Introduction

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic materials, sometimes referred to as carbon fiber composites (CFC), are seeing a rapid increase in use in the defense and commercial aerospace, automotive, energy generation, and other industries seeking to improve performance, fuel efficiency, and reduce maintenance costs. The properties making CFRP an attractive structural material include: high strength-to-weight and high stiffness-to-weight ratios, corrosion resistance, and high durability. CFRPs are about 70% lighter than steel and about 40% lighter than aluminum, while costing only about 20% more.

The efficient machining of these materials is assuming an important role in influencing their implementation into these various industries. Though most CFRP components are produced to near net shape, many require finish machining operations such as edge trimming, slotting, and drilling to meet surface finish, fit, and assembly requirements. Unfortunately, machining technology has lagged behind the extensive work done in materials development and composite manufacturing techniques, limiting the application of these advanced structural materials in fully automated, large-scale manufacturing processes. Inefficient machining technology not only limits the cost effectiveness of the application of these materials, but can also damage costly components, reducing strength properties and reliability or necessitating costly rework.

This paper focuses on an edge trimming process, comparing various milling tools available for CFRP machining. It further presents the results of an orthogonal machining test performed on multi-directional laminar CFRP panels. A cost efficiency model is presented comparing the overall processing cost employing the various cutting tool technologies.

Challenges of Machining CFRP Materials

The machining of CFRP presents particular challenges in comparison to metal cutting processes, as this composite material differs completely from structural metals. In metal cutting, the workpiece material is substantially softer than the cutting tool material, and material is removed by plastic deformation, flow and shearing off of metal chips. Due to the hard and brittle nature of fibers in CFRP, material removal is accomplished by a series of brittle fractures. The high hardness of the fibers also causes CFRP to be extremely abrasive, resulting in high wear of the cutting edge. CFRP, being an anisotropic, fibrous, laminated material, is sensitive to damage that can occur during the machining process. Chip formation mechanisms depend heavily on fiber orientation. Wear on cutting edges results in increased cutting forces, and the effects of fiber orientation with respect to the direction of cut are amplified. Cutting forces are minimized by maintaining a sharp cutting edge, which localizes the cutting energy to a precise cutting zone.

Most of the mechanical energy put into any cutting operation is transformed into heat. This poses yet another problem in the machining of CFRP materials as opposed to metal cutting, the management of the heat resulting from cutting. In an ideal metal cutting process, the majority of the heat generated in the cutting zone is removed by the chip. CFRP materials on the other hand have low thermal conductivity, resulting in heat build-up in the tooling and the potential for thermal damage to the epoxy matrix. Many manufacturers of CFRP components prefer to machine without the use of a liquid coolant that could wick into and damage the laminate part, further exacerbating the tool heating issue.

Successful Machining Process

The cutting process can be defined as a system where energy developed in the machine is transferred to the workpiece in a controlled localized manner, imparting the energy in a precise direction and location on the workpiece to most effectively fail the material in a controlled way to produce a chip, while minimizing damage to the workpiece. The success of a cutting tool application is dependent on many factors to include: tool material, tool geometry, cutting parameters and set-up rigidity.

Tool material

Effective mechanical material removal methods require a cutting tool material that is substantially harder than the material being removed. The following tool materials encompass the bulk of materials used in today’s cutting tool industry:

- High-speed steel

- Cemented carbides (most commonly tungsten carbide with a cobalt binder)

- Ceramics

- Cermets

- Ultrahard materials (diamond and cubic boron nitride)

The extreme abrasiveness of CFRP materials limits successful application to only the hardest of tool materials, thus high-speed steel is not an option and even tungsten carbide tools wear rapidly in CFRP. Work has been done to measure the relative wear performance of various cutting tool materials while machining CFRP. The results of this work (Figure 1) showed that in continuous turning of a CFRP component, diamond tools offer the highest abrasion resistance compared to tungsten carbide (ISO K10), ceramics, and cubic boron nitride.

Tool geometry

Tool geometry in defined-edge cutting tools plays a significant role in the efficiency of the cutting operation. The effective cutting of CFRP materials is best achieved by delivering high, localized cutting forces to the carbon fibers, severing the fibers in a brittle fracture mode. The rake angle and clearance angles of the cutting edge provide the proper attack angle and prevent rubbing, which can generate heat and cause tool wear.

