LMT Tools group presents tool innovations for more productivity at EMO
LMT Tools group, leading cutting tool manufacturer, is presenting in Milan tool innovations for more productivity. Faster, more efficient, more flexible – the requirements with regard to the machining of modern industrial materials are diverse. Numerous solutions that can effectively boost the performance of existing production processes will be presented in hall 10, stand D12/E11. This applies to high-performance milling, threading and rolling in the same way as to gear cutting, drilling, reaming and turning.
The SpeedCore hobs are now even more powerful
The LMT Fette SpeedCore hob has established itself as a specialized high-performance production tool for toothed wheels – for example in vehicle transmission systems. By integrating an innovative cutting material that uses so-called intermetallic phases, the hot hardness of the SpeedCore is significantly higher than that of PM-HSS substrates. The outstanding performance of these tools has now also been transferred to larger tooth systems. As a result of this development, hobs are now available up to module size 20 (diameter 250 mm) (lead image), which are used, for example, in transmission systems for commercial vehicles, heavy machinery engineering and wind turbines. In addition, a higher evolutionary stage of the previous coating Nanosphere 2.0 was achieved to increase the temperature resistance once again. With the new coating, called “HT” (high temperature), the distance between the SpeedCore hob and the carbide is reduced even more with regard to its machinability properties.
HT” (high temperature), the distance between the SpeedCore hob and the carbide is reduced even more with regard to its machinability properties.
Thread rolling – now even faster
Thread rolling systems are part of the important core competencies of the LMT Tools group. The proven user benefits of thread rolling compared to thread cutting are extremely short production times combined with highest thread stability, constant dimensional accuracy and excellent surface quality. Very recently LMT Fette launched the brand new and very user-friendly axial rolling head EVOline. The next development step follows already: The coolant-operated closing device that shifts the entire process time required for closing the rolling head to the ancillary time of the machine (image 2).
The closing operation by means of coolant (or compressed air) with a working pressure between 8 and 16 bar can be integrated into the machine program with a simple function. Easy, safe and fast.
Highest copy milling quality
The requirements with regard to finishing in die and mold manufacturing are process reliability, good surface quality and an extended tool life at high cutting speeds. The new copy milling cutter HSCline SuperFinish2 by LMT Fette (image 3) sets new standards in exactly these areas, especially in the finishing of hardened steel between 56 – 65 HRC . Due to its high-precision cutting edge geometry with an optimized cutting edge preparation, significant tool life improvements can also be realized. The tools featuring a multilayer PVD high-performance coating ensure a maximum of process reliability. However, if the focus is not only on a long service life but also on higher speed, the processing time can also be reduced without much effort by applying the strategy for reduced processing time. These new tools have two cutting blades and are available in a short and long version for diameters of 4 – 12 mm. The precise radius tolerance of the cutting blade is in the range of +/- 5 µm.
Highest machining volume with small indexable inserts
The difference to high-speed cutting (HSC), which exhibits an excellent surface quality, particularly in finish machining, is that in high feed-rate cutting the focus is on a short processing time during roughing. A brand new addition is the MultiEdge 2Feed mini by LMT Fette (image 4). The new insert milling cutter is used for roughing small and medium components. The positive high feed geometry of the small cutting inserts permits a maximum material removal rate even in weaker machining centers. But when this tool runs at full throttle, feed rates of 14 m/min are not unusual, for instance, for the machining of tool steel with a tensile strength of 1000 N/mm2. And the cutter has 9 cutting edges on a tool diameter of 80 mm. The cutting inserts are now also available with a theoretical corner radius of 2 mm and the carrier bodies as a face cutter and a screw-on milling cutter.
The new milling strategy significantly reduces manufacturing costs
Trochoidal milling requires rethinking of milling and opens up new performance dimensions. The result is higher removal rates at lower cutting forces. This also facilitates the optimized machining of hardened and high-strength material with reduced machining times. LMT Tools follows this strategy and for example reduced the machining time by 70% compared to conventional milling strategies while at the same time tripling service life with the VHM milling cutter DHC HARDLINE (image 5). During trochoidal milling, the feed motion of the tool is not linear but curved. This causes the wrap angle, chip load and radial depth of the cut to change constantly. In contrast to conventional milling, the mean chip thickness hm remains constant. The prerequisite, however, is a powerful CAM software and a dynamic and fast machine control.
The specialist for threading stainless steels
The new INOX tap by LMT Fette was developed especially for machining stainless steels (image 6). These difficult materials do not pose a problem. The positive torsion characteristics of the HSS-E cutting material, its special geometry and the low-friction, multilayer sliding layer based on TiAlN and WC/C ensure maximum process reliability with excellent chip flow and minimal lubrication. This also sums up the main benefit for the user: It’s reliable and reproducible application guarantees high profitability. In order to improve the quality and process reliability, pre-drilling with the X-Speed INOX drill system is recommended. The new INOX tap is available in the versions Markant for through-hole threads and Rasant for blind-hole threads in metric, metric fine, UNC, and UNF sizes.
The new and user-friendly tap catalog shows the outstanding variety of tools for threading and drilling offered by LMT Tools. At the heart of the new catalog is the LMT Guide, which guides the user to the ideal tap in four easy steps.
