Ceratizit Group keeps the innovation coming at MACH 2020

The four competence brands of the CERATIZIT Group, Cutting Solutions by CERATIZIT, Komet, Klenk and WNT, will be represented at MACH 2020 under the Team Cutting Tools banner, with the opportunity being taken to introduce a wide selection of new and innovative cutting tool developments that will further enhance productivity and reduce costs for customers.

The focus at MACH will be on improved productivity with major announcements such as the completely new range of Silverline solid carbide milling cutters being unveiled at the show, as well as new turning grades and toolholding systems that will help drive down manufacturing costs. In addition, visitors to the Ceratizit stand will also see first-hand the revolution that is High Dynamic Turning with Ceratizit’s FreeTurn tooling, which combine to flip turning techniques by maximising the capabilities of modern turning centre technology.

High Dynamic Turning and FreeTurn deliver an uncompromising solution to turning that allows traditional turning operations, such as roughing, finishing, contour turning, face turning and longitudinal turning to be completed with just one tool. For over 100 years turning techniques have changed little, if at all, yes there are always new chipbreakers and carbide grades, but methodology remained the same. Now, making use of the dynamics of modern turning centres Ceratizit has created a process that allows the approach of the tool to the workpiece to be varied by making use of a machine’s B-axis. This gives the FreeTurn tool 360° degrees of freedom to produce the ideal approach angle to the workpiece developing huge degrees of freedom thanks to the design of the FreeTurn tools. By rotating the cutting edge around its own axis changes in approach angle can be achieved without interrupting the cutting process. This infinitely variable angle of approach enables flexible machining of almost every workpiece contour, as well as generating optimum chip breaking, higher feed rates and increased tool life. Live demonstrations of High Dynamic Turning can be seen on the Ceratizit stand and around the halls in conjunction with machine tool suppliers

WNT’s SilverLine range of solid carbide milling cutters gets completely updated with significant changes to the substrate, geometry and Dragonskin coating, but most significant is the development of the cutter core, which see increased cutter rigidity, improved chip flow and process security. The change in cutter core results in increased cutting data, which in turn means greater requirement for swarf evacuation, particularly when roughing. Therefore, the updated range now includes ripper cutters for the first time, the geometry of which creates smaller chips meaning performance can be maximised. Another benefits of the change in core design is that a wider range of flute options are possible, with cutters now available with either 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 flutes. To meet the needs of the growing aerospace sector the range also benefits from an increased choice of corner radii. Other changes see the shank choice increase with HA-style now available making SilverLine cutters suitable for use in hydraulic and shrink fit chucks to allow elevated cutting data to be applied. While the Dragonskin coating has been enhanced to deliver improved tool life by up to 50 per cent and chip flow and is now silver in colour. “To make significant changes to what is one of our most popular ranges was a major decision, but these changes have brought significant gains with the upgraded SilverLine cutters far exceeding the performance of the original SilverLine cutters,” says Tony Pennington, Managing Director Ceratizit UK & Ireland.

The second innovation from the WNT brand is MultiLock, an exchangeable head milling system that combines a solid carbide head with a steel body to deliver cost and productivity gains, especially in high-feed, long overhang applications commonly found in the die-sinking and aeroforms with focus on machining titanium alloys, tool steels and light alloys. Multilock delivers cost benefits as carbide cutting heads are manufactured using a precision sintering technique that creates a perfectly good cutting edge without the need for secondary grinding operations. Flute design also means increased chip flow and tool life with gains of over 400 per cent and 550 per cent respectively compared to a competitor product. The environmental impact of MultiLock is also reduced as the amount of carbide required is greatly reduced. By using a solid carbide head instead of indexable insert technology WNT has maximised the cutting performance through increased cutting edges and with the positive locking mechanism and additional process security by use of clamping screws MultiLock gives the performance of solid carbide but at reduced cost. MultiLock heads are available in a range of sizes between 12 and 25 mm as well as a variety of cutter styles including torus, high feed, ball nose and deburring cutters.

The second turning development comes from Cutting Solutions by CERATIZIT in the form of its brand new grade CTPX710. Developed as a multi-application grade utilising the latest Dragonskin coating technology and new carbide substrate CTPX710 allows just a single grade to be used across many material groups, covering super alloys to general steels and non-ferrous materials. The result is reduced tool inventories and simplified toolchanging for machine operators, with just insert geometry changing to suit specific applications, the grade remains the same. CTPX710 benefits from a unique partnership between the carbide substrate and the latest Dragonskin coating technology, which are then enhanced by a secondary finishing process after coating. The substrate is a fine-grain carbide with optimised microstructure creating a hard, wear resistant, base onto which the Dragonskin coating is applied. Performance is further enhanced by increasing the coating thickness, this provides an additional damping/shock absorbing effect further protecting the substrate and improving process security. The secondary finishing of the insert after the coating has been applied creates the smoothest surface possible across the insert geometry to enhance chip flow. It is this combination that enables CTPX710 to be applied across such a diverse range of materials, while delivering improved cutting performance and process security.

CTPX710 inserts are available in a wide variety of standard ISO insert shapes with three insert geometries available, these being -M34 which is aimed at turning super alloys due to the low cutting forces it generates along with its resistance to built-up edges; For non-ferrous, steels and cast iron there are two available geometries -25P and -25Q, the former having a sharp cutting edge providing good swarf control on softer materials, while the latter features wiper technology to deliver higher feedrates and improved surface finish.