Any engineer knows the consequences of cutting tool vibration when undertaking milling operations can be disastrous. Excessive vibration and tool deflection will instigate poor surface finishes, reduced tool life and accuracy – subsequently increasing costs through inferior cutting tool performance. Add in the potential for catastrophic tool failure and the cost escalation can be huge. Now, MSC Industrial Supply Co. makes all of this a thing of the past with the new MSC MillMax™, a service that is exclusive to MSC.
For generations, machine operators have tentatively followed the prescribed cutting speeds and feeds based on manufacturer recommendations, having to later reduce cutting parameters and productivity rates based upon excessive tool vibration and deflection. This tool chatter can be caused by a seemingly endless number of factors that result individually or collectively from the machine spindle, the tool holding configuration and the cutting tool. Every machine tool and its respective tooling configuration operates at a unique frequency.
As an impossible puzzle to solve, engineers can only hope for a ‘best possible outcome’ by relying upon engineering experience, best practice and in some cases luck to attain the best possible outcome. Now, MSC surpasses the perceived ‘best possible outcome’ by applying a scientific approach – making the impossible, possible! The new MSC MillMax™ service from MSC analyses and records the frequencies and interprets the data to provide the customer with the optimal machining parameters, replacing guesswork with exact scientific data that delivers unparalleled results.
The new MSC MillMax™ service from MSC undertakes a simple ‘tap test’ that analyses and records the frequencies of the tool in a matter of minutes. MSC experts can interpret the information from the MillMax™ System and provide the end-user with a new set of optimised machining parameters based upon the ‘tap test’. Easy to set up, the process only requires a vibration sensor to be attached to the cutting tool to record the data and an impact test with a nylon impact instrument that has a built-in vibration sensor to register the sensitivity of the tap. When the sensor is attached to the cutting tool, and the ‘tap test’ is conducted, the resonance and frequency of the cutting tool are recorded. From this, the ingenious MillMax™ software first determines whether the impact instrument has connected with the cutting tool sufficiently with a ‘go and no-go’ result and when the connection is successful, MillMax™ correlates the information from the sensors with input parameters completed by an MSC engineering expert – realising the optimal cutting parameters. This intricate scientific test is conducted at speed with cutting tool data and the subsequent machining parameters now determined in minutes instead of hours.
Through an intuitive and easy to use dashboard, the MSC engineer can apply the Dynamic Cutting Calculator within MillMax™ to create a new set of speed and feed parameters as well as generating the optimal cutting width and depth associated with the material it is cutting. Never before has such accurate and insightful information been available to influence machining strategies and optimise performance. Correlating the data from the frequency and deflection of the cutting tool and combining this with pre-defined parameters from the operator such as the material, machine, max spindle configuration and tool type – the MillMax™ can take your productivity to the next level with just a few simple steps. Furthermore, MillMax™ reduces spindle load and power consumption whilst prolonging the service life of your machine tool, demonstrating environmentally sustainable best practice.
Already proving a resounding success in the USA, the new MSC MillMax™ System is recording an average 170% improvement in material removal rates with a 40% decrease in cycle times. Since the MSC MillMax™ System was launched in the USA in 2020, it is responsible for significant cost savings early on, with millions more to be generated. In the UK, we are already witnessing extremely positive outcomes from early customer trials. If you want to improve your process reliability, improve tool and spindle life, improve surface finishes and reduce chatter, as well as turbocharging your productivity levels and improving your spindle service life and reducing your power consumption, please contact MSC for your MSC MillMax™ trial.
