If there’d been an actual IMTS 2020 instead of a virtual one, you almost certainly would have visited BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc. at Booth 431610 in the West Building, Level 3. There you would have seen that year’s extensive product lineup, including the Unilock Stabilizer 50 and quick-change Uniflex Ball Systems, an ATC-capable line of Chip Blowers, and what was then a brand new product, the EWA fully automatic, intelligent fine boring tool. Visitors to this year’s show will see those same products and many others but will also notice a new company name: As of Jan. 1, BIG Kaiser is now BIG Daishowa Inc. of Hoffman Estates, Ill.

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LogIQFeed, a family of high feed milling cutters carrying specific bone-shaped inserts, was enriched by new tools with greater insert sizes. These new tools have several features that substantially improve performance in high feed milling, especially when machining big cavities and pockets in steel parts.

“For milling applications, Iscar has introduced a line of mini-indexable milling heads to go along with its long standing Multi-Master system,” said chief technical officer Tom Raun. “For parting, grooving, and turning on Swiss-style CNC lathes, there are several new designs including the Neoswiss line of quick-change, interchangeable, heads and the Swissgrip line, available in parting and grooving down to 0.024” [.061 mm] wide. Lastly, Iscar has bolstered its popular Sumocham drilling line with heads and bodies just 0.157” [3.99 mm] in diameter, along with new, modular, drill bodies for use with the Multi-Master and Flexfit tooling systems.”

Does it mean that a few good metalworking shops, factories, or even whole branches will abandon machining? Of course not, but the requirements for machining operations in engineering processes will be changed. The role of productive and accurate cutting with a small allowance at high speeds and feeds will substantially grow, and metalworking industries will require a wide range of suitable tools that are expected to be more precise and durable.

A new design of the three-flute drill body is based on a variable flute helix angle. Such a concept considerably improves the dynamic behaviour of the drill and results in expanding the drilling depth boundaries. The maximum depth can now reach eight diameters.

A distinct course for electric and hybrid cars will lead to a gradual abandonment of traditional cars with an internal combustion engine and a lot of parts that need to be machined. A rise of accurate metal shaping methods, such as precision investment casting, precision forging, and 3D printing, which are all capable of shaping a part very close to its final profile, significantly diminishes the stock that is traditionally intended for chip-removal processes. A logical result of this is the considerably reduced share of machining operations in a part manufacturing cycle and this trend is already noticeable in the market today.

“Our focus products remain the same as in 2020, but we will also feature tool digitalization and our new tool data scanning directly to machine controls, along with our existing technology for boring, milling, and drilling,” said Jack Burley, vice president of sales and engineering. “I encourage everyone at IMTS to stop by and say hello, and while there, be sure to ask about our passive ‘Smart Damper’ tools for deep-hole boring on lathes or mills and extended reach milling applications, which help to reduce the vibration that causes poor tool life and surface finish.”

WhisperLine bars are important elements of the new versatile modular system Neomodu, providing a rich variety of assembly options for turning tools. A combination of different system units such as shanks, anti-vibration capsules, and interchangeable heads with indexable carbide inserts result in a tool assembly, which is maximally customised to a specific application. The shanks may be cylindrical, square, or with a polygon taper interface in accordance with ISO 26623 standard.

A prime example is Haimer USA LLC. Although the Villa Park, Ill.-based company’s location at IMTS is the same as in previous years (Booth 431510), its focus has shifted to the Industry 4.0 revolution. Visitors will see Haimer’s newest shrink-fit offering, the i4.0 machine series, said to be adjustable for all types of tool holders and suitable for solid carbide and HSS tools. The Nano NG i4.0, Comfort i4.0, and Premium i4.0 shrink machines are just a few examples, and like all of the machines in this lineup, are equipped with wireless communication capabilities, a 7” [177.8 mm] touch screen, and intuitive software for greater ease of use, as well as options for a hand-scanner that automatically sets the correct shrinking parameters, length presetting, and the auxiliary Intelligent New Generation coil.

