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In an effort to enhance its national sales organization, Arch Cutting Tools has appointed Brent Broderick to senior manager of strategic accounts and national product manager, Solid Round, as well as Pat Mulcahy to senior manager of strategic accounts and national product manager, Indexable.

Broderick has 33 years of industry experience, from machinist to management. He spent six years with a tools sales organization that was acquired by Arch Cutting Tools three years ago. At that time, he was appointed Western Region Sales tungsten carbide inserts Manager.

Mulcahy has 30 years of industry experience in all aspects of machining, programming, and engineering in Indexable cutting tooling, evolving to the General Manager role of five years and spending the last two years leading support of all the Arch Cutting Tool product lines as National Technical Manager and Strategic Accounts.

On the organizational change, Dino Fracassi, Arch Cutting Tools’ senior national sales director, says, “For Arch Cutting Tools, this is a great opportunity to leverage the collective strength of the organization to more effectively increase market share. For Arch customers, both Brent and Pat bring a wealth of experience in their given areas that will enhance those relationships and better serve customer needs.”

According to Fracassi, both Broderick and Mulcahy will also Deep Hole Drilling Inserts have specific key account responsibilities because of their technical and product expertise.

For certain multi-axis milling applications, using a traditional CNC machining center might be overkill. These include milling materials such as clay, foam or wax for new product design, styling and rapid prototyping projects, as well as traditional materials in which dimensional tolerances are low. In these cases, a robot could be more Carbide Threading Inserts affordable than a machining center and also accommodate larger workpieces, such as scale automobile bodies or full-size automotive components. According to Mark Evans, president of Direct Controls (Provo, Utah), the robot’s controller can limit how effectively a robot maneuvers a cutting tool through its cuts.

Direct Controls has developed the Robo-Mill robotic milling system, which combines a Denso robot with the company’s proprietary direct-from-CAM controller. The DMAC (direct machining and control) PC-based controller is able to drive robot movement directly from a CAM model without requiring a postprocessor to generate machining code (think in terms of a computer driving a printer). This can offer significant time savings and also allow any changes made to cut data to be saved directly within the CAM model. The DMAC controller Indexable Carbide Inserts is capable of performing NURBS interpolation and is currently compatible with Catia, GibbsCAM and Unigraphics CAM packages.

The robot controller provides far-reaching lookahead capability similar to a machine tool CNC, so maximum jerk and acceleration values are not exceeded when a tool must quickly change direction. Similarly, the controller is able to anticipate robot singularities. These are situations in which an infinite number of robot joint angle combinations is possible or when an instantaneous large-angle move is necessary to attain a particular tool position. Typically, when a singularity is reached, a robot will stop and the programmer must re-program its path. In anticipating singularities, the DMAC control automatically shifts its approach so that the robot moves in a controlled manner through the singularity without lifting the cutting tool off the workpiece.

In addition, the control calculates the robot inverse kinematics on the fly, which is the process of determining the robot’s joint displacements given position and orientation constraints on the robot’s end-effector (which is the cutter, in the case of milling). This is typically done during post processing, but because the toolpath data is taken directly from the CAM system, there is no need to post to every robot that will be milling that particular job to account for the inverse kinematics.

The base Robo-Mill model uses a Denso robot mounted on a Lamerson worktable. The Robo-Mill currently has maximum reach from 0.85 meter to 3.5 meters, maintaining ±0.02-mm repeatability. Its maximum spindle speed is 14,000 rpm and its collet toolholder accepts cutting tools up to 3/8 inch in diameter. The company is developing systems using larger robots, which may open up opportunities for light metal cutting duties, as long as the robot can provide sufficient rigidity and payload capacity.

The German machine tool builder Praewema presented its new HardFinisher technology at the recent International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago. In the video above, you’ll see the twin-spindle HardFinisher perform the complete machining of workpieces with internal or external gears.

