Product category:
Turning tools
News Release from: Walter GB | Subject: Tiger.tec inserts
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 May 2002
Inserts optimise feeds and speeds and
double life
A valve maker is experiencing 20 per cent savings in cycle times - since using inserts, which allow the machine to run at optimum speeds and feeds - and that tool life is at least double.
The application of Walter GB's Tiger.tec (registered) inserts at Bryan Donkin Valves has not only reduced machining times at this world-class supplier to the gas industry, but the innovative two-colour inserts have also extended tool life at the Chesterfield company Ron Carver, Donkin's tooling operations manager, says that in some cases Tiger.tec is generating 20 per cent savings in cycle times - since the inserts allow the machine to run at optimum speeds and feeds - and that tool life is at least double
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 24 Jul 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Quoting the case of a Walter SNMA insert applied to a grey cast iron valve body, Ron Carver says Tiger.tec was run at similar speeds and feeds to the insert it replaced, "yet produced twice as many components and was still not at the end of its life".
He continues: "Tiger.tec was located in the machine's toolpost at a 45 (degree) approach angle and 50mm overhang.
It took 4mm deep cuts at 150m/min to turn a 280mm by 180mm oblong boss, and at 140m/min to produce a 210mm round boss with 150mm bore.
Further reading
Larger shoulder milling cutter inserts released
Larger size 18 indexable Tiger.tec inserts for Walter F4042 shoulder milling cutters provide greater stability for deeper cuts to tackle extremely tough machining conditions.
Milling tough Ni and Cr alloy steel moulds
A 66mm diameter button cutter and a 25mm diameter ball nose cutter for finishing routines are successfully machining 25% Cr and 20% Ni heat-resistant tool steel moulds (male and female).
"The cost calculation on that valve alone showed that inserts costs and cost per cutting edge were both cheaper, and that tool costs could be slashed by at least 50 per cent," he confirms.
Bryan Donkin Valves is synonymous within the worldwide gas industry and it manufactures a wide range of quality cast iron/ductile iron and steel valves at its 80-employee factory in Chesterfield.
Around 20 per cent of output is exported, and the firm's main customer is Transco.
The company's range of wedge gate and parallel sliding gate valves are available in diameters up to 1200mm, and it was on a 150 mm diameter valve case that Tiger.tec was initially tried.
Specifically designed for machining cast iron, the black and gold Tiger.tec inserts combine a mixture of aluminium oxide and titanium nitride coatings on a tungsten carbide substrate to offer unrivalled cutting performance.
The black, aluminium oxide coating is particularly effective against tribochemical wear and permits higher cutting speeds and feeds to be employed while also providing longer service life.
The golden coating applied to the inserts' clearance surfaces simplifies wear detection and thus avoids the unnecessary waste of unused cutting edges.
Ron Carver concludes: "As a result of Tiger.tec's success on turning applications across a range of valve types, we're now looking to introduce Walter tooling for certain milling tasks, too.".
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