Speaking of new turning products, one cannot pass the XNMG insert. It is a beneficial combination of two famous ISO rhombic insert shapes: CNMG and DNMG inserts with 80° and 55° including angles. This intelligent integration resulted in the XNMG 70° angle insert that features improved clearance and ramping angles, when compared to the CNMG, and strengthened cutting corners against DNMG. The advantages of the new insert are visible in efficient multi-directional turning applications. The cartridges carrying insert XNMG, which are intended for mounting on Neomodu units, are available as well.

Also at the West Building, Level 3 is Kyocera SGS Precision Tools Inc. of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Booth 431546 will display a wide array of cutting tools, among them the company’s Series 77 H-Carb seven-flute high-efficiency end mill, designed for deep axial cuts during trochoidal and high-speed machining applications, and the Z-Carb HPR five-flute roughing end mills for high metal removal rates and surface finishes of 80 RMS or better on most materials. Kyocera SGS has also introduced two styles of barrel cutter—the MultiCarb series for steels and high-temp alloys and the S-Carb APF-B series for non-ferrous materials. Both use the more common taper form and reportedly deliver 90 percent or greater cycle time reductions compared to ball nose end mills in certain applications.

Digitised manufacturing, which is dictated by Industry 4.0 momentum, has its own demand and expects a new level of a cutting tool intellect to be suitable for smart manufacturing. In preparing for the upcoming changes, Iscar considers NeologIQ as the next logical step to the cutting tool for the smart factory. ‘Machining with no Boundaries’ is the motto of Iscar’s NeologIQ products.

Anti-vibration boring bars WhisperLine enable stable cutting with the overhang up to fourteen diameters

Also in Booth 431522 is CTMS North America, Charlotte, N.C., a member of the IMC Group. It’s there that you’ll see the Matrix line of smart tool cabinets, tool management software, and a variety of other Industry 4.0 manufacturing solutions. If your shop is one of those that experience periodic stockouts, tool hoarding, unexpected machine tool downtime, or wonders where that last order of carbide end mills got off to, take a hard look at some of the Commodity and Tool Management Services’ many ways to get your tool crib in better working order.

Efficient holemaking One of the more impressive product lines introduced in the LogIQ campaign is LogIQCham, a family of drills with replaceable carbide heads and three cutting edges, providing an effective tool for significantly increasing productivity for drilling depths up to five drill diameters.

The progress in 5-axis machining and CAD/CAM systems opens new horizons for machining 3D surfaces using barrel-shaped endmills. Although such endmills are still not common in the metalworking industry, advanced accurate metal shaping methods will dramatically increase the demand for these barrel-shaped endmills. Therefore, the development of effective “cutting barrels” is one of Iscar’s highest priorities. In the NeologIQ product range, the barrel-shaped endmills are represented by two configurations: A solid carbide design and a Multi-Master head. Combining Multi-Master advantages with the precise barrel profile of a cutting-edge will result in a cost-effective and sustainable solution for finishing complex-shape surfaces by milling with minimum machining stock. The Multi-Master family has expanded the boundaries of its product range by introducing a new threaded connection size, T21, which enables increasing the nominal diameter of an exchangeable endmill head to 32mm.

Growing capabilities of modern multitasking machines and turning centers pushed the common boundaries of cutting strategies. Particularly, they brought the method of efficient turning along Y-axis. In quite a few cases, it is a worthy alternative to the traditional X-axis machining. In Y-axis turning, the dissipation of cutting force components is more favourable, and the main load is directed to a holder. The cutting process becomes more stable, and this facilitates increasing cutting data to improve productivity. Therefore, providing appropriate cutting tools for turning operations along the Y-axis is one of the central points of NeologIQ.

Intelligent turning In internal turning, a boring bar is the main factor of tool rigidity. A large bar overhang to diameter ratio leads to the tool deflection and vibrations, and is the bane of machining accuracy and surface finish. WhisperLine, a family of anti-vibration boring bars, was developed to exceed the ratio bounds. These bars have a specially designed built-in absorber and a vibration-dampening mechanism that enables stable cutting with an overhang of up to 14 diameters.

