In celebration of World Space Week, Space-Comm Expo has announced visitor registration is now officially live and open for the London ExCeL, event, running 11-12 March 2025.

Chris Steenkamp, Ulrich and Lizelle Olivier, Adele Steenkamp, Johann Van Schalkwyk and Catia Bertoletti, all from U&L Engineering

The RTMX is a press-to-size type line for economy while the RTHX ground type is dedicated towards high precision machining with both line’s offering a high positive rake angle for low cutting resistance.

Babcock International Group (Babcock), the defence company, has been awarded a two-year contract extension by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to continue to provide technical support services across the UK armed forces.

Concerning productivity, TaeguTec’s tests using the ChaseMold RTMX line on an aerospace engine case made from Waspaloy and Inconel 718 increased productivity by 65 per cent on a leading competitor’s similar offering.

Both inserts come in 10mm and 12mm sizes and their chip formers are available in three types: MM, ML and MLL. The MM chip former is recommended for unstable conditions, the MLL for stable conditions and the ML covers the middle range between the MM and MLL types.

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Pierre Goosen of TaeguTec, Louis Barnard and Andries Venter, both of S-Tech Heavy Engineering and Nathan Govender of TaeguTec

ChaseMold’s RTMX and RTHX inserts including the line’s optimal cutter design were born through rigorous trial and error as well as performance testing in order to attain excellent performance in stainless steel, difficult-to-cut materials and turbine blade machining under severe machining conditions and in unstable fixtures.

A new side milling cutter for stepless adjustment of groove width has been introduced by Paul Horn, and is available through the firm's UK subsidiary, Horn Cutting Tools, Ringwood. The milling body features a central sleeve that enables the required groove width to be adjusted easily on a pre-setter.

End of year celebration In November 2016 TaeguTec South Africa held its traditional ‘End of Year’ get together for clients, suppliers and friends. Featured below are a selection of the over 300 attendees.

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The successful 406 and 409 type indexable inserts have been chosen for the application. They are precision ground and achieve outstanding surface quality at the base of the groove and on the flanks. Double positive axial and radial rake angles ensure a soft cut. The tangentially screwed cutting insert's trailing chamfer produces a secondary cutting edge, resulting in outstanding machined surfaces. An additional free-form surface chamfer provides a stable wedge angle and very smooth milling.

The second body type is equipped with 12 cutting inserts of type 409 and has a cutting edge diameter of 125mm. On this tool, the cutting width with six effective cuts can be adjusted between 12.9mm and 18.8mm. Maximum milling depth is 32.5mm.

Cutters are available in end mills (ø32mm), modular types (ø25-40mm) as well as face mills (ø40-80mm) and all are coolant capable for easy chip evacuation.

Furthermore, both lines are available in standard and special grades. The special grades are made for any machining environment, even under harsh conditions due to their high wear resistance and toughness capabilities.

Walter has now launched its new X·treme Evo Plus drill from the DC180 Supreme product family that is now available up to 8XD for the first time.

The Boeing X-37B spaceplane is to begin executing a series of novel manoeuvres, called aerobraking, to change its orbit around Earth, the US Space Force has announced.

For tool life during the roughing operation of the airfoil, shroud and the root part of the blade component made from martensitic stainless steel (X20Cr13, AISI 420), TaeguTec’s new 5-teeth RTMX line outlasted a leading competitor’s tool by 65 per cent, while on a blade shroud and root roughing operation made from stainless steel (1.4923), the same RTMX line increased tool life by almost 30 per cent, the company claims.

Dimensional accuracy, stability and process reliability are assured, as the torque generated during machining is dissipated into the body. Horn offers two body types, the first having a cutting edge diameter of 100mm. It is equipped with 14 type 406 indexable inserts, which produce seven effective cuts ranging from 9.6mm to a maximum of 12.9mm wide. Milling depth is up to 20mm.

The NeoMill-Alu-QBig indexable insert milling cutter from Mapal stands for top performance in high-volume milling of aluminium. The tool manufacturer thus offers a very economical solution for use on high-performance machines, such as those found primarily in the aerospace industry.

Tooling manufacturer, Horn has introduced a new carbide insert grade, SG66, for turning components from steel that has been case hardened to 58 HRC.

TaeguTec has launched two new five-cutting edge insert lines – RTMX and RTHX – with related cutters specifically dedicated for the stainless steel and difficult-to-cut materials used, but not exclusive, in the aerospace, oil and gas and power generation industries.

Dimensional accuracy, stability and process reliability are assured, as the torque generated during machining is dissipated into the body. Horn offers two body types, the first having a cutting edge diameter of 100mm. It is equipped with 14 type 406 indexable inserts, which produce seven effective cuts ranging from 9.6mm to a maximum of 12.9mm wide. Milling depth is up to 20mm. The second body type is equipped with 12 cutting inserts of type 409 and has a cutting edge diameter of 125mm. On this tool, the cutting width with six effective cuts can be adjusted between 12.9mm and 18.8mm. Maximum milling depth is 32.5mm. The successful 406 and 409 type indexable inserts have been chosen for the application. They are precision ground and achieve outstanding surface quality at the base of the groove and on the flanks. Double positive axial and radial rake angles ensure a soft cut. The tangentially screwed cutting insert's trailing chamfer produces a secondary cutting edge, resulting in outstanding machined surfaces. An additional free-form surface chamfer provides a stable wedge angle and very smooth milling. www.phorn.co.uk

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