It has long been understood in metal cutting that a helical cutting edge provides a more efficient cutting action than a straight edge and is also more effective in chip evacuation. Helical geometries provide an equal and constant shear force along the cutting length. The cutting forces on the edge of a helical tool build more gradually and are more widely distributed along the cutting edge as compared to a straight- or skewed-edge tool. A helical tool also provides greater cutting edge engagement in the workpiece at any given moment of the tool’s rotation. Also at greater radial depths of cut, two teeth are engaged in the cut at any given moment, keeping the tool constantly loaded. This avoids sending an interrupted bending and harmonic moment into the tool. The spiral flutes of a helical tool also lift and evacuate chips more efficiently, which prevents re-cutting chips and interference with an effective cutting action.

Application parameters

The cutting parameters greatly influence the efficiency of a milling and trimming operation. The cutting speed, feed (chip load), radial and axial depths of cut, and coolant all influence the mechanics of chip generation and tool loading and heating. Too high of speeds and feeds can overload and break tooling. Cutting tools, however, must be capable of operating at high enough cutting parameters to assure the necessary productivity of the machining operation to allow for the cost-effective use of CFRP components. High machining costs have historically been a factor limiting the broader application of CFRP materials.

Diamond as a Tool Material

As the hardest material known, diamond has always held an attraction as a cutting tool material, particularly in highly abrasive materials. Given in Table 1 are some of the extreme physical properties that make diamond a material of choice in many applications.

Table 1. Mechanical properties of diamond

These properties combine to provide a cutting tool that resists abrasive wear, does not deform or deflect under high cutting forces, produces low frictional heating and conducts away the heat generated by cutting. The challenge has been how to apply diamond materials to form an effective cutting edge. Prior to the advent of diamond synthesis technology in the mid 1950’s, only natural diamond rejected by the gem industry was available for industrial purposes. Today diamond materials are available in a variety of forms, each having its particular advantages and limitations in various industrial applications.

Since it is impossible to make a cutting tool of solid diamond, diamond tools are produced by affixing the diamond material to a cutting tool body, the diamond material forming the cutting edge. There are essentially three types of diamond tools used in the machining of CFRP materials: diamond grit held in a metallic matrix, sintered polycrystalline diamond (PCD), and diamond coatings produced by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Tools comprised of diamond particles held in a metallic matrix remove material via a grinding action and thus offer low material removal rates compared to those with defined cutting edges.

PCD

PCD is produced by sintering together a mass of diamond particles at ultra-high pressure (~60 kbar) and high temperature (~1450°C) conditions commonly referred to in the industry as an HP/HT process. Typically, PCD is produced as a layer with 0.2 to 2 mm thickness metallurgically bonded to a tungsten carbide substrate. PCD relies on cobalt metal, either mixed into the diamond powder or diffused from the carbide substrate, as a solvent/catalyst to promote intergrowth of the diamond particles at the HP/HT conditions. The cobalt metal, upon sintering, forms pools, filling the void spaces between diamond crystals. This cobalt second phase is sometimes referred to as a binder; however, in the classic sense it does not function as a binder since the diamond particles are sintered together through a network of diamond-to-diamond bonds and the diamond structure remains intact after removal of the cobalt metal. Figure 2 contains SEM micrographs showing a typical PCD microstructure, the left photo showing the Co pools (light areas) between grains (dark areas) and the right showing a specimen leached in acid to remove the residual Co, illustrating the intergranular bonding of the diamond particles. While the cobalt metal does reduce the abrasion resistance and thermo-stability of the PCD compared to pure diamond, it greatly improves its impact toughness.

