing. A two-tool strategy will reduce the load on the tiny finisher and provide better tool life. It could even shorten the cycle time compared to a single-tool process — roughing’s increased productivity can counterbalance any time added for tool change and positioning.

Next, address the pocket. Since your challenging pocket is within another pocket, you can’t change much with the tool holder to increase stiffness. Yet you still need as much support as you can get, as close as possible to the cutting point. In this instance, a necked-down end mill (an end mill with a larger shank than cutting diameter) is wise. This will give you more stiffness where the tool holder can’t fit without rubbing against other critical features of the part.

The angled surface is the most unique aspect of this cutting problem. RCGT Insert Drilling out difficult pockets is typically a good solution. Drilling provides high removal rates, and the forces go where the machine and tool setup are strongest. In fact, it’s a common strategy in large titanium or hard metal parts. However, the angled surface changes that formula a bit. Fortunately, indexable drills or solid carbide flat-bottom drills are up to the task. These drills also have the benefit of being able to drill overlapping holes! Given how small this pocket is, perhaps a carbide flat-bottom drill is ideal here. It can fit tightly into that 3/16-inch radius and leave minimal material in the area at highest risk for chatter.

Bringing together these solutions, start by switching to a two-tool process. The first tool should be a 4- or 4.5-mm flat bottom drill (just smaller than the finish radius) for roughing the entire pocket, leaving only small scallops and a little floor material left for finishing. The CNC Carbide Inserts second, necked-down finishing tool will greatly improve the overall stiffness, and when combined with the minimal finishing stock, should enable a more productive finishing operation.

With the recent increase in manufacturing in the United States, many companies are finding it difficult to find and hire qualified CNC people. It should come as no surprise that skilled people who were laid off during the recent economic downturn have moved on to other careers—and probably wouldn’t come back to manufacturing on a bet. So we’re left with an entirely new employment pool that is made up primarily of people with little or no previous manufacturing experience. And companies are scrambling to get them trained. One source for trained people is your local community college or technical school, many of which have recently brought back or upgraded their manufacturing programs. If you haven’t already, you should definitely get to know what they have to offer. Indeed, you should do whatever you can to support the CNC-teaching schools in your area. Ideally, you should be hiring graduates and sending new hires to the school for training. And you should be bringing in instructors from local schools to augment your own in-plant training by having them teach classes in your facility. Your willingness to hire a school’s graduates assumes, of course, that you know, understand and agree with the materials presented by the school. That is, curriculum content must be appropriate to your company’s needs. I’ve been in several companies, for example, where managers are not satisfied with what’s being taught in the local CNC-teaching school, so they don’t support the school or hire graduates. If you fit into this category, don’t just complain, do something about it! Here are a few suggestions for how you can help your local CNC-teaching school improve its manufacturing program. Get in Touch with the Key People Of course, if you don’t know who to talk to, you really can’t do much to support the school. Make a simple phone call or browse the school’s website to find key people in the manufacturing program (commonly named Machine Tool Technology), including the dean of the department as well as instructors. Then contact these people. Offer your assistance, and ask how you can get more involved with the school. You may be surprised at how happy educators are to talk to you. Get Involved with Advisory Committees Almost all CNC-teaching schools have an advisory committee made up of key people from local industry. They help educators determine which specific topics to cover so that when students graduate, their skills match the needs of the companies represented on the advisory committee. Without the support of an advisory committee, educators are left on their own to develop curriculum materials, and what they come up with may not be appropriate for the needs of local industry. Donate Schools are always looking for items that will help maintain or improve their manufacturing classes. Machine tools head the list, as they provide the school with lab equipment to work on, but there are countless other items needed to keep classes going. Measuring devices, cutting tools, workholding devices and raw material for lab activities are always in demand. Most schools will CNMG Insert be happy to accept just about anything you no longer need and will often arrange for the removal of unwanted items from your facility. Provide Plant Tours Be willing to provide plant tours for current students as well as potential students considering a career in manufacturing. One school I know of uses a local company to demonstrate concepts discussed in class. The instructor provides presentations and practice on a given topic, then brings the students to the company to see how things are done in the real world. Volunteer Look for other ways your company can help. When the school holds an open house, be sure you are present and let attendees know about job opportunities at your company. If the school acquires new equipment, offer to help instructors learn how to use it. Let Lathe Carbide Inserts educators know they can call on you when they have a need that you may be able to satisfy. An Added Benefit Getting involved with your local CNC-teaching school will give you a hiring leg-up on other companies in your area. If you’re on the advisory committee, you will have a real say in what the school teaches, and you will know what graduating students can do for your company when you hire them. And if you are interacting at all with students, they will get to know your company. If they’ve toured your facility, they’ll have a good understanding of the working environment and what you expect of your workers.

