Paul Horn, the solid-carbide tooling, carbide insert and tool-holder manufacturer has supplied more than 200,000 special tooling solutions over the years and currently offers 25,000 standard products, including five that were introduced to the UK market at the recent MACH 2024 exhibition in Birmingham, UK.

For instance, an addition to the Horn Supermini boring, grooving and chamfering system was announced, namely a variant with a precision-ground rake face for producing ultra-fine bores. The ground cutting edge is free from notches at a magnification of x200 and the tool is suitable for machining components with an inside diameter from just 0.3 mm. Sharp insert geometry ensures process reliability, even with very small infeed and cutting feed rates. The special coating is suitable for stainless steels, non-ferrous metals and other metals.

Notably, the Supermini Type 105 system insert requires only one tool holder for well over 1000 insert variants, which applies equally to left-hand and right-hand versions. Carbide inserts are available coated or uncoated in various grades for a variety of applications, including hard machining up to 66 HRc. The patented, droplet-shape cross section has a vibration-damping effect and delivers high repeatability during insert exchange. Internal coolant supply to the insert increases tool life, enhances cutting performance and improves chip removal. Horn offers the tools with face clamping elements that allow easy changing of the insert without removing the holder from the machine.

Horn has also developed a new solid-carbide milling cutter range for machining stainless steels used widely in the watchmaking and other precision engineering industries. Due to their geometry and efficient chip breaking, the mills are also suitable for machining numerous other materials.

More information www.phorn.co.uk

Walter is launching a new range of thread milling tools called Thrill·tec that combines the machining steps of core-hole drilling and threading in a single tool and operation. This is also true of the TC645 Supreme circular drill/thread mill, which additionally produces a chamfer at the thread entry.

Combining work steps improves productivity and makes this three-in-one thread milling cutter ideal for mass and small series production alike. High-volume producers can benefit from longer tool life and shorter machining times. Furthermore, the ability to multi-task results in significantly less machine downtime for tool changeovers. The TC645 Supreme pays dividends for small-scale manufacturers because they only have to use one tool, reducing changeovers and tool positions in the machine.

The left-hand cutting thread milling tool is suitable for multi-tasking operations, credit largely to the milling geometry on its face and the internal coolant supply. According to Walter, the tool optimises chip removal, even at high cutting speeds, and demonstrates high feed per tooth. As a result, the tool is suitable for blind-hole and through-hole threads in dimensions of 2 or 2.5xD. The universal thread milling cutter is for use on all ISO materials from P, M, K, N and S up to 48 HRc, due in large part to Walter’s WB10TJ grade coating.

In addition to high process reliability and universal operation, the main advantage of the TC645 Supreme is its cost efficiency. Faster machining and reduced indexing times keep the cost per thread relatively low. Walter is offering the TC645 Supreme in dimensions of M4 to M12, UNC8 to UNC½ and G1/16 to G¼. Additional variants will become available as the line expands.

More information www.walter-tools.com

Guhring premiered a host of new cutting tool innovations at the recent MACH exhibition in Birmingham, UK. For instance, the company gave a show debut to its RT100 InoxPro range of solid-carbide drills for stainless steel and titanium alloys. When machining these challenging materials, tool wear can be a formidable opponent to productivity and performance. According to Guhring, the new RT100 InoxPro overcomes these challenges with new geometry that optimises chip formation. This design combines with an ultra-smooth Perrox coating that enhances wear protection and an optimised carbide substrate that delivers a balance of hardness and toughness.

Available in 3xD, 5xD and 7xD variants and from 3 to 20 mm diameter in 0.1 mm increments, the company says this through-coolant series will improve feed rates and tool life by more than 50% while enhancing process control and chip evacuation.

The milling portfolio from Guhring continues to rapidly expand. Since the previous MACH show in 2022, the manufacturer has added a wealth of innovations, including the new SkyLiner series of end mills for the rough and finish-machining of aluminium and non-ferrous materials. Especially suited to pocketing and wall applications featuring thin-wall sections with depths up to 3xD, the new Alu RF100 SkyLiner F delivers smooth surface finishes at high feed rates, reports Guhring.

This three-flute tool is offered in diameters from 6 to 20 mm with axial through-coolant ducts, a 0.2 mm corner radius and a variable helix that makes the range suitable for finish milling. Accompanying the Alu RF100 SkyLiner F at MACH was the Alu RF100 SkyLiner R for rough machining in aluminium.

More information www.guhring.co.uk

Mapal says that its new NeoMill-Alu-QBig indexable insert milling cutter stands for top performance in the high-volume milling of aluminium. The tool manufacturer thus offers an economical solution for use on high-performance machines, such as those found primarily in the aerospace industry.

With its NeoMill-Alu-QBig solid-carbide roughing cutter for aluminium, Mapal says that machine shops can achieve a material removal rate of more than 18 l/min on high-performance machine tools. At the same time, it is of course also possible to use the high-volume milling cutter on less powerful machines. The tool manufacturer is thus taking into account the fact that aircraft parts often see manufacture on machines with spindle outputs between 40 and 80 kW, for which there was previously no suitable milling cutter in the company’s portfolio.

In order to maximise the material removal rate, Mapal designed the new aluminium volume milling cutter for use at spindle speeds of up to 35,000 rpm (with a diameter of 50 mm). For a tight fit, despite high centrifugal forces, screws with high tensile strength hold the indexable inserts firmly in the prismatic seat. In addition, countersinks on the indexable insert ensure weight savings. The tool body features a fine balancing system. Four threaded bores enable precise adjustment in order to protect the machine spindle at high speeds and achieve the smoothest possible surface finishes.

In addition, Mapal placed focus on low cutting forces and highly precise indexable inserts. High chip volumes with very high achievable surface finishes of Ra 0.8 µm and Rz 4.0 µm for rough and fine machining are thus achievable with the tool.

More information www.mapal.com