CVD diamond

Developed in the 1980s, CVD diamond is “grown” at low pressure by precipitating carbon atoms disassociated from a hydrocarbon gas onto a substrate in the form of fine diamond crystals, forming a continuous solid layer. This form of diamond can be produced either as a coating on a cutting tool in thicknesses ranging from 5 to 50 µm, or in the form of a sheet of about 0.5 mm thickness. CVD diamond is pure diamond, having no catalyst metal in its structure, and as such is extremely abrasion resistant, but has lower impact toughness than PCD. CVD diamond can be applied to any solid carbide tool; therefore, geometry possibilities are virtually limitless. However, CVD diamond coated tools have two primary limitations. First, the diamond layer is typically only around 10 µm thick. Once the coating is worn through or chipped, the carbide substrate is exposed, which wears rapidly in abrasive applications. Secondly, even if the substrate edges start out very sharp, the coating layer naturally rounds the cutting edges. In essence, it is as if the cutting edge has a slight dull condition even before the first cut. The thicker the layer deposited, the more rounded the cutting edge.

Advances in PCD technology

Traditional limitations of PCD

PCD is traditionally available as a flat wafer or disc with a carbide backing. Cutting tools are fabricated by cutting the PCD disc into segments and then brazing these segments onto a tool body. The segments are ground or eroded, forming the tool’s cutting edges. This technology has two drawbacks. First, tool geometries that can be produced are rather limited to what can be formed from a flat segment. PCD routing and trimming tools often have PCD segments that are skewed at a slight angle to the tool axis to approximate a low-angle helix. Secondly, the braze joint, attaching the segment to the tool is in close proximity to the cutting edges where the heat from cutting is generated, and thus the braze joint is prone to failure as its temperature approaches the braze melting point, greatly reducing the strength of the braze material.

PCD vein technology

To overcome these limitations and to take advantage of the unique properties of PCD, some manufacturers have focused on producing PCD tool blanks having strategically placed veins of PCD material. A blank of this type is formed by packing diamond powder into grooves formed in the carbide body, sintering the diamond under HP/HT conditions, and then brazing the veined PCD blank to a tool shank. The tool is finished by exposing the PCD veins to form the cutting edges of the tool.

Veins can be formed on the tool blank in a wide range of configurations to place the PCD material precisely where the desired cutting edge will be. Helical cutting edges or other complex geometries can be produced that are impossible to create with flat PCD segments, allowing the tool designer the freedom to create the most efficient cutting geometry for a particular application. PCD vein technology also addresses the issue of braze joint failure. While veined tools still have a braze joint, the joint is located further up the tool body, away from the cutting region. This reduces heating in the braze material, thus improving strength and reliability.

Lab Testing of Various Tool Technologies

A controlled lab test was performed to simulate the machining of window cutouts of a commercial aircraft fuselage structure. The actual application is completed in a two-step process using a roughing step to ramp down through the solid CFPR material then route through the material to cut out the desired geometry. A second finishing pass is then made to trim the cut-out to final size and required surface finish.

Test set-up

The test was designed as a lab simulation of the finish trimming operation to evaluate the performance differences of typical commercially available end mills compared to the veined PCD helical end mill. For practicality the CFRP workpiece component was laid up as flat panels with a thickness of 0.40 in. (max fuselage thickness) and a total length of 36 in. The end mills tested were chosen from top performing “traditional” products in commercial use for CFRP machining including solid carbide, CVD diamond coated, and straight-flute PCD. Details of the test set-up and tool life results are outlined in Table 2 below.

It should be noted that all end mills were tested using parameters recommended by the respective tool manufacturers for CFRP finish trimming operations. A sample picture of the tools tested is represented in Figure 3. The failure criteria used to determine “end of life” of each end mill was insufficient surface finish quality through visual inspection. This criterion was established by the aircraft manufacturer.

Results

The results showed that traditional solid carbide end mills lack the abrasion resistance to maintain a sharp edge to produce acceptable surface finish after just the first pass. CVD diamond coated and PCD segmented end mills indeed show significant improvements over solid carbide tools. The veined PCD resulted in a breakthrough performance gain of 7-10 times over CVD diamond coated or segmented PCD end mills.

