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Supermarket for Titanium Machining

July 22, 2008
MAG Maintenance Technologies’ Lightning cutter is a solid carbide, uncoated tool with a uniform flute divide. Feed rates on titanium and high tensile steels are as high as 1,000 mm/min (40 in./min). The Productivity Solutions ...
MAG Maintenance Technologies’ Lightning cutter is a solid carbide, uncoated tool with a uniform flute divide. Feed rates on titanium and high tensile steels are as high as 1,000 mm/min (40 in./min).

The Productivity Solutions business of MAG Maintenance Technologies (www.maint-tech.com) has teamed up with sister company, MAG Cincinnati (cinmach.mag-ias.com) to supply comprehensive, singlesource titanium processing technology.

The companies said this partnership was developed to provide single-source supply for capital equipment, specialized cutting tools, and applications engineering programming expertise to manufacturers who face increasing demands for titanium aircraft components. The services provided by the new partnership include CATIA V5 programming and optimizing machining processes.

Meeting the demand for titanium parts production has been both a challenge and an opportunity.

Key suppliers to aircraft programs such as the Boeing 787, Airbus A380, and the latest-generation military aircraft including the Joint Strike Fighter and the Eurofighter, have required huge gains in cubic-inchper- minute metal removal rates from tooling. The increased metal removal rates complement the suppliers’ increased acquisition of machines for cutting titanium.

MAG Maintenance Technologies, which specializes in providing proprietary tooling designed to optimize the cutting of titanium and other materials and combining that expertise with its part programming capabilities, said its series of cutting tools that balance feed rate with improved surface finish, tool life and tool cost, meets the challenges presented by the new demands for cutting titanium.

As an example, MAG Maintenance Technologies said its brazed-carbide Raptor has provides as much as 30-times increase in productivity while it doubles tool life.

In addition, the company has developed specialized tooling, such as its Lightning cutter. This tool is a solid carbide, uncoated tool with a uniform flute divide. Because it is uncoated, the company said it can be reground and put back on the machine quickly to make chips. With feed rates on titanium and high tensile steels to 1,000 mm/min (40 in./min), the Lightning balances productivity with tool cost.

MAG Maintenance Technologies said resulting metal removal rates and tool life improvements range from 5 to 30 times that of traditional methods, while applications programming further improves overall manufacturing efficiency.

MAG Cincinnati, which specializes in highly rigid, titanium processing machine tools, also has introduced a wide range of new products.

The company’s Ti Profiler, is a specially configured, 5-axis, multiple-spindle profiler designed for titanium processing.

Other MAG Cincinnati machine tools for titanium processing include the company’s MEGA Series 4- and 5-axis horizontal machining centers, U5 Universal 5-axis/5-sided universal machining centers and special build machines.

Also, MAG said its Mega-Flute is being used when the very fastest cutting speeds, to 2,000 mm/min (79 in./min), are required.

Other products from MAG’s Productivity Solutions Group include a tool management system, adaptive control and monitoring software, and software modules for optimizing milling feed rates and tool life. The company has established specialized teams within the group that are focused on supporting the machining operations of heavy truck manufacturers and the oil exploration industry.

In addition, through MAG Fadal and MAG Giddings & Lewis, the company said it gives manufacturers access to additional titanium processing machines including vertical machining centers and horizontal boring mills.