In parting, one of the secrets to success is well-directed high-pressure cooling. If an adaptor has no HPC channels, mounting a specially designed crown-shaped accessory pushes the boundaries of application limits and enables effective pinpointed coolant flow to the active cutting edge of an insert.

“Based on the fact that the manufacturing industry is extremely busy but continues to struggle with supply chain-related delays on machine tools, it’s the perfect time for shops to dive into how to make their existing machine tools more productive,” said president Brendt Holden. “Haimer products allow our customers to get the most out of their machine tool with our ability to provide a consistent and accurate tooling assembly to the machine each and every time. We will be showing products in our booth that will illustrate this clearly to anyone looking to get more out of their equipment, whatever its age.”

Iscar has introduced NeologIQ, a logical extension to the previous campaign comprising of an entire range of advanced products and technological solutions for metal cutting tools – a quantum leap in the field.

In drilling, especially in drilling deep holes, efficient chip evacuation is extremely important. It is not enough to optimise chip control by an advanced design of the head geometry. The flute shape should ensure seamless chip flow. Undoubtedly, the need to organise three grooves weakens the body when comparing a two-helical-flute drill of the same diameter, the three-flute body is less rigid. When the depth grows, longitudinal vibrations may occur, and this reduces tool life and adversely affects the accuracy and roughness of a machined hole. It was the decrease in stiffness that determined the barrier for the drilling depth and limiting it by five diameters maximum.

As one of the leading cutting tool and tooling providers in the U.S., Arlington, Texas-based Iscar Metals Inc. needs no introduction. The company offers a huge selection of indexable cutting tools, toolholding, and other milling and turning products, and whether you use their products or not, it’s a good bet you’ve at least heard of them. And for anyone trying to reduce tool costs and increase utilization, Iscar is offering a group of new products designed with modularity and versatility in mind.

SMW Autoblok also acquired Tecnomagnete, which is said to be the world’s leading manufacturer of permanent electromagnetic clamping and lifting systems, along with several new product lines. These include quick-change expanding mandrels and special chucks from SMW Autoblok Tobler, various wireless technologies including mechanical and intelligent workholding for workpiece clamping, and a full line of electro-magnetic chucking systems for four- and five-axis machining and turning applications—all of which will be on display at Booth 431700.

LogIQYgrip, a new Y-axis parting modular system enables vibration-free machining with high-efficiency. A wide range of exchangeable Tagpad-T adapters for inserts ensures the exceptional versatility of the system.

Dovetail-style vises are a great way to grip parts for five-axis machining except for one thing: Preparing the blanks is a hassle. TCI Precision Metals of Gardena, Calif., will tell you there’s an easier way. Since 1956 the company has offered various value-added services, including precision sawing and waterjet cutting, CNC roughing, flattening and straightening, and, yes, cutting those pesky dovetails in steel, stainless, aluminum, superalloys, and “anything but magnesium.” The majority of these are duplex-milled to +/- 0.002” [.051 mm] tolerance, often accurate enough to avoid further machining. Stop by Booth 432123 and ask them to explain why “machine ready is Lean ready.”

“We are extremely excited about acquiring Tecnomagnete and offering even more specialized workholding capabilities to help customers with their diverse manufacturing needs,” said Larry Robbins, president of SMW Autoblok’s Commercial Division. “Their technologies are a perfect complement to our growing product offering, and we look forward to what the future holds.”

Many IMTS visitors might approach Booth 432146 and wonder why a well-known press brake and punch tooling manufacturer is there. Don’t worry, mate, Anoka, Minn.-based Mate Precision Technologies is now in the zero-point workholding business. Its compact, next-generation 52/96 Mate DynoGrip vises, Mate DynoLock Bases, and Mate DynoMount mounts and accessories are based on years of internal use at the company’s 300,000-sq-ft. [27,871 sq-m] manufacturing facility in Anoka. As Vice President Frank Baeumler said recently, the team there machines a huge number of parts each year, and in order to maximize their own CNC equipment, developed a quick-change clamping system to hold them. With a “timed” trapezoidal leadscrew, reversible jaws, and a 52/96-mm locating footprint, the modular workholding platform offers flexibility and compatibility with other zero-point systems.