Visual inspection results of the machined edge of the CFRP panel shown in Figure 4 illustrate the issue of poor surface finish on the workpiece material after a relatively low number of passes by the more traditional tools. The solid carbide end mill showed a rapid loss of cutting edge sharpness due to lack of abrasion resistance after only 36 in. cut (Figure 5). Wear led to insufficient cutting of the fibers, leaving frayed edges along the top and bottom of the workpiece material. The CVD diamond coated end mill showed similar fraying of fibers even in the early stages of cutting due to the inherent dulling of the edge in the new condition from the CVD coating process itself. After 1000 in. of cutting, the thin and brittle coating developed micro-cracking and rapidly degraded into larger chips, causing failure of the cutting edge (Figure 6). The straight-flute PCD end mill showed relatively good edge sharpness and resilience; however, due to its straight-flute design, it showed high tool forces, resulting in pull-out of the composite resin, causing unacceptable porosity of the workpiece cross-section. It was also observed that this segmented PCD end mill showed scalloped wear scars after 1500 in. of cut corresponding to the directional layup of the composite layers (Figure 7). This is caused by the lack of effective shearing of fibers due to the limitations of the straight-flute cutting edges. The veined PCD end mill (Figure showed a controlled wear mode, while maintaining effective cutting edges and acceptable workpiece surface finish over a length of 10,000 in. of cutting. Because there was no catastrophic breakdown of the cutting edges, this tool can be reconditioned for multiple uses.

Economic Study

The technology developed and used to fabricate veined PCD helical end mills results in a relatively high cost per tool as compared to the other technologies tested. As described herein, both the HP/HT sintering process to produce the PCD veins within the carbide cylinder and the method of exposing the PCD to form the cutting edges are both unique and highly technical processes. Obviously, it is important to compare the effect a tool has on the overall cost effectiveness of the machining operation when determining what tool to use. A cost model was generated to calculate the overall machining cost per component or unit length of CFRP machined.

The main components of the cost model are 1) machining parameters, 2) tool life, 3) machining center cost per hour, 4) cutting tool cost. The cost model is given in Table 3, using the data gathered in the machining test to calculate the overall operational cost of each tool used. In this example a total length of cut of 10,000 linear inches was used for the total length of cut (TLC) production requirement criteria.

With its short tool life, the solid carbide end mill, despite its low cost per tool, is not an economically viable solution due to lost productivity from tool changes required to achieve the TLC, resulting in a cost of nearly $32k to achieve TLC. The CVD diamond coated end mill is a significant improvement with its longer tool life and faster cutting speeds, but it still incurs a cost of $7k to achieve TLC. The straight-flute PCD tool, due to its geometry limitations and resulting limitation in cutting speed, and low productivity led to a relatively high machine time cost. This, coupled with a relatively high tool cost, results in over $8k to attain TLC. The veined PCD end mill offered the highest machining rates and was able to complete the 10,000-in. TLC with one tool, resulting in an operation cost of $2680. Though the most costly tooling solution on a per tool basis, the veined PCD tools resulted in the lowest operational cost when taking into consideration all costs involved. The cost advantage is more pronounced when considering the potential cost to repair CFRP components with delamination damage caused by worn cutting tools.

Article From: 8/10/2008 Modern Machine Shop

Ceramic aluminum oxide wheels can increase the number of parts that can be ground between dressing routines, leading to centerless grinding cost savings.

Reducing overall production costs in today’s globally competitive market requires identifying all contributing factors and focusing efforts on the worst offenders. For example, in the fastener industry, centerless grinding is an operation in which process improvements can yield significant benefits. Oftentimes, fastener manufacturers opt to use low-cost abrasive wheels to reduce consumable expenditures. However, according to abrasive supplier Saint-Gobain, this strategy doesn’t account for a more likely culprit behind increased centerless grinding costs: non-value-adding wheel dressing time.

The microstructure of Quantum ceramic aluminum oxide has irregularly shaped crystals so wheels continuously expose fresh cutting points to a workpiece.

Low-cost aluminum oxide wheels require frequent dressing routines to maintain workpiece tolerances, surface finishes and production levels. Conversely, ceramic aluminum oxide abrasives, such as the new Norton Quantum line of grinding wheels from Saint-Gobain, can enable fastener manufacturers to realize more significant cost reductions by increasing the number of parts that can be ground between dressing routines.

Unlike conventional aluminum oxides, the microstructure of Quantum ceramic aluminum oxide has numerous small, irregularly shaped crystals that enable the wheel to continuously expose fresh cutting points. The company says this microstructure is even finer than other ceramic aluminum oxide grades such as seeded gel, meaning more points can be introduced to the workpiece. In addition, Quantum uses organic and vitrified bonds designed to optimize grain-to-bond adhesion and increase grain retention and wheel life.