In grinding operations, the standard approach to machining these parts has always involved passing them through PVD Coated Insert two independent machine tools; one for grinding the bore and the face, and the other for grinding the gears. The HardFinisher is designed to perform both operations on a single machine, the company says.

In the initial phase, or the “first clamping,” the bore and face of the workpiece is machined, involving either grinding, hard turning, or a combination of both. Gear flanks are machined in the second phase. Continuous-generated grinding or honing utilizing a dressable ceramic tool can be performed on workpieces with external gears. The grinding wheel is balanced automatically by a dynamic system that is integrated into the spindle, the company says. Depending on the batch size, either a universal diamond dressing disc or a diamond-coated dressed gear can be used. Workpieces with internal gears are machined with gear-shaped, Carbide Turning Inserts diamond-coated tools.

Various automation systems can be integrated due to the unit’s vertical‚ pickup design, with the spindles handling both loading and unloading of the workpieces. A single spindle can be used, or both simultaneously, and measurement devices can be mounted in-line. Robots and/or conveyor systems can easily be attached as well. 

The promise of additive manufacturing will be found in products that are designed for additive manufacturing—that is, products that take full advantage of the geometric freedom that 3D printing can realize. A recent successful example of this relates to milling cutters. Komet’s “Revolution” line of milling tools includes tool bodies made through metal additive manufacturing to realize design features including a flute density higher than what is practical to achieve on conventionally manufactured tools. When it comes to cutting edges made of PCD (polycrystalline diamond), more flutes on the tool translates directly to faster feed rate. Thus, Komet is actually using additive manufacturing to make subtractive manufacturing more productive.

Company director of production Cullen Morrison sees making tool bodies through 3D printing as being the way of the future, at least for PCD. This cutting tool material often can take advantage of all the flutes it can get, he says. It is capable of such high material removal rates in the materials it typically cuts—aluminum and carbon fiber composite—that the number of flutes can be the limiting factor on feed rate and productivity. This is increasingly true as facilities using this tooling adopt modern machine tools with high acceleration rates. However, obtaining a high number flutes is problematic in cutter bodies made through machining, because the small pockets resulting form high flute density have to be milled out painstakingly using light cuts with small tools. Additive manufacturing offers a more efficient option.

Now, high-flute-density bodies are grown several at a time at Komet’s headquarters in Germany on a selective laser melting machine from Renishaw. After these bodies are separated via EDM from the build plate used in the additive process, they are ready for the PCD edges to be brazed on. Komet grows only the heads of the tools this way, laser welding them onto the shanks, because the shanks can be manufactured more economically in conventional processes.

Mr. Morrison says the advantages of additive manufacturing for the cutter heads go beyond flute density. There is also the flute pitch. Previously, a pitch of 4 to 5 degrees is the best the company could efficiently achieve, because the clearance challenges of reaching a cutting tool past the flute in order to mill out the pocket precluded a steeper angle than this. But in this case as well, the geometry consideration poses no challenge for additive. On the new tools, Komet has produced flute helix angles up to 20 degrees.

The 3D printed tools likely will also realize longer life, he says. The reason is coolant delivery. With additive, coolant channels can be grown inside the tool along snaking paths that exit precisely where the fluid can be most effective. On previous tools, the positioning of coolant channels was always a compromise resulting from the need to drill a straight hole past the clearance obstacles in the way of this drilling.

One other advantage of additive manufacturing might be the most transformative of all, he says: It will permit faster lead times for XNMU Insert special tools. This advantage is particularly apparent to the Schaumburg, Illinois, Komet facility where Mr. Morrison works, because nearly all of the manufacturing here relates to specials. With 3D printing, the range of design options for these special tools increases, and unusual designs specified by special-order customers can move into production practically as soon as they are modeled.

