ITI Tooling Co. offers a line of live-tool spindles to complement the high-speed, high-torque tool turrets on DMG MORI’s NL, NT, NZ and DuraTurn machines. These turrets use a high-performance tool drive and transmission driven by an integral direct-drive motor. The design of the ITI/Sauter live-tool spindle unit enhances these turret attributes with features such as precision-aligned surfaces for rapid setups and change-overs, precision bevel turning inserts for aluminum gear drives to reduce heat, noise Cemented Carbide Inserts and vibration, and pre-stressed spindle bearings for high-speed and high-torque cutting operations.

Many of these tool spindles offer a universal drive shaft for right- and left-hand use. In addition, they are designed with internal coolant ranging to 1,100 psi to help keep tools cool and rapidly clear chips from the work zone.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/machining-inserts/

It’s not just about the cutter. As a matter of fact, it’s not just about the spindle speed or machine tool, either. Selecting the most appropriate tool to maximize high speed milling applications requires a balanced approach that takes many considerations into account. Chief among them are workpiece material, part configuration, types and sizes of cuts required, machine rigidity, torque availability, toolholder balance, and safety.

High speed milling in itself is but a means to an end. Tim Marshall, product manager, and T.J. Long, standard milling product engineer, at Kennametal Inc. (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) prefer the perspective of maximum metal removal. "Machines can offer up to 30,000 rpm and higher in spindle speed, but, to take advantage of today’s high speed milling tools, the machine tool’s horsepower/torque curve needs to be considered," Mr. Marshall explains. "Combining the machine tool’s peak operating range with current technology of high speed milling tools allows you to deliver maximum metal removal rate. Maximum metal removal is where the money is. Anyone considering high speed milling needs to understand this."

Such a statement holds equally true for high-volume, high-production operations or in producing small- or single-lot sizes. In high-volume operations, saving seconds can translate into sizeable cost reductions. In small-lot or one-off production, such as in the die/mold businesses, improved surface finishes and true 90-degree cuts can obviate the need for subsequent grinding or polishing operations, enhancing quick turnaround or just-in-time delivery.

One of the first considerations a user needs to take into account is the surface speed range for the tools in the selected workpiece material. "Hitting 20,000 rpm on a 5-inch cutter is vastly different than on a 1-inch cutter," Mr. Marshall points out. The tooling suppliers’ speed recommendations must be followed to assure proper tool life (sfm=cutter diameter x rpm x 0.262), adds Mr. Long.

Balance can also make a difference in high speed milling performance and results. "As a rule of thumb, it’s good to be aware of balance considerations anywhere above 8,000 rpm," Mr. Long explains. That’s because balanced toolholders make a demonstrable difference in improving surface finish and in the wear characteristics that affect tool life. Some tools, such as slotting cutters, are not balanceable by design. Others, such as end mills with integral shanks, are. For example, Kennametal’s Mill1 Max, its newest tooling for high speed, high-feed aluminum milling, are pre-balanced to a specification of G2.5 at 10,000 rpm in integral shank (monoblock) slot milling cutters tools, and they are balanceable to higher specifications, if required.

"With higher balancing specifications, every time an insert is changed, the tool may need to be rebalanced," Mr. Long advises. "If shops don’t have access to balancing equipment of their own, a supplier like Kennametal can do it. For the highest security at high spindle speeds, users should replace insert screws every time they index an insert and make sure they’re tightened to the correct torque specification."

Safety is also a paramount consideration, particularly with high speed machining. "Anything coming loose at even 8,000 rpm is a projectile," Mr. Long says. "Essentially, any windows, doors or shrouds on a machine tool need to be bulletproof."

Selecting tooling for optimizing high speed milling Lathe Inserts applications equates to a decision to maximize a company’s milling productivity and reduce manufacturing costs. Speeds (sfm) and feeds make a big difference, as does achieving maximum metal removal (MMR). Additionally, as with many production decisions, there is a guiding formula, according to Mr. Long: MMR equals the number of inserts multiplied by axial depth of cut times radial width of cut times chip load times rpm.

"Operating the machine at the rpm where you can achieve the highest MRR provides users the greatest benefits," says Mr. Marshall. "Calculate the results and use a machine tool’s highest horsepower/torque rating, and you’ll be on your way to achieving the higher feed rates and maximum efficiencies tooling such as Mill1 Max offers."

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/product/ccgt-carbide-turning-tool-inserts-for-machining-aluminum-p-1215/

Milling and drilling operations that require tooling under 10 mm in diameter have historically not had many options beyond solid carbide or high speed steel tools. Iscar is changing Shoulder Milling Inserts that story with its miniature indexable Nanmill shoulder-cutting tooling, as well as its Sumocham line of hole-making tooling with interchangeable solid carbide heads. These tooling lines, both of which are on display at Iscar’s booth, reduce the complexity of setting up automated production runs in a lights-out setting.

In production setting, small end mills and drills made of a solid material tend to be sharpened or replaced at short intervals. The frequency of these change-outs are typically out of sync with the larger tooling that commonly leverages indexable inserts. Iscar’s 4-mm indexable Nanmill shoulder-cutting inserts provide the opportunity to restore a cutting edge without fully removing the tool, eliminating costly, time-consuming tooling changes.