Compared to seeded gel aluminum oxide shown here, the Quantum has smaller grains and more cutting points within a given area.

According to the company, grinding tests of nickel alloy fasteners have shown that Quantum wheels can complete three times as many parts per dressing routine than conventional aluminum oxide. This improved performance impacts the overall grinding process not just by lowering per-part abrasive costs, but also by reducing wheel dressing time by as much as two-thirds. Assuming workpiece grinding time for both types of wheels is the same, the total cycle time can be reduced by one-third.

Consider a production run of 10,000,000 fasteners. According to the company, centerless grinding machine cost constitutes the largest portion of overall fastener production expense, and wheel dressing accounts for almost 50 percent of that portion. If wheels require dressing after every 60 or 70 parts, the production run will include approximately 150,000 dressing cycles. If each of these cycles takes an average of five minutes, overall dressing time will take approximately 13,000 hours. Assuming a conservative, fully burdened labor rate of $60 per hour, that amounts to a nearly $800,000 expense for non-value added dressing operation, or about 38 percent of the total production cost.

This chart shows the total cost breakdown of centerless grinding of 10,000,000 fasteners using conventional aluminum oxide wheels.

However, because Quantum wheels require less total dressing time, they can provide a cost savings of more than $500,000 (26 percent) over the production run, the company says.

General Cutting Tools is an authorized Norton Abrasives dealer.  For more information, please contact us.

This chart shows the savings possible with Quantum ceramic aluminum oxide wheels.

Article From: 11/11/2011 Modern Machine Shop

Amana Tool's Non-Melt Circular Saw Blade

Amana’s non-melt saw blade bodies are laser-cut from virgin steel and roll-tensioned to ensure straight cutting performance. Carbide tips are manufactured, brazed and ground to Amana Tool’s specifications, enabling smooth, accurate cuts and longer-lasting cutting performance between sharpenings. The blades feature copper plugs to reduce noise, minimize vibrations, prevent heat buildup and help eliminate blade warping. Each blade is dynamically balanced to ensure clean, true cuts with virtually no runout.”Amana Tool’s non-melt saw blades were specifically designed to address the tooling industry’s need for blades that can cut plastics cleanly, eliminating the melted edge,” said Frank Misiti, Amana Tool technical director. “This product helps make cutting plastic materials less labor-intensive while providing the accurate, long-lasting cutting performance customers have come to expect from Amana Tool.”

Non-melt blades are available in diameters ranging from 8″ to 16″ and number of teeth ranging from 64 to 120. For example, item LB10801 has a 10″ diameter and 80 teeth and starts at $130.91 USD. For more information on non-melt saw blades, contact us at info@generalcuttingtools.com or call (847) 677-8770.

General Cutting Tools is an authorized distributor of Amana Tool. Contact us today for pricing on any Amana Tool, Timberline or AGE item.
info@generalcuttingtools.com
(847) 677-8770

View Non-Melt Saw Blades

With Amana’s carbide-tipped countersinks with pilot drills, woodworkers can drill a pilot hole and tapered countersink in one step to help guide screws during project assembly. The countersink collection also includes counterbores, which create a flat-bottomed upper portion of the pilot hole instead of a tapered opening. Each cutting edge is manufactured from an Amana-exclusive carbide grade designed to deliver the highest quality of cut, maximum cutting efficiency prolonged tool life.

Amana Tool Carbide Tip Countersink

Frank Misiti, Amana Tool technical director, said, “By manufacturing the industry’s only carbide-tipped countersinks and counterbores, Amana has helped fulfill the needs of woodworkers seeking affordable tools that deliver high-quality results.”

Carbide-tipped countersinks with quick-release (item 55264) are also available for use with quick-change chucks. Like all Amana Tool products, the countersinks and counterbores are industrial-quality and manufactured to exact tolerances. The countersinks and counterbores are designed for use in drill presses, handheld drills and boring machines.

The countersinks start at $24.08 USD for a 3/8” diameter countersink (item 55202).  Additional countersink sizes are also available. For more information on the entire line of countersinks, counterbores and quick-release countersinks, visit www.amanatool.com.

