Carfulan expands workforce by 20%

Carfulan Group has expanded its workforce by almost 20% as it continues to strengthen its offering to UK manufacturers.

Part of a revamped five-year business plan, a targeted recruitment drive has seen eight new faces join the group across its four companies: OGP UK, SYS Systems, Zoller UK and ViciVision UK. In total, Carfulan now employs more than 50 people.
Managing director Chris Fulton says: “Our new five-year business plan takes us up to 2025 and people are critical to its success. We’ve made a significant investment up front to get the right people through the door and fully up to speed, so that by the end of this period we’re confident we’ll have a field-leading team right across the group. The recruitment drive isn’t stopping here – if we continue to be successful we’re keen to grow further, across all of our companies.”
For further information www.carfulan.com

Kyocera unveils parting-off solution

With the new KPK series, Kyocera is adding a new product line to its parting-off range. The KPK series has been developed to provide a high-performance parting-off solution supported by a strong clamping mechanism for added safety and security.

Kyocera’s KPK series is said to ensure stable and safe cutting. When it comes to parting-off operations in general, the workpiece can be difficult to secure, which leads to rigidity and chattering issues. Therefore, the cutting speed is usually low at the rotational centre of the workpiece. In addition, tools tend to be broken easily by chip issues.
All of these problems are said to be eradicated with the KPK series as it features a new insert, blade and tool-block design for rigid, safe and speedy parting-off operations in workpiece materials that include steel, stainless steel, cast iron and aluminium. Due to easy insert replacement, downtime is reduced to a minimum. The firmly-secured insert uses three contact surfaces to ensure safe clamping, which eliminates chattering and makes the parting-off process a lot safer.
Proprietary chip-breaker technology is inherited from the KGD line-up and is said to provide excellent chip control. Thanks to this technology, tool life is longer and the machining stable, says Kyocera. The rigid tool-holder block not only prevents chattering, but provides internal coolant, which again increases tool life, even under normal pressure.
For further information www.kyocera-unimerco.co.uk

Record sales

Telford-based Fabweld Steel Products has returned to full operational capacity and recalled all of its staff from furlough after securing a record £500,000 of sales in just seven days.

The spike in sales – around 10 times more than what would be expected at this time of year – signals a return of confidence to the market, believes managing director Richard Hilton. “I think this is a very positive signal that confidence is beginning to return to industry, and long may it continue,” he states. The recent surge in orders has come from a mix of UK and export projects, including €275,000 from Germany for the supply of recessed access covers.
For further information www.fsp.co.uk

Mirror-finish milling

Horn has expanded its DTM face-milling system to include inserts for the mirror-finish machining of non-ferrous metals and plastics. DTS inserts, which are tipped with monocrystalline diamond (MCD), are said to generate virtually perfect surface finishes with flatness of less than 1 µm.

The new DTS inserts are tailored to the DTM face-milling system and achieve high levels of efficiency and cost-effectiveness in conjunction with pre-machining inserts. Either polycrystalline diamond (PCD) or chemical vapour deposition diamond (CVD-D) is used for pre-machining, depending on the material being processed. All tools for mirror-finish machining are generally designed with single cutting edges, while the remaining insert seats contain roughing or balancing inserts.
The MCD-tipped cutting edge is set to an axial projection of 0.02 mm. Due to the structural design, the PCD-tipped inserts always pre-cut radially. As a result, it is virtually impossible for the MCD insert to be overloaded or damaged. The insert seats of the DTM milling body can be adjusted in the axial direction via an adjusting screw. Every 10° of rotation moves the insert seat by 0.01 mm, which means that the axial run-out of the individual cutting edges can be adjusted with micrometre precision.
An internal coolant supply ensures targeted cooling of the contact zone and efficient chip removal, while the low mass of the aluminium body protects the spindle and reduces energy consumption compared with steel bodies. Horn offers a fine-balancing option for the body to achieve high cutting speeds of up to 5000 m/min and ensure quiet running.
For further information www.phorn.co.uk

CrazyMill plunges into productivity gains

Mikron Tool has expanded its CrazyMill Cool P&S plunge-milling cutter programme with the inclusion of new dimensions to achieve even deeper machining cycles.

Now available in the UK from Floyd Automatic, the latest CrazyMill Cool P&S is characterised by the ability to plunge (drill) vertically into the material, mill slots or pockets into solid material in small spaces, and conclude milling operations with finishing cycles.
Although the milling depth in the short version (2.5xD) was based on the machining of keyways, the extended range has been developed to mill the deepest possible slots and pockets with a single tool, reaching more distant machining areas of a workpiece with one cutter. The new version of the solid-carbide plunge mill is based on the same technology as the short version, transferred directly to the new line. Now, it is possible to plunge perpendicularly into the material and reach the maximum milling depth of 5xD.
Good chip removal plays an important role at this depth. There is a higher risk that chips remain in the milling zone, are broken-up and subsequently damage both the milling cutter and the milled surface. The special cutting-edge geometry of CrazyMill Cool P&S and its extended chip area provide a remedy, ensuring lateral chip removal during plunging and tool stability during deep milling.
Alberto Gotti, head of the technology and customer project centre at Mikron Tool, says: “Customers can work with this tool at high speeds and feeds, and an axial infeed of 0.5xD, achieving extremely high chip-removal rates. For the user, this means up to five times shorter machining processes and significantly longer tool life compared with other milling cutters on the market.”
The CrazyMill Cool P&S is available in diameters from 1 to 8 mm, and for a maximum milling depth of up to 5xD.
For further information www.floydautomatic.co.uk