Product category:
Milling cutters
News Release from: NCMT | Subject: BIG Daishowa FullCut end mill
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 July 2003
End mill doubles productivity, cuts
insert costs
Workholding and toolholding equipment manufacturer has changed its end mill supplier and made dramatic improvements in productivity, particularly for machining tough steels such as 817M40 (EN24T).
Workholding and toolholding equipment manufacturer, Crenol and Wilson, based in Romsey, Hampshire, has changed its end mill supplier and made dramatic improvements in productivity, particularly for machining tough steels such as 817M40 (EN24T) When cutting that material on a Haas VF-2 vertical machining centre with coolant, a 25mm diameter BIG Daishowa FullCut end mill from NCMT runs at 2,300 rpm, taking a 5mm deep cut at 690mm/min feed rate
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 22 May 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Said David Crenol, managing director, "This is more than twice the metal removal rate we were able to achieve with our previous mill.
FullCut is a superb tool that has revolutionised the production of our tee-nuts, for example, and the benefits are evident right across our product range.
"Just as important is the reduction in the cost of indexable carbide inserts.
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Whereas we used to get through a pack of 20 tips on a production run of tee-nuts, we find with double-sided FullCut inserts that not only are we still on the first tip at the end of the batch, but we are still on the same edge.
"The tool has three inserts compared with two on the 25mm end mill we were using, and admittedly the BIG Daishowa tips are about three times the price of conventional ones, but overall the saving is considerable - I should say there is at least a four-fold cost reduction.
Machine operator, Mark Kinch, cited a further benefit using the FullCut mill, namely its quietness in operation.
"Our previous two-tip cutter used to scream, even at half the present feed rate, whereas the new tool is surprisingly quiet in cut," he said.
"It is similar to a solid carbide end mill in operation, but without the disadvantage of having to regrind it." Productivity increase when machining softer steels using air blast is even higher.
According to Kinch, a 5mm depth of cut can be taken in 080M15 (EN32B) steel at 1m/min feed rate with the FullCut mill, again with long insert life.
Using the previous 25mm diameter cutter, a 3mm deep cut at 500mm/min were the maximum parameters possible, so metal removal rate was 70 per cent lower.
Crenol commented, "To continue our tradition of offering customers high quality products coupled with prompt deliveries at economic prices, we are continually investigating new tooling products such as the BIG Daishowa end mill.
In the current adverse economic climate, I believe it makes financial sense initially to optimise existing machine tool output by investigating current tooling and other peripherals before considering the purchase of a new machine.
"Against a background of workholding equipment appearing more frequently in this country from low wage economies, our company is fully committed to remaining competitive by achieving the maximum metal removal rates we can on our machine tools by purchasing the necessary tooling to assist us in our aims.
"With the FullCut mill - both the 25mm diameter / 3-insert and 50mm diameter / 5-insert models - we have been able to improve our metal removal rates markedly in some areas.
Productivity is two to three times higher and tip costs are four times lower, which means we can continue to price our standard and special products competitively.
Similarly, the tool allows us to increase cost efficiency when manufacturing bespoke fixtures." He went on to explain the properties of FullCut mill that contribute to its efficient removal of metal, even on machining centres that are perhaps not of the highest power and rigidity.
Whereas Crenol and Wilson's previous end mills had a harsh geometry that tended to bang into the component on entry, sometimes breaking the inserts and occasionally seizing the tool in the component, the BIG Daishowa mill has high positive rake angles in both the radial and axial directions.
The result is a sharp, tough edge with low cutting resistance, and eccentric relief is adopted for the first time in an indexable-insert end mill.
Thus the strength and geometry of a solid carbide tool is combined with the economy and benefits of indexable inserts.
Spiral chip pockets are incorporated to achieve high rigidity and through-holes for semi-dry cutting or coolant improve insert life.
It is noteworthy that Crenol and Wilson's contact with NCMT and BIG Daishowa started in the late 1990s when the Japanese manufacturer, better known for its toolholders, introduced its first range of cutting tools, called C-Cutters, specifically designed for rapid, high precision chamfering of bores.
David Crenol is impressed with this tool too.
"We tried many solid HSS chamfering tools, but none lasted more than a day before it needed regrinding, which costs money and requires time to change the offset in the control.
"Indexable tools were equally unsuitable as the ISO carbide inserts were not designed for chamfering and tended to chatter, so we ended up interpolating the tool around the circumference of the bore to achieve an acceptable finish.
However, this resulted in longer cycle times so the operator ended up hand scraping the holes edges." "The difference with the C-Cutter is the two parallelogram-shaped, indexable carbide inserts that produce a clean chamfer by plunging alone. Request a free brochure from NCMT ...
We use these tools to machine thousands of holes in our chuck jaws every week and they save an enormous amount of time as well as producing a beautiful finish.".
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