Product category:
Milling cutters
News Release from: ITC Tooling | Subject: ITC tooling
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 19 November 2004
Tooling supplier change reduces set-up
times
The ability to rough and finish with one tool are among many benefits realised by a machine shop that has seen a 25-30% reduction of tooling inventory and set-up times.
Drawing upon 30 years of experience, Tufflay of Woking has built an enviable reputation within the subcontracting industry However, in the last twelve months the company has come under new management
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 29 Apr 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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The new ownership has seen Tufflay employ new working practices, methodologies and above all investment.
This emphasis on technology and investment now enables Tufflay to successfully compete in the aerospace, motor sport, electrical and the military sectors.
Part of the new investment has been three new machine tools.
Further reading
Diamond end mills offer longer life in graphite
Diamond coated, high wear resistant micro grain carbide end mills have a 30 degree helix specifically designed for machining graphite with longer tool life than equivalent carbide tools.
Micro-grained ball nose cutter mills hard steels
Manufactured from ultra wear resistant micro grain carbide, a two flute ball nosed, straight shank cutter is designed to machine steels hardened to 65 Rockwell C.
Carbide cutters machine aluminium at high speeds
Specifically designed for machining aluminium, solid carbide straight shank cutters have the versatility to machine a host of materials ranging from plastic to brass and copper.
To further optimise performance, maximise machine utilisation and reduce cost and production times further, Tufflay has invested in ITC Tooling.
Working in its particular industries, Tufflay uses an increasingly high amount of aluminium.
To machine this, the company uses the 2041, 2051 and 2052 range of aluminium cutters from ITC.
All three series of cutter are used in diameters from 4 to 20mm for a multitude of tasks.
Tufflay Director Russell Tschumi says: "Working with a considerable amount of aluminium we had to look at some very high quality cutters, hence the use of ITC.
The tooling has given us so many performance benefits and reduced costs to such an extent we will not look at the competition and just use the ITC range." The glowing endorsement of the aluminium cutters follows a 25-30% reduction of tooling inventory, set-up times, machine downtime and costs.
The cutters have also improved surface finishes.
All this has become possible through the key feature of the cutters, the geometries and the relieved shank on the 2051 series.
* Cutter Design - production engineering manager, Peter Foskett comments: "The shank is reduced all the way down the length of the cutter giving us a variable range of cutting protrusion, whereas other manufacturers are restricted to a certain length.
Other tooling manufacturers offer reduce shank tooling as specials, which results in our machine shop waiting on the tooling supplier.
ITC has a complete range from the shelf as standard, which enables us to manufacture efficiently without waiting for modified tools." ITC's Technical Representative Dave Cleeve supports this: "The cutters can be held out as long or as short as the customer wants, which is why Tufflay keep them in stock.
Whatever job comes in, the tools can be used immediately." This ability to use the cutters for numerous operations has vastly reduced tooling stock at Tufflay, specifically special cutters.
Another contributing factor to stock reduction is the ability of ITC cutters to perform roughing and finishing tasks.
Foskett continues: "Using one cutter for both operations cuts set-up time dramatically.
We would normally require a ripper to rough and then an end mill for finishing.
The ITC cutters enable us to do both operations with one tool.
This was recently demonstrated when the high helix 2041 was successfully introduced to a chassis component." This ability to rough and finish with one tool is credit to the rigidity of the tooling.
The short flute supported by a solid carbide shank provides total rigidity.
This excellent rigidity allows the cutter to perform extremely well at high speeds and feeds.
At Tufflay, a typical roughing cutter of 16mm diameter runs at 10,000 rev/min with a feed of 3200mm/min and 1/2 diameter depths of cut with a cutter protrusion of approximately 74mm.
Foskett continues: "The speeds and feeds are ideal for us.
Most manufacturers do not state suitable speeds and feeds for the 'real world'.
The ITC recommendations work really well and the technical support we have is excellent." The success with aluminium cutters has seen Tufflay introduce the ITC Cyber Range of multi flute cutters to particular titanium components for the Motor Sport industry.
The company is currently testing new innovations from ITC.
ITC's continual innovations and exceptional customer understanding are drivers behind the company's research into launching a new cutter.
Designed with a shallower 40 degree helix to meet customer specific requirements for machining thin web sections, the cutter will be ideal for the aerospace sector.
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