During normal operation, a CNC program will cause the machine to make tool changes. With double-arm automatic tool changers, a T word in the program will place the cutting tool in the ready position of the automatic tool changer magazine, and an M06 will actually make the tool change.

With single-arm tool changers, the T word may do everything. Regardless of how tool changes are actually made, it is imperative that the cutting tool currently in the spindle matches the program segment that uses the Thread Cutting Insert tool. During normal operation—when the program runs from the first tool to the second, the third and so on—there is little chance of a mismatch. However, when operators must rerun a tool, which is essentially running tools out of sequence, there is a chance that they may not restart the program at the appropriate command. If they start the program from a command after the tool change, and if a different tool is in the spindle, the machine will attempt to run the cutting tool with the wrong series of commands. The results could be disastrous.

Custom macro B tests that the H word of the G43 command matches the tool in the spindle. This test assumes that you always make the tool-length compensation offset number the same as the tool station number and that you never use more than one tool-length compensation offset per tool.Cemented Carbide Insert

To accomplish this, we must first change the function of G43 so that whenever G43 is executed, a special program is run. A parameter is used for this purpose, but you must reference your programming manual (see the custom macro section) in order to find the parameter. With a 16M control, for example, if we change parameter number 6050 to a value of 43, the machine will run program number O9010 whenever a G43 is executed. Again, you must check your programming manual to find the parameters related to modifying the functions of G codes.

After the parameter change, program O9010 will be executed whenever the machine sees a G43 command. The values within the G43 command (such as H and Z—and possibly even X, Y and M08) will be taken as arguments and passed to program O9010 as local variables. So, program O9010 must reflect the format you use for the G43 commands in your programs.

One more thing before we show an example: We must have a way to determine which tool is currently in the spindle. With single-arm tool changers, it will simply be the value of the last specified T word, which is monitored in custom macro B with system variable #4120. However, if your machine has a double-arm tool changer, you must find the system variable that tracks the spindle tool. You must reference your machine tool builder’s manual (it probably won’t be in the Fanuc manuals) or contact your machine tool builder to find it. For our example, we’ll assume you are using a single-arm tool changer and check against system variable #4120.

Local variable representations within program O9010 include #11 for H, #24 for X, #25 for Y, #26 for Z and #13 for M. Note that if any of these words (especially X, Y or M) are left out of the G43 command, the custom macro will do nothing with them. That is, the custom macro will work properly regardless of whether X, Y and/or M are included in the main program’s G43 commands. The format for the main program could be:

Or, it could be:

The custom macro will work in either case.

?

?

The IF statement tests the value of the H word, making sure it matches the station number of the tool in the spindle. If it does, the control will skip to the G43 command. If not, an alarm will sound, stopping the machine’s execution before making any Z-axis motion.

The G43 command within program O9010 will be executed in the normal fashion for G43. That is, the machine will not try to activate program O9010 again. If the values of #24, #25 and #13 are vacant (they have not been included in the main program’s G43 command), the machine will ignore the related words (X, Y and M).

Fives Giddings & Lewis introduces a new line of traveling-column, horizontal boring mills (HBMs) said to offer high accuracy and cutting capacity, moving the column in the Z-axis and the tables in the X-axis. Engineered for flat-floor installation, the first models of the machine are configured with a 10,000-kg (22,000 lbs) capacity, 1,250 × 1,400 mm (49.2" × 55.1") contouring rotary table. Optional 1,400 × 1,800 mm (55.1" × 70.9") tables are also available. The RT 130 and RT 155 versions feature 130 or 155 mm (5.1" or 6.1") diameter gear-driven spindles available with power as high as 45 Shoulder Milling Inserts kW (60 hp) and torque of 3,380 Nm (2,493 foot-pounds).

The machines feature an electronically counterbalanced Y-axis headstock with side-hung headstock design for improved visibility and access for the operator. The spindle snout reaches over the table for rigid cutting without extension and, with spindle travel, extends well beyond center. In addition, the spindle can reach below table top to probe for location on the table or a particular feature. The zero-backlash rotary table is powered by two independent motors and pinion drives that are tensioned against each other to compensate for any lost motion.

Heavy-duty linear ways utilize roller bearing carriages that ride on hardened and ground guideways. This rigid, low-friction system is designed to support high loads and fast rapid traverse speeds. Linear ways are said to facilitate better true positioning and contouring accuracy by eliminating stick-slip and thermal growth. They also require less lubrication, thus reducing coolant contamination, says the company. Standard XYZ travels are 2,000 × 1,5TCMT Insert 00 × 1,600 mm (78.7" × 59.1" × 63") with W-axis spindle travel of 750 mm (29.5"). An integral table-mounted pan helps contain chips and coolant.

