“More recently the company has set up a production facility in India and expanded its production and R&D facilities in Korea where it is regarded as the number one cutting tool manufacturer in that country and now among the top five in the world.”

“We are targeting to equip as many machines as possible with our vast range of products covering HSS, milling, drilling, turning, threading as well as boring. The YG-1 company was established in 1982 and has been growing as a leading global manufacturer in the cutting tool industry. YG-1 operates its global business through nine overseas production sites including the United States, Ireland, South Korea and China, has 30 sales subsidiaries and has a presence in 75 countries.”

Range of inserts “Although the company is very strong in tapping, drilling and threading, what is not commonly known in South Africa is that YG-1 manufacture and supply a vast range of turning and milling inserts. The company has spent over $US 100 million in this area of development over the last five years and recently inaugurated another dedicated plant in Chungju, Korea to manufacture carbide inserts, including end mills.”

Maximum angular and fit accuracy Whether plastic, metal, glass or chocolate, moulding is what turns raw materials into products. Because these moulds produce the surfaces of the finished components, maximum precision is required here: Only a perfectly manufactured mould can produce a final product with tolerances and surfaces that meet the required quality without reworking. For perfect part quality, mould makers rely on tools that guarantee process reliability, precision and repeatability. The Swabian tool manufacturer Gühring meets precisely these requirements with a new range of high-precision milling cutters.

For further details contact Gühring South Africa on TEL: 041 372 2047/46/43/38 or visit www.guhring.co.za

YG-1, whose cutting tools have been widely distributed in South Africa for many years, has decided to open up a subsidiary in South Africa. The South African subsidiary company – YG-1 South Africa Pty Ltd – is based in the Brentwood Park, Benoni area of Gauteng and is headed up by Lance Hockly, who has been in the cutting tool industry for a number of years.

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“The products find applications across industries, such as aerospace, die and mould, automobile, oil and gas, power, electronics, general engineering and medical equipment. We will be holding a sizeable amount of products and stock to cover all these fields of metal cutting. In fact clients will now be exposed to a greater array of YG-1 products, which they were not in the past.”

The new range offers a high degree of flexibility with over 350 different dimensions, a wide range of full or corner radii as well as corner chamfers and different versions for hard and soft materials. Because quality counts above all in addition to quantity, the tool manufacturer has invested specifically in specialised production and measuring technologies at its site in Germany – for tools that customers in tool and mould making can rely on.

The μ-precise solid carbide milling cutter cutters have a stable core geometry and an optimised flute profile. Both reduce displacement during milling and ensure stability which is reflected in a very high contour accuracy. This makes the tools suitable for finishing high-precision fits and guides with exact angular accuracy.

“We are so confident of the local market that we are investigating the possibility of opening a local manufacturing plant. For some time we have wanted to have a permanent presence in South Africa but only now has the opportunity arisen,” concluded H K Song.

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“YG-1 also develops its own coatings for its products, which includes diamond, PVD and CVD coating. Currently they have just over 50 coating machines in the manufacturing plants and aim to double this number by 2020.”

The precision blanks also have optimised shaft tolerances in the h5 range and are μ-precise in diameter, concentricity and roundness. The radius tolerances are even in the range of +- 5 μm. The coating system has also been specially adapted for mould making: A Perrox coating produced using the HiPiMS process makes the tool surfaces extremely smooth and therefore very resistant to wear. Thanks to this combination of carbide, coating and geometry, the new high-precision milling cutters promise a significant increase in performance – both in soft and harder materials up to 65 HRC and even in high-alloyed or powder metallurgically manufactured tool steels.

South Korean-based company engaged in the manufacture and distribution of cutting tools also investigating the possibility of opening a local manufacturing plant.

The new μ-precise micro milling cutter “MikroMill µ55 U” meets high demands in the micro range: Very high-quality surfaces can be achieved with the tightest tolerances and precise concentricity. An FEM-optimised radius angle transition also ensures maximum radial rigidity and low displacement during micro-milling. The innovative GühroJet internal cooling increases the service life of the tool and ensures process reliability.

Mould making plays a key role in many industries and mould makers place high demands on cutting tools – after all, they are a key component in ensuring product quality. This is why Gühring has presented a new milling cutter range for high-precision finishing requirements. The combination of new geometry, adapted coating system and ultra-hard substrate makes the high-precision milling cutters so successful when used in hardened tool steel.

Harder substrate, extremely smooth layer Because tool and mould making involves machining high-strength and hardened steels, Gühring has adapted its carbide substrate to these materials with the new high-precision milling cutters: The cutting material is now around 200 HV harder and finer-grained. This ultra-hard solid carbide substrate guarantees very good edge stability and thus process-reliable service life in hard machining.

Every milling application covered With its new G-Mold μ tool range, Gühring can now cover all milling processes in mould making. The solid carbide full-radius milling cutter “G-Mold μ65 B” and the high-precision torus cutter “G-Mold μ65 T” are perfect for copy milling and finishing of moulds and mould inserts made of hardened steel up to 65 HRC. The cylindrical high-precision finishing cutters “G-Mold μ65 F” for hardened workpieces and “G-Mold μ48 F” for soft workpieces enable the optimal angular accuracy and exact fits when finishing guides and pockets in moulding plates.

“This is just the beginning of a journey. YG-1 has an established name in South Africa and we intend to grow that reputation and increase our market share in HSS tooling and carbide cutting tools. The local metal working industry will now be able to benefit from having a dedicated team that will only concentrate on supplying YG-1 products to a broad spectrum of engineering companies,” said Hockly who set up the company in October 2017.

“We have more than 5 000 employees working globally across various functions of R&D, production, sales and marketing, supply chain, finance and human resources.”

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Safe chip removal during the milling process was another focus during tool development as a basic requirement for good surfaces. The structural dimensions and neck transition geometries of the new milling cutters have therefore been optimised for use in deep and narrow contours. All micro milling cutters in the new range also consist of revolver blanks with GühroJet periphery cooling. With this innovative technology for internal cooling, chips are removed directly and safely from the machining zone by air, minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) or cooling lubricant.

“Machining is now becoming increasingly advanced with machine tool builders manufacturing more sophisticated machines with higher speeds and accuracy. We as YG-1 have to keep up with the technological advancement in the metal cutting field. To this end YG-1 has two R&D centres operating in South Korea, one in Songdo and another in Chungju.”

“We are positive about the South African market and are expecting a major growth in the region now that we have a dedicated team of sales and management staff that are operating as a fully functional subsidiary. The South African staff will have access to all of the technical know-how and developments at the South Korean headquarters, as do their colleagues around the world,” said H K Song, Founder and Chairman of YG-1.