For demonstrations and machine acceptance tests, machine tool manufacturer Zimmermann says it equips the company’s latest horizontal machining centre with milling cutters from Mapal.

Zimmermann developed its first horizontal machining centre specially for the machining of structural parts used by the aerospace industry. Aluminium structural parts, such as wing parts and frame ribs, are generally milled from solid material – with up to 95% material removal. Fault-free machining with respect to dimensional accuracy and surface finish is crucial. Moreover, the component structure becomes more and more delicate with increasing material removal, representing an additional challenge.
In order to achieve maximum efficiency, Zimmermann employs its own patented M3ABC three-axis milling head in the machining centre. Particularly in the pocket corners of a workpiece, the milling head has to perform only very small swivel movements – allowing the feed rate to be kept more or less constant and hence the machining time to be significantly shortened.
“The perfect combination – the machine, the three-axis milling head and tools from Mapal – give the user a real performance boost,” says Steffen Nüssle, sales director export and head of applications engineering at Zimmermann. “With the SPM-Rough ISO shoulder milling cutter, we achieved the best results that we have ever witnessed using a tool featuring indexable inserts.”
The ISO tools with polished indexable inserts are the latest addition to the Mapal SPM product range. SPM-Rough with wave profile also surpassed the expectations for material removal with excellent smooth running.
“Complete machining of a 190 x 190 x 40 mm pocket is now effectively possible in less than a minute,” explains Nüssle.
For further information www.mapal.com