TOOLING DON’T MAKE PARTING MORE DIFFICULT THAN IS NECESSARY Horn’s new parting
Tooling expert Walter GB (https://is.gd/
akibay) has announced two new multi-edge
tool systems to add to its range of grooving
and parting-off products. The Walter Cut MX
has four cutting edges and is for parting off
small workpieces up to 12 mm diameter,
while the two-edge Walter Cut GX34 is for
work up to 65 mm diameter. These
complement the existing Walter Cut GX24
double-edged grooving inserts for workpieces
up to 46 mm diameter. The result is that
Walter users can now complete 90% of all
grooving applications with standard tools
from the Walter catalogue.
The standard MX system range features
insert widths between 0.8 and 3.25 mm for
cutting depths up to 6 mm, though Walter
can provide special sizes and designs –
grooving with chamfer, for example. Walter
Cut GX34 has grooving inserts with widths of
3 or 4 mm for cutting depths up to 33 mm.
The new tools overcome a range of
important ‘accepted weakness’ with
standard grooving tools, including poor chip
breaking, chip removal, cooling and securing
of the indexable inserts – which is often
awkward, imprecise and not strong enough.
Parting-off or deep grooving is widely
considered a particularly dif cult process
and such applications are generally
performed with cutting values that are too
low, to avoid breakage or other problems.
The new MX and GX systems solve this.
The MX system offers a new approach to
clamping, which Walter says is more userfriendly
and more reliable. The
tangentially-clamped insert aligns itself
independently and accurately in the
machining direction. A dowel pin in the insert
seat ensures accurate and secure xing;
inserts cannot be installed incorrectly and
can easily be changed. This method of xing
also contributes to high stability and repeat
accuracy. Unused cutting edges are
protected, and the same insert type is used
for both right- and left-hand toolholders.
The system’s potential was demonstrated
in a tool life test in large-scale series
production on a Swiss-type auto lathe where
stainless steel pipes with an outer diameter
insert is for titanium
applications
of 5 mm were parted off using inserts having
a cutting edge of 1 mm. The Walter Cut MX
system more than tripled tool life, compared
to the former method.
High stability and process reliability are
also characteristics of the new GX34 system,
and a machining test at a customer that
supplies nitrided steel drive shafts with
diameters up to 60 mm saw GX34 extend
tool life by 100%, even as machining feeds
were increased by 30%, thanks to the
system’s stability, which minimised
machining vibration.
All Walter Cut tools feature 10- to 80-bar
precision cooling that is integrated into the
toolholders, with coolant directed into the
cutting zone for optimum cooling and high
productivity – on ISO-S materials, cutting
speeds can be increased by a factor of two
while maintaining tool life. The grooving tools
for small applications operate with a large
coolant outlet.
Both the GX24 and the new GX34 tools
feature two coolant outlets. Manual alignment
of the nozzles is not required, since the
system cools the rake and ank faces
simultaneously, with the second coolant jet
being aimed directly at the ank face.
This precision cooling also has a positive
effect on chip formation, with chips breaking
in a controlled manner so that they are
relatively short. Furthermore, with two jets of
coolant ensuring a constant lm of lubricant,
chips can be transported out of the groove
with less friction – resulting in high process
reliability and surface quality.
From German tooling specialist Paul Horn
(https://is.gd/lapuzu) comes a new insert
geometry for grooving and parting-off titanium.
It ensures reliable chip-breaking and a soft
cut, leading to high feed rates and fast
machining times. Additionally, tool longevity is
increased by up to 60%. The new Type 224
inserts with the new WT geometry are
available in increments of 2, 2.5 and 3 mm in
carbide grade IG35 and are designed for
Horn’s H224 toolholders.
Tool monitoring for micro-turning
Coupled with Horn’s parting-off development (main text), the company has worked with
Swiss group Kistler, which has developed a novel system for real-time tool monitoring in
micro-turning applications. The Piezo Tool System (PTS) consists of a force sensor
inserted into a toolholder that provides tool condition data during cutting.
The small piezoelectric sensor, which can be replaced easily and quickly, can measure
even the tiniest of cutting forces to a high resolution. A machine operator is immediately
able to identify a defect in the material being cut or a tool breakage, resulting in minimum
scrap, maximum quality, lower production costs and increased productivity.
In micro-turning applications, alternative measuring systems are not practical.
Monitoring the drive power of the spindle motor is not able to detect the minute
variations. Measuring acoustic emissions does not deliver satisfactory results
consistently when small workpieces are being machined. Visual monitoring also has to
be ruled out, as coolant together with the high rotational speeds obscure the view. The
new PTS solution is compatible with selected standard turning tool holders from Horn,
does not require any adjustment to be made at the control and can be used on any lathe.
Applitec Evocut-Line now available in the UK
Floyd Automatic Tooling has introduced the Evocut-Line parting-off system to the UK
market (https://is.gd/ohiquv). This parting and grooving product from Switzerland-based
Applitec incorporates a compact design, simpli ed insert changeovers and
compatibility with platen-type tooling con gurations. According to Floyd Automatic, the
system is suited for use in compact work envelopes, such as those found in slidinghead
turning centres.
58 September 2019 www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets
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