About Amana Tool
An industry leader for more than 35 years, Amana Tool specializes in solid carbide, carbide insert and carbide-tipped cutting tools for the woodworking, plastics and aluminum industries.  Amana Tool’s full line of industrial-quality woodworking tools includes saw blades, router bits, shaping cutters, boring bits and more for wood, plastics and aluminum.  The company was founded in 1972 and has corporate headquarters in Farmingdale, N.Y.

General Cutting Tools is an authorized distributor of Amana Tool.  Contact us today for pricing on any Amana Tool, Timberline or AGE item.

info@generalcuttingtools.com
(847) 677-8770

ISO classified as a P10 grade, the AC810P performs exceptionally in steel and stainless steel finishing. Its hard carbide substrate and extremely wear resistant Super FF coating make the AC810P the best option when competing at high speeds. The Super FF (Fine and Flat) CVD coated grade contains ultra-thick coating layers of TiCN for wear and chipping resistance, and Al2O3 layers for excellent wear and heat resistance which drastically improve tool life.

Sumitomo AC800P

Along with the grade AC810P, Sumitomo introduces the high-efficiency chipbreakers ESE, ESEW and EME. The ESE is a finishing chipbreaker with a recommended depth of cut up to 0.080″ and a feed rate up to 0.018 IPR. The wiper version of the chipbreaker (ESEW) can achieve the same depth of cut, but due to the wiper, the ESEW can attain a 0.028 IPR feed rate. On the roughing side, Sumitomo introduces the EME chipbreaker – a strong-edged insert with a depth of cut range up to 0.240″ and a feed rate up to 0.028 IPR. These additions are not exclusive to the AC810P, but are also available in the AC820P and AC830P product offerings.

Click on the above insert (or click here) to find our AC800P Series brochure that provides features and benefits, along with geometry availability and recommended running parameters. When you are turning steels and stainless steels, look no further than the AC800P series of grades.

Amana Tool, manufacturer of industrial-quality carbide-tipped, solid carbide and replacement carbide cutting tools, today announced it offers an extensive line of industrial-quality router bits for a variety of woodworking needs for both professional woodworkers and hobbyists. The company uses high-quality raw materials and unique manufacturing processes to ensure that each of its products – one of the most of any woodworking tool manufacturer – meets stringent quality standards. Amana plans to expand its offerings in coming months with the release of its new catalog this summer.

Each tool that bears the Amana Tool name is manufactured under the sharp scrutiny of the company’s inspection department and according to both the International Organization of Standardization’s (ISO’s) 9000 quality management standard and the European Safety Standard EN-847 1/2, making Amana Tool products a world leader in quality tooling. The company also currently exceeds U.S. manufacturing standards for woodworking tools for both quality and safety.

Amana Router Bits

Amana’s entire line of solid carbide, replacement carbide and compression router bits feature the highest quality European steel and European sub-micro grain carbide that is sharpened to a fine edge. The unique, high-grade carbide and special grinding angles provide high-quality finishes and superior cutting performance to save users time and labor. Amana’s unique solid carbide grade is proven to last longer and retain a sharp edge longer than most solid carbide bits.

Each Amana bit features a centerless ground shank, a process that creates an exacting collet fit and concentricity. The Amana router bits are then balanced to eliminate vibrations and run out, maximize performance, and prolong tool life. The manufacturing process is completed by laser etching essential information for the tool’s use, such as RPM range and clamping depth, directly onto the tool shaft, ensuring that this critical information cannot be erased through normal tool use.

Due to the quality of raw materials and the high production standards, Amana’s solid carbide and compression bits are preferred by many woodworkers and leading furniture manufacturers. One popular profile is the 1/2″-shank compression CNC router bit (#46188, $73.39USD), designed to deliver a clean finish on high-feed applications. Amana’s A-MAX carbide-tipped straight plunge router bit (item #45422, $16.09 USD) lasts at least twice as long as standard router bits and works especially well with manmade materials, like melamine and other abrasive materials.

Amana maintains fully stocked fulfillment centers in Farmingdale, N.Y., and El Cajon, Calif., to ensure that customers’ immediate woodworking needs can be met in as little as one day.