Techniks Industries (Indianapolis, Indiana), a tooling provider for the metalworking and woodworking industries, has acquired the tooling assets of Parlec Inc. (Fairport, New York). The acquisition expands Techniks’ product offering of aftermarket machine Tungsten Carbide Inserts tool accessories and enhances its manufacturing and distribution capabilities to distributors and OEMs located throughout North America.

Parlec says it will retain its presetter business under the Omega Tool Measuring Machines brand. The Parlec tooling division will continue to operate as an independent company, branded Parlec LLC under the Techniks Industries umbrella. Parlec says that in January 2016, its executive team decided to view the company as two separate businesses, one focused on tooling, the other on presetting. The market strategies for these two businesses differed and their market growth was found to be compromised as a result. Techniks’ acquisition of the tooling branch is intended to enable better growth to maintain competition.

“With a global network that spans throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, Lathe Carbide Inserts Parlec’s reach opens the world to Techniks Industries and Techniks Industries to the world,” says Vernon Cameron, president and CEO of Techniks Industries. 

Jim Grimes, product manager of machine investments for Sandvik Coromant, points out that it’s not just important what tool you choose. It’s also important when you choose that tool. The best time to consider high-performance tooling is at the very beginning of the analysis related to any new part or new job. What tooling you will use for this job should be just as fundamental a question as what machine will you use.

Certainly you would never commit to tooling without choosing a machine. That would be absurd. For certain parts, it may not be clear at the outset whether a machining center or a lathe is the right choice, so obviously purchasing tooling at that point would be premature.

But shops make the opposite mistake all the time. They buy the machine tool first, then add tooling as an afterthought. This is almost as risky as buying the tooling without knowing the machine, because by the time the machine is bought, the shop may have locked itself into machine specifications and features that make it impossible to use productive tooling to its fullest advantage.

In other words, by not considering the cutting tools and the machine tool at the same time, the shop may rob itself of much of the savings it might have realized. In fact, the shop may even spend far too much on the machine tool, because the right tooling might have enabled the shop to get away with a lighter-duty or less expensive machine.

Here are just a few of the more specific reasons why cutting tools should be considered from the start:

Parameter Optimization

Knowing in advance what tools you will use to run a new part or a new family of parts will make it clear what spindle speed, feed rate, power and torque will be ideal for each one of those tools.

Equipped with this range, the shop can choose a machine tool that provides precisely those parameters.

Even better, the shop that identifies its needs this early may discover that only one tool requires the torque or power. That is, the shop may discover it can compromise on just one tool in order to get away with a significantly less powerful, less expensive machine.

Machine Features

Certain machine features are essential for taking advantage of some types of high-performance tooling. For example, some sophisticated tooling for turn-mill machines requires a positionable B-axis. The shop would not want to have to install this technology on the machine later.

An even better example is Sandvik Coromant’s CoroTurn HP tooling, which uses a focused stream of coolant to lift the chip away from the cut for faster speed and longer tool life. If the machine tool is not equipped with high-pressure coolant, then this benefit of CoroTurn HP cannot be realized.

Combining Tool Positions

Modular tooling can allow different milling and drilling tips to be quickly exchanged on a single tool body, potentially without having to re-measure the tool each time. If the shop knows that it is going to rely on modular tooling in this way, then it can specify a machining center with fewer positions in the tool magazine. Most of the tool positions can then be occupied by just the tools the machine will use all the time, while several modular tool bodies can accommodate all of the other cutting tool choices Thread Cutting Insert that the shop will use only occasionally.

Combining Operations

Some shops can even be too quick to assume that they need an extra machine.

A deep, critical bore can be an example of a feature that might seem to merit separate processing. The shop may assume it needs a rigid boring machine just for this feature, based on the guess that the lathe or machining center that does the rest of the machining will not provide a stable setup for this work.

But what about damped tooling? Sandvik Coromant has developed boring bars with internal damping technology that can counteract the vibrations on less rigid machines.

Not every shop is aware of technology innovations such as these, but they exist, and a knowledgeable tool supplier should know exactly when to apply them.

To repeat, engage CNMG Insert the cutting tool supplier early on! Machine tool technology is advancing, but cutting tool technology is advancing even faster. The example of the damped tooling , along with the diamond tooling of Rule #3 and the machine capacity savings of Rule #1 (see www.mmsonline.com/articles/the-new-rules-of-cutting-tools), all offer variations on the same promise. That is: The new machine you are considering buying might be able to do more than you think. Leverage today’s advanced tooling to make the very best use of your new—or existing—machine.