It will take more additive manufacturing capacity to fully realize the promise of the capability for special orders, he says. The company is exploring how far to advance with this means of production, and how quickly. As yet, there is 3D printing capacity only in Germany. But even so, the lead time for 3D printed tool bodies made here is so fast that the distance is potentially no obstacle to serving customers in the U.S. efficiently. 16ER Insert He says one possible scenario being discussed for custom tools is this: While the U.S. customer’s special cutter head design is grown additively in Germany, the Illinois facility can simultaneously machine that tool’s shank. The 3D printed head would then be sent to the U.S. and welded to the shank there, ultimately still allowing the tool be delivered within a much tighter window than today’s manufacturing methods make possible.

Midaco Corporation has put together a “robot-ready” package of Automatic Pallet Changers to take the complexity out of automated part loading and machining.

The cobot-fed Automatic Pallet Changer is designed for vertical machining centers (VMCs) ranging from approximately 22" × 15" (558 mm × 381 mm) up to 50" × 25" (1270 mm × 635 mm) XY travel. The shuttle’s front control panel is customized to mount and integrate with the end-user’s choice of cobot, which is to be purchased separately from an authorized dealer. This system comes standard with two aluminum pallets and can be mounted on either the left or right side of the machining center. Easily integrated to the machine tool via M-codes, the shuttle is servo driven and automatically switches pallets in approximately 15 seconds depending on combined part weight on the pallet. A cast-iron pneumatic receiver is mounted directly onto the machine tool table — hardened locating pins, ground bushings and hardened pallet rails ensure a repeatability of ±0.0001" (0.0025 mm). Each pallet’s weight capacity ranges from 500 lbs to 2,000 lb depending on pallet size; however, the individual part weight depends on the cobot’s payload capacity.

Combined with Midaco’s Hydraulic Docking System on the pallets, the robot/cobot can load parts on the pallet changer outside of the VMC unattended while the spindle is cutting, freeing the operator to perform other tasks. The hydraulic vises are automatically clamped/unclamped and transfer into the machining CNMG Insert center without the need for hose management. The vises will stay charged on the pallet while in the machine tool. Once the cycle is complete the pallet exits the machine, docks into place on the shuttle, vises release and the cobot can load a new set of parts while the alternate pallet is in the VMC being milled. Machining time is limitless and only dependent upon how many blanks can be set-up within the robots reach on side carts or conveyor systems.

User can use their own robot/cobot and hydraulic workholding or have Midaco provide additional automation solutions to the standard package, including a robot or cobot arm (does not include end of arm tooling or programming of robot); hydraulic 6" double-station vises; loading carts; three-sided light curtain safety guarding composed of light emitters sensors and PVD Coated Insert mirrors.

Doosan Machine Tools’ multi-level Rotary Pallet System (RPS) for its NHP Series of horizontal machining centers fits into the company’s product line between WNMU Insert the high-end Linear Pallet System (LPS) and the single-level RPS, which is cost-effective, but not expandable if growth demands it.

The multi-level RPS holds up to 21 pallets (three layers of seven pallets) vertically, saving floor space. Doosan believes the new configuration will be attractive to job shops needing to add capacity to their machine or requiring an affordable, compact pallet system to consolidate fixtures that may be feeding their horizontal machining centers. With JIT scheduling, the RPS can help job shops catering to multiple industries (where tasks may change from month to month) cut down on setup time.

The RPS is equipped with a user-friendly HMI screen that communicates with the CNC operating the horizontal machining center. The main CNC also stores programs and tool data.

Doosan says the high-throughput NHP machines’ thermal stability, vibration dampening strength, high acceleration and deceleration and quick chip evacuation pairs well with the multi-level RPS.

The center trough chip evacuation on the NHP series allows chips to fall directly underneath the spindle, letting gravity Cemented Carbide Insert do the work. Although accumulation of chips inside the machine’s work envelope can cause many mechanical failures and alarms and negate the value of the RPS, maximum ceiling shower coolant and bed flush coolant allow chips to gather in the trough and then into the lift-up chip conveyor for proper disposal.

The company also points out the benefits of the modular approach used in the NHP series, which allows expansion of the tool magazine from the standard 60 to a 275-tool matrix. This expansion means an operator can load enough tools to machine all the pallets stored on the RPS.

