End mills produced at the shop have superpolished flutes, special-grade carbides, and special coating for maximum performance. Custom tooling also is made to a customer’s specifications for both the woodworking and metal industry. These include micrograin carbide inserts, custom-profile tools, and step drills.

PCD is a matrix of randomly arranged diamond crystals that are bonded to form an extremely hard film or wafer.

Taylor said that the new tool grinding machine has allowed his company to have greater versatility in its manufacturing.

The company offers a reconditioning service, which involves tool regrinding, tool recutting, and tool recoating. It also has an in-house PVD-coating Centre.

Solid-carbide ball-end milling cutters for aerospace applications require tight tolerances and fine finishes.

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“This allows us to program tools [virtually] on a desktop before they are processed on the actual machine. This saves valuable machine time,” said Taylor.

Joe Thompson has been covering the Canadian manufacturing sector for more than two decades. He is responsible for the day-to-day editorial direction of the magazine, providing a uniquely Canadian look at the world of metal manufacturing.

When machining Inconel 718, for example, the company said speeds can be increased four to five times compared with cutting speeds when using carbide inserts. The inserts are equally productive in the automotive industry, machining alloyed gray cast-iron brake disks, and in the roll products segment removing casting crust or heavily worn rolling surfaces.

The company said the end mills are extremely durable and can provide 50 times more tool life than conventional carbide end mills. Emuge PCD and CBN end mills are available from stock, in ball nose, torus and flat-end designs, in sizes from 0.1857 in. to 0.500 in. and in metric sizes from 4 mm to 12 mm.

Recently the company purchased an Anca CNC MX7 Linear tool grinding machine because it met its demand of high-output, high-precision manufacturing.

Purchasing capital equipment can be a daunting task, but Taylor Toolworks, Calgary, found that with the right research and understanding of its business needs, the benefits offered by new technology can be a game-changer.

“Grinding carbide these days is particularly challenging because of all the different grades being used for specific applications,” explained Taylor. “We grind many different carbide grades containing between 3 and 10 per cent cobalt content. Using our new Anca MX7 machine equipped with more than 50 HP and high-pressure coolant makes fluting operations much easier.”

When developing aluminum oxide (Al2O3) coating materials, it is preferable to use the alpha form of for most applications. Unfortunately, it is much easier to deposit the kappa form. Consequently, producers have deposited the kappa form and then heat-treated it in a coating furnace to transform it to alpha. However, this heating process results in an unavoidable contraction in volume, resulting in the formation of cracks in the coating.

Ceramic inserts can run at high speeds, so they reduce machining times. They resist oxidation and maintain hardness at elevated temperature, and are ideal for hard machining carbon steels, alloy steels, tool steels and cast irons.

Being in the industry for more than 20 years, Taylor saw Anca machines at various tradeshows. When he was ready to make a machine purchase, he talked to several people at shows, including Anca application specialists. This made him take a closer look at the machines and he saw that they were suitable for his needs.

“One of the reasons we gravitated to Anca was the ability to automate our grinding wheel changes. We can utilize up to six different wheel packs without any manual intervention,” said Taylor. “We produce complex tools requiring many styles of grinding wheels for the same tool. This is something that is key to our success. The accuracy and high-speed movements of this machine have also helped us produce complex tools faster than previous generations of machines.”

APCs make automation easy. Integrate in-machine, single-level, or tower options to automate your operations, store machined parts, reduce labor costs, and increase efficiency.

“Offline simulation offers Anca users the ability to design a tool away from the machine (on a desktop PC), not consuming valuable machine time,” said Riddiford. “The ability to look at a finished tool without having made it on the machine and risk making a potentially scrapped piece or finding an incorrect program movement is key. You also can obtain cycle times from the simulation that can assist you in quoting a job.”

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KY4300 inserts are composed of aluminum oxide reinforced with silicon carbide whiskers. These whiskers have high mechanical strength and act like reinforcing steel bars in concrete, improving the strength and fracture toughness of the cutting insert.

