01.01.2020
The new FaceMill-Diamond: Process-reliable face milling with a long tool life
Research and development is responsible for an increased productivity through achieving the highest feedrates and chip removal rate
MAPAL customers rely on the FaceMill-Diamond PCD face milling cutter for face milling work at high volumes, on unstable parts and in the HPC, high performance cutting, sector. With its solid steel tool body and the permanently brazed PCD cutting edges, it achieves top feed rates and material removal rates that are second to none. Following comprehensive further development, MAPAL has increased the productivity of the PCD face milling system once again.
A longer tool life and improved chip removal thanks to coolant outlets directly at the cutting edges
A direct compare with the new generation of the FaceMill-Diamond and the previous model provides the specific improvements. A customer machines a part made of AlSi1 with cooling lubricant on a machining centre. The application parameters of the 63 mm diameter milling cutter have deliberately been left the same for the comparison: a cutting speed of almost 3,000 m/min and a spindle speed of 15,000 rpm. Due to the high-gloss surface requirement, the feed per tooth is 0.04 mm and the cutting depth is 0.8-1.2 mm. “The customer was delighted with the new tool right away,” says Andreas Wittenauer. “The surface it achieves is noticeably higher in quality and it removes the chips more effectively. We are pleased that we were able to increase the tool life by 15 percent with the new FaceMill-Diamond, and that the customer is now successively converting their entire inventory.”
Modular variant provides greater flexibility
In the context of a customer project, the modular version offered improvements for both the surface and the cycle time compared to the competing tool used previously. With a spindle speed of 12,000 rpm and a feed per tooth of 0.1 mm, the machining tool variant of the FaceMill-Diamond mills about three seconds faster than the previously used tool. As such, the quadruple mounting on the machine results in a saving of twelve seconds in the cycle time.
Optimised wheel carrier machining: tool life exponentially increased from 3,000 to 40,000 parts
The specialists at the Centre of Competence for PCD tools settled on a combined special cutting edge geometry in order to meet all the requirements provided. At the unchanged cutting values of a feed rate of 15,400 mm/min and a spindle speed of 7,000 rpm, the tool life was increased exponentially: the FaceMill-Diamond now reliably mills 40,000 wheel carriers, contrasting with the previous output of 3,000. Today, our customer has 16 FaceMill-Diamonds in circulation in order to machine their annual production quantity of 600,000 parts.