Valenite LLC (www.valenite.com) has introduced a milling cutter designed for highspeed machining of aluminum alloys.
The VFlash has a new serrated pocket design and direct-mount insertclamping. The company said the cutter offers safe, rigid and chatterfree operations at speeds to 20,000 surface feet per minute — rates for optimal utilization of tipped polycrystalline diamond (PCD) inserts for aluminum applications and cubic boron nitride (CBN) tools for other materials.
The high rigidity of the insert mount is characterized by a closed wedge-lock, pocket design, in which 75 percent of the insert body is protected and able to absorb high centrifugal forces.
Overall system strength is enhanced by a serrated insert face and pocket surface to align and secure the insert, and to decrease lateral shift during operation.
Within the pocket, the hardened wedge lock is positioned at the insert underside to act as a damper against vibrations. The wedge lock is designed to protect the cutter body in case of collisions. The wedge is easily and economically replaced.
The cutter body is made from hardened steel to increase its resistance to chip abrasion wear and tear.
The direct-mount insert provides a compact and durable clamping system and permits a more aggressive pitch and higher insert density to allow for greater feed and materialremoval rates. The clamp design also allows for quick changeouts with one and one-half turns of the clamp screw to relax the wedgeretention force on the insert.
Sizes range from 2-in. through 12-in. diameters and use Valenite’s ValPro serrated style, PCD-tipped inserts for aluminum and non-ferrous work, or CBN selections for a range of applications. Cutters with metric diameters and mountings are also available, and special tools can be designed for specific applications.
Valenite also introduced another high-performance milling cutter.
The VForce with Sidelok cutter has a direct-insert clamping design for high insert density machining. It is designed to increase metal removal rates, provide for quick indexing and reduce spare parts inventory.
It is available in diameters from 3 in. to 10 in.
The company said VForce with SideLok provides more cutting teeth per revolution, and increases feed and material-removal rates to three times faster than tools with traditional insert-clamping systems.
The cutter’s insert cavity and locking screw are precision aligned and angled relative to each other to apply force in two directions as the screw is tightened. The insert is pushed against the pocket-side walls and pulled down securely to the pocket bottom. The resulting wedge-like condition retains the insert, and the application of constant lateral resistance on the threads prevents the lock screw Valenite’s VFlash cutters are for high-speed milling of aluminum from loosening.
