Phenomenal metal removal rates from WNT’s latest milling development
With the arrival of its HFC 19 high performance milling system WNT (Part of the Ceratizit Group) has enhanced its reputation for providing groundbreaking and productivity-boosting cutting tools.
The HFC 19 system is an indexable insert milling program that targets high chip volume applications that demand high process security. Milling cycle times can be reduced by as much as 57 per cent thanks to the insert geometry, WNT Dragonskin coating and cutter body design with its nickel plated and finite element optimisation. The inserts have a patented rectangular cutting edge geometry and a large corner radius that delivers a combination of high rigidity and soft cutting action, reducing stress on the machine spindle. A further benefit being that cutting forces are in the axial direction, making the cutting action extremely quiet.
The insert and cutter body design also lend themselves to increased cutting data, with excellent swarf evacuation and coolant delivery allowing greater depths of cut (up to 3.3 mm) and feed per tooth to be achieved, with significant impact on cycle time, while at the same time enhancing tool life. An example of this is the machining of Titanium Alloy (Ti6Al4V) components, where a 63 mm diameter WNT HFC 19 cutter was run at 0.71 mm feed/tooth, compared to 0.25 mm for the competitor cutter, achieving a cycle time of 52 minutes compared to 120 minutes or a saving of 57 per cent. Tool life was also increased by 200 per cent with one set of cutting edges machining three components compared to one component from the competitor cutter.
In addition to improved productivity the HFC 19 cutters are also highly versatile with users able to plunge mill, face mill, circular/freeform mill, linear plunge and take on intermittent cutting situations, all with the same cutter and inserts. Customers do have a choice of insert geometry, dependent upon application with the -F40 positive geometry being suitable for finish and rough machining of heat-resistant materials, such as titanium and super alloys. The -M50 geometry is WNT’s universal geometry suitable for light to medium rough machining of steel components. A video of the HFC 19 system in action can be seen here: www.wnt.com/uk/hfc19
“The HFC 19 series of inserts and cutter bodies takes high-performance, high-feed milling to the next level and is typical of tools and systems within the WNT Mastertool performance range. Cutters within this range have been designed and optimized for specific application areas and as such deliver outstanding performance,” says Tony Pennington, UK and Ireland Managing Director.
