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Cutter designs for optimised roughing
While most cutting tool suppliers offer products for specific materials, others, such as Seco Tools, also develop tool geometries for advanced machining methods. In the case of CAM-based rough-machining strategies, this tooling addresses the key issue of chip control along with necessary flute and length requirements.
Seco developed its Jabro®-HPM (high-performance machining) cutters specifically to rough machine at their full arc of contact and take heavy depths of cut for extremely high-volume material removal applications. These cutters feature special geometries for aggressive performance in specific materials.
To cover a wider range of work piece materials, Seco recently modified the geometries of its Jabro®-Solid² 550 line of cutters specifically for optimised rough-machining strategies. The cutters feature double-core designs that provide extra stability and reduced tool deflection.
Within the JS550 Series are longer length tools that the company determined work best for deep pocket and 3D shape roughing/dynamic milling. Tool lengths are typically in between three and four-times diameter.
When a steady arc of contact is maintained, these tools experience consistent and evenly distributed wear along their flutes and provide a much more predictable tool life. However, long cutters produce equally as long chips that can be difficult to evacuate from cutting zones and from the machine tool.
To create chips that are smaller and more manageable, Seco modified its JS554 L (long version) cutter design by adding chip splitters – tiny grooves on the tool’s cutting edges and reliefs. The modified cutter, now known as the JS554 3C (C indicating chip splitters), features chip splitters spaced apart at a distance equal to 1 X D (cutter diameter). So a 40-mm-long, 10-mm diameter cutter would produce chips no longer than 10 mm that are quickly evacuated from the cut zone and eliminate the risk of jamming machine tool chip conveyors.