MaxiMet end mills, new from Kennametal, are designed for aerospace and general engineering shops seeking to improve performance in machining high volumes of aluminum parts. The company said the end mills work well where both maximum metal removal rates and superior wall and floor finishes are required.
One reason for this performance is the tools’ flute designs that result in high rigidity behind the cutting edges, enabling high feedrates and resulting in more metal removed in fewer passes, at lower costs per part. Also, a special edge condition and wiper facets on the end mills’ corner geometries provide superior surface finishes. Available in two- and three-flute styles with choices of corner radii, MaxiMet end mills can be used for roughing, semi-finishing, finishing, and super-finishing operations. The only limitations are the speed and horsepower of the machine tool and the balance of the setup.
The end mills work well in thinwall applications. They are effective in slotting operations up to one-times-diameter axially and side-milling operations up to 0.5- times-diameter radially and 1.5-times-diameter axially. Three-flute MaxiMets are designed with HARVI unequal flute spacing to reduce harmonics in the cut, resulting in less vibration and tool deflection for high metal-removal rates and machining speeds.
