Version 28 of BobCAD-CAM’s flagship software is said to be compatible with all custom PVD Coated Insert and specialty milling and turning tool shapes for CNC simulations. The software’s verification update Shoulder Milling Inserts enables users to draw the half profile of a rotating milling tool and define multiple cutting surfaces on the tool, if applicable. Previous versions allowed users to program with their custom or specialty tooling but now V28 offers users the additional ability to accurately simulate jobs using these types of tools. Users can visually inspect and confirm their CNC programming within the simulation interface, which is also included. These capabilities are also supported on turn-mill/multi-tasking CNC machine simulations using the Mill Turn CAD/CAM module.
Seco Tools LLC will spotlight its redesigned Perfomax indexable insert drill. Designed for more aggressive drilling parameters as well as improved chip control and evacuation, the drill’s flutes have updated helix angles and smoother chip flute exits. An engineered wave pattern reduces contact between chips and flute surfaces. The fronts of the Perfomax’s flutes have been hardened with a laser to prolong tool life. A hardness of HRC 60 enables the drill to withstand chip erosion for longer periods of time.
Perfomax drill bodies are available in diameters ranging from 0.594" to 2.375" (15 to 59 mm); in length-to-diameter ratios of 2×D, 3×D, 4×D and Carbide Turning Inserts 5×D; and in most spindle Indexable Carbide Inserts interfaces.
Big Kaiser has expanded its HDC jet-through hydraulic chuck line to include the BCV interface and additional inch Carbide Drilling Inserts sizes. HDC toolholders are designed for high-precision five-axis machining. With maximum speeds of 35,000 rpm and clamping range of ¼" to ½", they are suitable for many applications in the automotive, aerospace, medical, and die and mold industries.
A thread feature allows for convertible coolant delivery between jet-through coolant and center-through coolant. According to the company, Jet-through hydraulic chucks are ideal toolholders for finishing applications, which benefit from improved coolant delivery. The coolant flows through the end of the toolholder and angles toward the cutting tool tip to improve surface finish and tool life.
HDC toolholders require only one hex key wrench to clamp or loosen the cutting tool, easing tool changes and eliminating any need for special equipment. The toolholder APMT Insert provides 0.00012" total indicator runout (TIR) at 5×D.
Open Mind Technologies, a CAD/CAM software solutions developer, now offers a precise, productive ultrasonic knife cutting strategy via its HyperMill CAM software. Ultrasonic knife cutting enables efficient cutting of advanced materials, including honeycomb structures, composites and foams often found in aerospace, automotive and wind turbine applications. HyperMill CAD/CAM provides utility ranging from 2.5D machining to five-axis milling, as well as ultrasonic cutting with oscillating cutting blades.
According to the company, HyperMill provides NC code simulation to reliably bring challenging TCGT Insert six-axis output to the machine. Using HyperMill’s Virtual Machining Optimizer to control the orientation of the spindle as the sixth axis, the cutting blade is aligned to the workpiece. The Optimizer keeps toolpaths within limits for demanding machining processes with limited rotation axes, such as a fork-head style milling machine (with the machine head having two rotary axes).
“Creating the required six-axis NC programs for knife cutting applications, including five machine axes plus a programmable spindle orientation, has historically proven to be a challenge,” says Alan Carbide Inserts Levine, managing director of Open Mind Technologies USA Inc. “However, HyperMill provides users with a productive, accurate, safe and smooth cutting solution which prevents hazardous rotations and retract movements.”
What if a cutting tool and holder set could suddenly make your machining center cut better? Not just a little bit better;a lot better. That’s what BadAxe Tooling Solutions says it can deliver with its Smart Tool tooling assemblies engineered to run on specific brands and models of machining centers.
These tool-plus-toolholder combinations grew out of vibration analysis technology that once required the user to analyze every tooling and machine combination to optimize the cutting process for each. Now, the tooling packages come pre-engineered to optimize milling processes on VNMG Insert major machining center brands such as Okuma, Haas, Doosan and Bridgeport, with still more in the works.
The Smart Tool assembly consists of a toolholder tailored to a specific machine’s dynamics, as well as an end mill with a custom tool overhang length selected to optimize the dynamic resonance of this overall machine-and-tooling combination. This assembly (with retention knob) is balanced as a unit and delivered in a package that also includes interactive, web-accessible software that allows the user to quickly determine the optimum combination of spindle speed and depth of cut in various applications.
The extent of performance improvement will vary, but the Smart Tool group claims that the tools can often double metal removal rates and tool life through heavier depths of cut and smoother cutting.
BadAxe Tooling Solutions is the result of a collaboration among several companies with expertise in toolholding, cutting tools, machining dynamics and distribution. The BadAxe Smart Tool is currently available for many machining centers. With a growing portfolio of options available for many more milling centers, customers will have access to more affordable, higher performance Shoulder Milling Inserts machining, with their existing equipment, says the company.
Smart Tool cutting displays can be found in the booths of Briney Tooling Systems and Fullerton Tool in the West Hall, Level 3, and several other displays throughout the show.