The solid carbide heads found on Iscar’s Sumocham hole-making Carbide Drilling Inserts tooling offer similar advantages: faster changes on tools that are typically made from solid material. The ability to replace the drill head eliminates the need to sharpen or replace the entire tool. By restoring a factory edge without entirely replacing the tool, there is no need to zero out a freshly sharpened tool.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/cutting-inserts/

The diamond Flex-Hone tools from Brush Research Manufacturing are designed for deburring, edge blending and surface finishing operations in hard materials such as carbide, ceramic and Cemented Carbide Inserts aerospace steel alloys. The tools are constructed of resin-bond RCGT Insert diamond crystals with high friability to create self-sharpening edges. The tools are said to be free-cutting with a quick cut rate and quality finish. A nickel-coated abrasive aids heat dissipation and improves bond retention. The tools are available in sizes ranging from 4 to 20 mm with three different mesh sizes. Other sizes and mesh selections can be specially ordered. Applications include guide and drill bushings, ceramic cylinders, aerospace components, and medical parts.

Brush Research Manufacturing will also display its Nampower abrasive disc brushes and abrasive nylon-composite hub wheel brushes, as well as its miniature abrasive nylon brushes.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/product/tngg160402r-l-s-grinding-cermet-inserts-p-1212/

Maybe you don’t think much about it when a machine is new. But over time, a machining center is going to require more than routine maintenance. Sooner or later mechanical components are going to wear, alter machine performance and may even lead to catastrophic failure. The questions to ask now are: When is that most likely to happen? How disruptive will unplanned maintenance be to your production schedule? And how much will it cost you in substantial repairs and lost production?

What if a machining center could monitor itself and predict impending problems before they occur? Now that could cut out preventable production interruptions and enable shops to perform maintenance at the most convenient times.

Much has been made of the potential of IIoT technology to address “predictive maintenance” and a host of other issues sometime in the future. But what can the industrial internet of things or Industry 4.0 do for manufacturers right now?

Makino has a very practical answer for that with its MHmax machine health monitoring system. By applying sensors and proprietary predictive analysis algorithms that constantly check the health of a machining center’s spindle, toolchanger, coolant and hydraulic systems, machine-resident software can detect when critical systems are Carbide Turning Inserts trending toward the need for repair. This isn’t technology coming somewhere down the road. It’s available on selected Makino 1-series horizontal machining centers today.

Manufacturers have been using sensors to measure data points like sound, heat and vibration on machine tools for years, but making the best use of the data has not been easy. External monitoring systems had the ability to compare sensor data to a known set of baseline conditions but still required continued technical development to be effective. What’s different with MHmax, which stands for Makino Health Maximizer, is that a fully functional monitoring and analysis system resides entirely in the machine control.

Sophisticated machine learning software paired with a sensor array works from day one and adapts to machine characteristics as it monitors performance over time. This is what bar peeling inserts enables the system to predict component failures before they happen. With a constant stream of sensor data to analyze, the system “learns” which machine characteristics are normal and which are not. And it can determine early on when machine characteristics are beginning to trend toward a non-conforming condition.

An interesting aspect of MHmax is how it originated. You can try to monitor virtually any component on a machine tool, but going overboard adds needless complexity and costs that may not really add value. Makino wanted to develop a cost-effective predictive solution that solves the most common real-world problems. So they began by analyzing their own service dispatch records to determine systems posed the highest probability of causing unplanned downtime should they fail. According to Makino’s Dan Wissemeier, IoT customer support engineer, “It’s not necessary, for example, to measure ballscrews. They are so reliable that it wouldn’t be cost effective.” On the other hand, “A production machining center can have two million tool changes per year. Sooner or later, that’s going to need maintenance,” he says.

In all, the MHmax system includes multiple embedded sensors collecting data at the most critical points in a machine. Using this data the predictive software checks for spindle health, analyzes controller data and calculates the needs for alerts or warnings on critical machine functions. It checks spindle vibration, load and speed; automatic toolchanger alignment; coolant flow and temperature; and the hydraulic system pressure and temperature. A 24/7 alert system pushes notifications via email or text to designated recipients.

In addition to the predictive maintenance aspects of MHmax, it also provides a real-time portrait of a machine’s status, which can be enormously helpful in optimizing processes, improving equipment utilization and enabling more worry-free hours of unattended or lightly tended machining.

Monitoring data can be viewed on Makino’s Pro 6 HMI display, or remotely via a network connection, depending on the user’s preferred level of system connectivity. Daily, weekly and monthly uptime and predictive reports are available, and frequencies are selectable.

Most IIoT systems today rely on uploading sensor data to cloud-based application. Data is frequently pooled with other users allowing the vendor to mine data in ways that are not necessarily shared with the customer. MHmax is distinctly different from this approach because most of the data processing and analysis happen right at the machine tool and are shared in a way in which the user has total control. There are three levels of system connectivity:

In Level 1, the entire application runs in a standalone mode and is viewable only on the machine Pro6 control screen.

With Level 2, multiple machines can be connected to a company network. A common dashboard displays all connected machines and can be accessed by desktop computer or mobile devices.

Level 3 provides a direct link to Makino’s service management system. While the data remains secure inside the shop’s network, individual machine alerts are pushed out so Makino can keep a machine history for the customer. With this level of support, highly trained service technicians can contact customers in a proactive fashion.

Initially, Makino is offering MHmax as an option on selected horizontal machining centers and has future plans to apply it on all production-oriented equipment. Also, a retrofittable kit is in the works. The software is continually in development and moving toward “prescriptive maintenance” where the system identifies possible causes of non-conforming conditions.

What’s the value of having predictive maintenance on your next production machining center? For a moment, don’t look forward but instead, look back. What has your service history been, and what did unplanned equipment failures impact? What did they cost, not just the repairs, but the lost production? That may not be top of the mind for the machine you are buying today, but it will be. It’s just a matter of time.

Go here for more information on Makino’s MHmax.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.cuttinginsert.com/product/tnmg-insert/