Several new milling, turning, threading and toolholding products, developed by Seco Tools LLC with material advancements in mind, are in line for introductions at IMTS 2014 in September. These include a square shoulder cutter that improves side milling; a multi-edge system that meets the industry’s demand for narrow cutting-edge grooving and parting-off tools; an insert that provides high-performance threads in a single pass; and toolholders with special vibration damping capabilities.
Milling — Seco will spotlight several milling insert grades, including the new MS2050 that’s produced with an advanced coating technique and substrate to enhance process reliability and establish higher cutting data to applications involving titanium alloys. The special PVD coating on the MS2050 not only strengthens the insert’s wear resistance, the cutting tool developer explained, but it also eliminates reaction with the workpiece material, increased cutting speeds and tool life and a lower cost per part. MS2050 is available in several positive geometries for square shoulder milling, face milling, copy milling and high-feed milling.
With its four cutting edges and novel cutter design, the new Square T4-08 shoulder milling device balances economy and performance when machining cast iron and steel. Made for roughing and semi-finishing, the Square T4-08 brings smooth cutting action and good surface finish to slotting and contouring applications. The tangential mounting of the tool’s inserts increases the surface area of contact between the inserts and cutter body, resulting in increased rigidity and machining stability. The mounting design also directs the cutting forces to the thickest part of the inserts, so the milling performance is robust and the metal removal rates increase, with small diameters.
IMTS attendees will also see the latest in flexible, cost-effective modern endmill design by way of the Minimaster® Plus replaceable milling tip system. Engineered with speed, precision and complete versatility in mind, the system offers a large selection of inserts and shanks for a multitude of tough milling applications, including those that involve steel, stainless steel, cast iron and aluminum materials. Most recently, Seco made this system even more adaptable by adding internal coolant capability to all three of the diameter sizes of its new high-feed milling heads.
As more manufacturers replace steel with stronger, lighter composite materials to reduce the weight of the parts they produce, Seco is responding with dedicated tooling for the wider use of this material. Among these products are the Jabro® JC840 and JC845 to be on display at IMTS.
The JC840 double helix end mill cutter effectively machines laminate materials by directing its cutting forces inward and toward the component filler material during slotting and side milling operations. The JC845 solid end mill reduces delamination, pressure build up and heat in the cutting zone when slotting and side milling carbon fiber reinforced plastics.
Turning — Regarding advanced turning inserts for different materials, Seco will exhibit its Duratomic®-coated TK1001 and TK2001 carbide grades that increase wear-resistance and faster cutting speeds for cast iron, as well as the TP1030 cermet grade that maintains tight tolerances and high surface finish in high-volume threading operations involving steels and stainless steels.
From its Secomax™ line, the company will highlight CBN010, an uncoated PCBN grade that has high resistance to edge chipping when cutting hardened steels, and CBN060K for turning case-hardened steels within the application area defined by H10 – H20 ISO designations.
Addressing Changing Machining Requirements
Seco’s X4 multi-edge system meets the industry’s demand for narrow cutting-edge grooving and parting off tools. IMTS attendees will see how added smaller shanks have been added to the short reach system so that it can accommodate an even broader range of machining applications, such as Swiss parts. Overall, the X4 consists of indexable tangential inserts with three-dimensional chipbreakers and a stable clamp design. These components achieve high accuracy, repeatability, productivity and surface quality in external grooving and parting-off operations involving small parts, slim bars and tubes made from a wide variety of common materials.
Threading — Seco’s new Thread Chaser inserts incorporate multi-tooth patterns to allow push and pull threading of O.D. and I.D. features with one or two passes. The inserts incorporate precise thread patterns that generate high-accuracy, consistently perfect thread pitches, quickly and reliably. Through-coolant holes and chip formers direct high-pressure coolant precisely to the cutting edge to optimize chip formation, provide efficient chip evacuation, and extend tool life. These inserts will provide substantial value to manufacturers working with pipes and couplings made from a wide range of material hardnesses for the oil-and-gas industry.
Tooling Systems —At IMTS, attendees will see how Seco has expanded its well-established Steadyline™ range of vibration-damping milling toolholders by adding turning and boring bars as well as shrink-fit style holders. Ideal for long tool overhang situations, this new Steadyline tooling effectively reduces unwanted vibrations via a dynamic-passive system inside each holder body where a damping mass counter vibrates against the first flex vibration. The result is turning and boring bars that deliver higher metal-removal rates, generate smoother chatter-free workpiece surfaces, and increase tool life, while reducing stress on machine tools.
The product range includes bars for 6 x D, 8 x D and 10 x D.
The added Steadyline tooling sports Seco’s newly patented GL connection that lets end users perform both rotating and static operations with the same bar. The connection’s polylobe taper-face interface features two, 180-degree positions to orient the cutting edges either face up or face down for effective chip control.
The precise GL connection ensures quick, easy, and accurate exchanges of turning heads and boring heads on the Steadyline bars. Once the bar is set, users can mount and remount the tool heads without having to reset the system. Turning and boring bars require only the use of a spanner wrench to loosen and tighten the tool heads.
Seco’s visitors also will also see new Steadyline EPB K603/K600 Shrinkfit holders. Like other Steadyline holders, these use the dynamic/passive damping technology for vibration control. These non-material dependent Shrinkfit holders address the machining requirements of moldmaking, aerospace, power generation, and any other industries where machining requires extremely long tool overhangs, such as in the production of deep housings or blisks.
Seco designed the EPB K603 according to DIN standard front-end dimensions for optimum workpiece access. EPB K600 uses the reinforced Shrinkfit design of the recently launched EPB 5600 ranges. Steadyline holders perform depths of cut and feeds up to three times higher compared to non-damped holders. In testing, K603 / K600 delivered such performance improvements in applications with tooling system overhangs of up to 10 inches.