Tungaloy is growing its TetraMini-Cut grooving tool family by adding items to its TCG18 insert lines. Compact and offering economical, four-edged geometry, the line incorporates a rigid insert clamping system that provides indexability and accuracy, extending insert life.

The company SPMT Insert is adding 40 inserts to its line, covering a wider SNMG Insert spectrum of workpiece profiles, materials and machine setups ranging from small and miniature parts in Swiss-type machining to general-lathe grooving and threading applications. The inserts are available in AH7025, a dedicated grooving grade optimized for resistance to chipping and plastic deformation. This grade is designed to provide secure performance and high metal-removal rates in demanding operations.

Hot runner system is a molten plastic conveying unit used with an injection mould, bringing the molten plastic from the barrel of an injection molding machine into the cavities of the mould under high pressure, and then cooling and solidifying to obtain various products of plastics industry.

With its advantages of fast production speed, high efficiency, diverse product shapes and precise dimensions, hot runner system enables the implementation of a very broad range of applications.

The nozzle, as a very important component of the system, can be heated to ensure the plastic maintains the temperature continuously through the mold. Many plastic products would require very high precise processing temperatures. If the temperature is too high, the material may be damaged; if the temperature is too low, the product will harden and cannot flow optimally into the mold. Therefore, the heat transfer in the hot runner nozzle is very important.

In conventional metals such as steel, the thermal conductivity is insufficient. Although copper has a high thermal conductivity, it cannot tungsten carbide strips withstand the abrasion of plastics. TZM (Titanium-Zirconium-Molybdenum) has an extremely high thermal conductivity of 140W/mK, and has excellent temperature and corrosion resistance and processing mechanical properties. It can meet the requirements of long-term use of hot runners at high temperatures. Moreover, with their large variety of melt-channel diameters, nozzle lengths and gate geometries, the TZM nozzles can produce various kinds and shapes of plastic products.

In addition, TZM is easier to machine than titanium. If a particularly high level of material hardness is required, we can further harden TZM after machining. Therefore, the TZM material is the most suitable material for making hot runner nozzle.

The advantages of TZM hot runner nozzle:

1. Uniform temperature management

2. Optimal thermal separation

3. Easy installation and security against leaks

4. Outstanding insulation in the front nozzle area

5. Applications up to a process temperature of 450°C

6. Up to 50% energy saving

In order to promote the molybdenum market, Chinese domestic nine large-scale molybdenum mine enterprise recently issued a joint proposal, decided on the basis of reduced 9.18% molybdenum concentrate production in 2015, in 2016 continues to cut the production by 10%, and encouraged other molybdenum enterprises to actively participate national reserves of molybdenum products, reducing sales, so that molybdenum concentrate is short supply in market and the raw material price will increase.

At the present, China's nonferrous Cemented Carbide Drill Bits metals industry situation is not good, especially in molybdenum industry. Molybdenum industry is overcapacity and has many contradictions. For example, the competition is intensified. Besides, international and domestic molybdenum market price declines sharply, and the price is at lowest point since 2003. At this situation, many molybdenum businesses were hard to operate. Many scholars believed that the current market price of molybdenum has been away from the industry fundamentals and market supply and demand, which is below the industry average cost production. It is high time to take effective measures, such as limiting production, support value, restricted price and other measures to promote market and increase the price. In response to the current challenges of molybdenum industry, boosting market confidence, promoting the molybdenum industry supply-side structural reforms, the tungsten carbide bars national backbone molybdenum mining companies reach a consensus, which is continues to limit raw material production.

According to the content of proposal, should set up molybdenum mining enterprises contact group to play a leading role, to take effective measures to safeguard the interests of the industry, making the molybdenum industry to long-term stable development. In addition, by conscientiously implement the innovation, coordination, green, open, shared development concept encourage molybdenum companies to innovation, to promote industrial upgrading, to carry out the supply-side reform practice and to meet market demand, making molybdenum market stable development.