Materials with unique metallurgical properties — such as titanium, tool steels, stainless steels, hardened steels and other superalloys — were developed to meet the demands of extreme applications. Along with making these materials harder, tougher, less heat sensitive and/or more resistant to corrosion and fatigue, they also became more difficult to machine. Several toolmakers have designed new insert grades, with different geometries, and others are offering solid carbide tooling designed to prolong the tooling life when machining these difficult-to-machine materials. The toolmakers say the new products help to make better surface finishes while lowering machining costs.
CoroMill 210's 10-degree entering angle allows for high feed rates at small axial depths of cut when face milling and removes high chip volumes at rates the company says are far above those with traditional face mills. The design also allows for high radial depths of cut when plunge cutting in roughing operations, and removes large amounts of metal in the axial direction, such as when milling deep cavities or along deep shoulders.
Separately, Sandvik Coromant says another insert it developed reduces cutting forces and decreases vibration in unstable conditions, and can achieve high cutting speeds in difficult-to-machine materials. The company's E-xL line of inserts is designed to be used with CoroMill 300 cutting tools. The inserts have a 10-degree cutting rake angle with a 0.008-in. land. Sandvik Coromant recommends its CoroMill 300 tools for profiling and contouring, and says they facilitate vibration-free metal removal with short and long tools and provide power efficiency in all machines.