“At Amana, we’ve spent decades refining our tool designs and manufacturing process to ensure that each router bit we produce is the best in the industry,” said Frank Misiti, technical director at Amana Tool. “We highly value the opportunity to solve common – and not-so-common – woodworking problems for our customers through innovative tool design, variety of profiles, high-quality materials and expedited product delivery.”

General Cutting Tools is a authorized source for Amana tool. Contact us for more information.

info@generalcuttingtools.com
Phone: (847) 677-8770

Innovative tool design and special-grade carbide help users avoid chip out in furniture-making, cabinetry and closet manufacturing applications

Amana Tool's CNC Compression Spiral Router Bit

Replacement carbide cutting tools, today announced its solid carbide CNC compression spiral router bits produce smooth, clean cuts in double-sided melamine, laminated materials and MDF. The bits are designed for CNC applications that require high feed rates and clean finishes, such as furniture, cabinetry and closet manufacturing.

Amana’s unique compression router bit geometry helps prevent chip out on the top and bottom of the material by pushing chips down and ejecting them up during the same cutting pass. Made from a special carbide grade, the bits last longer than standard router bits, especially when working with abrasive materials such as laminated MDF and melamine, and deliver an optimal edge finish. The superior performance also ensures CNC users the most yield from each sheet of material. Each compression router bit is manufactured to Amana’s stringent quality standards.

Frank Misiti, technical director at Amana Tool, said, “Chip out is a common problem when working with laminated MDF, melamine and other abrasive materials. Amana’s compression spiral router bits help furniture makers and other manufacturers overcome this obstacle through innovative tool design and our special-grade carbide that deliver superior performance while saving time and materials.”

Amana’s solid carbide CNC compression spiral router bits are available in diameters ranging from 1/4” to 3/4”. The 1/4” diameter bits (item #46170) start at $46.20 USD; the 1/2” diameter bits (items #46188 and #46190) start at $80.74 USD. For more information, email info@GeneralCuttingTools.com or call (847) 677-8770.

General Cutting Tools is an authorized Ingersoll Cutting Tools distributor. We are based in Chicago serving Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana and ship nationwide as well as around the world. Contact us for more information.

SERIES: 12Y1N_D, 12Y1S_D, 12Y1U_D

Series Features:

Ingersoll Rapid Thread Mill

• Insert length: 21mm, 30mm, 40mm
• Available for both 4 and 5 insert style holders
• Used for large diameters, long threads and long overhangs
• Standard inserts are suitable for multi-insert tools
• All inserts have the same profile position
• Bodies can be mounted on standard Shell Mill adapters
• One tool for external and internal right and left hand threads

Diameters:
2.480″, 3.150″, 3.940″

Insert Sizes:
21mm (0.827), 30mm (1.181), 40mm (1.575)

Thread Form:
ISO, UN, NPT, NPTF, BSPT, W

Applications:
Internal and External Thread Milling

Materials:
Cast Iron, Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Titanium and other high temperature or nickel-based alloys.

For turning in stainless steel and exotic alloys.

Ingersoll previously introduced two new chipbreakers for machining stainless steels and exotic materials: The EA chipbreaker for finish to semi-finish operations in low depths of cut, and the ET chipbreaker for rough machining of these materials. The new EM chipbreaker is designed for medium applications where customers desire a single insert that encompasses many of the same features offered by the EA and ET.

The EM chipbreaker features a sharp land that reduces machining load during medium machining applications, while simultaneously reducing build up material on the cutting edge. The design also includes a broad boss face that dissipates heat on the upper side of the chipbreaker, improving the surface contact ratio while maximizing tool life. The result is an insert that provides stable performance in difficult to machine materials over a wide range of feed rates and cutting depths.

Insert Styles:
CNMG
DNMG
SNMG
TNMG
VNMG
WNMG

Grades:
TT9215
TT9225
TT9235
TT5030
TT9080

Feed Rates:
.005~.024 ipr (0.13~0.60 mm/rev)

Cutting Depths:
.020~.315 inches (0.5~8.0 mm)

Applications:
• General purpose & medium turning applications in stainless steel and exotic alloys
• Medium machining operations where lower cutting forces are needed

General Cutting Tools is an authorized Ingersoll Cutting Tools distributor.  Contact us today for a quote.
info@generalcuttingtools.com
(847) 677-8770