An award-winning writer and graduate of the Sheridan College journalism program, he has published articles worldwide in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, pharmaceutical, medical, infrastructure, and entertainment.

“The Anca linear motors provide a superior surface finish with an accurate and smooth movement for the part being ground. These linear motors are tubular in their design, which creates no friction or heat, compared to traditional flat linear motors. You also have the maintenance aspect of reliability and consistently accurate movement versus ball screws, which were used in the past by many machine tool builders, including Anca,” said Russell Riddiford, president of Anca Americas.

The machine generates 51 HP of peak spindle power, has linear scales on its X and Y axes, and includes a standard six-station wheel changer that stores and changes up to six wheel packs. In addition, the machine uses Anca’s LinX linear motors for X and Y axis motion, has an integrated wheel dresser, and is automated.

About three years ago, Seco Tools Inc. (www.secotools.com) metallurgists hypothesized that if they could directly deposit the alpha form in the beginning, they could avoid the cracking issue and produce a more homogenous and tougher structure. Eliminating cracks would also make the coating a more effective thermal barrier, reducing the amount of heat getting to the substrate.

Taylor Toolworks manufactures and services cutting tools for the North American metalworking and woodworking industries. It is the biggest part of its business. The company is run by President Jesse Taylor and his sister Kristyn Pixley, who has worked there for more than 15 years.

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The tools are pre-engineered and precision manufactured for optimum performance for cutting challenging cutting applications. The PCD shaped cutting edges are affixed to carbide shanks by a sophisticated microwavebrazing technique that forms bonds that are able to withstand temperatures to 1,100° F.

CBN is the hardest known substance next to diamond, and provides the cutting edge for long-lasting tools that proficiently machine hard steels to 66Rc, as well as hard castings, Inconel, Monel and Stellite.

According to Taylor, the tools produced on this machine include complex profile tools as well as step drills, through-coolant drills, and form tools. Applications for these tools are found in the aerospace, woodworking, general machining, and even plastics cutting.

The machine can handle varied batch sizes with minimal setup time and is suitable for high-volume production for tools up to 1 in. dia. The new cylindrical linear motor design increases reliability and ensures a superior surface finish.

These tools effectively machine highly abrasive, non-ferrous materials, including graphite, highsilicon aluminum alloys, fiberreinforced synthetics and copper alloys.

When it comes to machining hard, difficult-to-machine materials, it’s tough to beat poly-crystalline diamond (PCD), cubic boron nitride (CBN) or ceramic inserts.

The company also uses Anca’s Tool Room software, which provides specific applications for each tool produced at Taylor Toolworks, such as a step tool editor or a profile tool editor.

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Besides the new MX7 Linear machine, the company has three other Anca machines, including the Fastgrind system for resharpening tools.

“The pandemic definitely has confirmed the need to be a diverse manufacturer. We produce tools for all types of manufacturers, including aerospace, transportation, energy, wood, and plastic,” said Taylor. “When the pandemic first hit, we were called upon to make tooling required to produce life-saving ventilators. We were able to produce multifunctional profile tools that enabled part manufacturers to produce ventilators faster than ever before.”

Salah Taoufik, Kennametal’s global product manager for turning, said KY4300 tools have excellent high-temperature strength and hardness, and speeds can be increased 10 percent to 20 percent in most applications, compared with other ceramic grades, and produce results that include better surface finishes at lower cutting forces.

Emuge Corp. (www.emuge.com) has announced the expansion of its hard milling end mill line to include new PCD and CBN end mills.

With state-of-the-art 5-axis CNC grinding, combined with the use of good-quality micrograin carbide products, Taylor Toolworks maintains the highest tooling tolerances and creates mirror finishes needed for high-performance tooling.

Jesse Taylor, president of Taylor Toolworks, Calgary, stands in front of his company’s new Anca MX7 Linear tool grinding machine.