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The result is increased cutting speeds for all materials, from hard Inconels at 50 per cent faster, to aluminium at 30 per cent, which Graham says is “easily possible.” The only risk? If you increase the speeds in the machining centre too aggressively you might throw a part, and downtime in a multi-tasking machine can be expensive. “The newer machines change everything you do,” says Graham. “You have to be conscious of the set-up, because a long, slender shaft with greater depth of cut may require cutting back on spindle speed due to vibration.”

“We used to see 100 psi to 200 psi, but Jetstream can deliver from 300 psi to 1,000 psi,” says Graham. “The implications for this high pressure coolant on turning is very dramatic. I’ve been in this business for thirty years, and this system is the most revolutionary since the advent of coatings.”

The balancing act has to allow for the fact that when turning in a machining centre the tool will have a heat band that it has to cut within. By applying the right cooling approach, higher cutting speeds are an option without compromise to tool life and chip control. In fact, it then makes low cost, unmanned production a real possibility. CM

“We have Jetstream Tooling, which I consider a revolutionary new coolant system,” says Don Graham, a manager at Seco Tools, Troy, MI.

Getting the right cut is always important, and no less so for a turning application within a multi-tasking machining centre. Yet these machines present unique cutting tool challenges for turning.

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“Coromant Capto has a unique shape at the connection,” says Dave Andrews, product manager for threading, turning, parting, and grooving at Sandvik Coromant Canada. “It’s self-locking, a tapered polygon, with lobes that don’t allow the coupling to twist. It also has face contact on the flange, so it is a very strong connection.”

Graham says Jetstream Tooling can deliver coolant to the optimum position close to the cutting edge, thus lifting the chip away from the rake face and improving chip control and tool life. Working within a machining centre, Jetstream can remove heat quickly from the cutting zone, and cool chips rapidly.

From there, extensions can make a tool longer by putting a male Capto on one end, and a female on the other to build out the assembly and also reduce the adaptor size.

The advantage of turning in a multi-tasking centre is that processes are more efficient, reducing production times. However, cutting tools designed for turning within these machines have to be compatible with the technology. Often this means working with quick-change tooling systems that aren’t fully automated. One example is Coromant Capto from Sandvik Coromant, which some studies have shown is the strongest quick change system on the market.

These inserts are designed especially for machining stainless steel and high temperature alloys, with cutting force reduced due to helical cutting edges and positive rake angles.

“When it comes to turning, you will still have the same general speeds and feeds as a standard machine,” says Geisel. “But the advantage with a multi-axis machine is the upper and lower turrets—one can be rough turning and the other can be drilling the hole and threading, even finishing behind the first turret.”

To get the most out of a turning application within a multi-tasking machine, however, the revolution may be more relevant to coolants than inserts. As cutting methods have improved, heat control has remained a major challenge.

“They can run at a much larger depth of cut and greater spindle speeds,” says Geisel. “It’s often a race between us and the machine supplier, but the end result is the best tools on the best machines.”

“You can adapt in different ways,” adds Randy McEachern, product specialist for toolholding and holemaking products at Sandvik Coromant. “Machines with the correct flange holder can adapt to Coromant Capto, and any one of our toolholders can go on the end of that.”

“This offers total control over the length and size of the assembly,” says McEachern. “For internal machining we have an anti-vibration product that can deliver to twelve times the length to diameter on a boring bar, with Capto as the interface.”

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For general turning applications ISO inserts function as an international standard. Iscar, which provides a full range of carbide inserts, is one company trying to look at ways of advancing tool applicability for turning in multi-axis machining centres.

Mazak has a range of machining centres, with four having particular applicability to turning: the Integrex i-150 (a high speed, small footprint multi-tasking machine); the Variaxis 630-5X II T (a five axis machine that Birkle says is “the gold standard in machining centres”); the Integrex e-Ramtec (for large cylindrical workpieces); and the Integrex 1-630V (machining harder materials).

“There has been a lot of attention given to milling in turning centres, but turning on machining centres is innovative,” says Chuck Birkle, vice president, sales and marketing for Mazak Corp., Florence, KY (Mazak Canada is based in Cambridge, ON).

“We want to look at how to enhance ISO,” says Steve Geisel, senior product manager at Iscar in Toronto. “Our CNMX and DMNX lines are ISO inserts on steroids.”

Switching from a conventional shank to the Capto quick change system means that new cutting heads can be swapped out in less than 30 seconds—a much shorter cycle interruption than would be required when changing inside the machine. Repeatability is within two microns, with the Capto “sister tool” approach keeping a machine running longer than would an insert index. This is a big help, because when turning in machining centres, the key to success from a tooling perspective is flexibility.

One example is Iscar’s Heliturn LD (for “lay down”), a helical cutting edge with high metal removal rates. This is an advance in turning, but the process itself would not necessarily be any faster if integrated with a multi-axis machine.