How do we overstep the customary boundaries of metal cutting? A short overview of some of the new products will help you understand how this is viewed by Iscar.

Logical milling High feed milling (HFM), also referred to as fast feed milling, is considered a commonly used effective method for rough machining both complex and plane surfaces. Iscar has an extremely wide range of HFM products to meet the requirements of a customer. However, even in this niche of products, there is place for new innovations.

Like CNC machinery, tooling continues to improve every year. Cutting tools last longer and run faster, toolholders and vises gain a firmer, more accurate grip, pallet systems continue to reduce downtime. At the same time, though, these and other mainstays of the machine shop world are doing something even more important: they’re getting smarter. Whether it’s Bluetooth-ready tools for milling and deep boring or electrically activated four-jaw lathe chucks, there’s no shortage of IIoT-capable tooling and workholding systems to help get a shop started down the Industry 4.0 path.

Competent parting Iscar began its leadership with just parting tools. That is why every company’s innovation in parting gains special interest. Adapters and holders occupy a prominent place among Iscar’s NeologIQ parting products. The concept of the LogIQFgrip family is based on a 4-pocket adapter that is clamped in a reinforced tool block. High rigidity of such an assembly in combination with an inner high-pressure coolant supply (HPC) option facilitates productive cutting with extremely high feed rates.

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CNC lathes, machining centers, and EDM can be nothing but expensive hunks of iron and electronics without tooling. Here’s a rundown of some of the cutting tools, toolholders, chucks, vises, and pallet systems—showcased at the IMTS Tooling and Workholding pavilion—needed to make them run efficiently and profitably.

Helical flutes with variable helix angle in a LogIQCam drill body improve the dynamic behaviour of the drill and increase the drilling depth to eight drill diameters

Another HFM product that provides the customer with a reasonable cost saving solution is NeoFeed, a family of mills with square, double-sided inserts. This insert has 8 indexable cutting edges to use on cemented carbide and a dovetail-shaped insert pocket that ensures reliable mounting to withstand heavy loads to enable higher cutting data and increased productivity.

Several years ago, Iscar launched a unique and innovative LogIQ product line – a campaign that brought new families of cutting tools to the world market. These families were designed to address challenges in metalworking industries, from increasing productivity to finding cost-effective indexable alternatives to small-in-diameter solid carbide tools.

Visitors to IMTS 2022 can see Promess Inc. at Booth 236623 in the North Building or Booth 135941 in the East (both on Level 3). President Glenn Nausley said that, despite current manufacturing challenges, the New Brighton, Mich.-based assembly and test equipment manufacturer continues to develop new and innovative assembly solutions while still delivering in standard lead times. One of these is a Promess Robot Press with tool changer that can be dropped off and picked up on-demand, “giving robot cells the ultimate flexibility to conquer the most demanding needs.” There are also the L-frame and Benchtop workstations, said to give the user a smaller footprint while keeping the turnkey performance and precision that so many are used to with an all-electric solution.

The metalworking community faces new challenges and must find the shortest way to get out of the maze. Iscar believes that new innovative solutions, which take machining to a whole new level, can become the new ‘Ariadne’s thread’. NeologIQ, a logic of development for a new range of tools, has expanded the boundaries of intelligent machining.

What are the main targets of the NeologIQ product lines? Iscar believes that NeologIQ provides the answers to typical questions that modern metalworking faces today due to the latest changes in technology. Today, we are witnessing serious upheaval with far-reaching effects on manufacturing.

SMW Autoblok Corp. of Wheeling, Ill., has been busy since IMTS 2020. The company broke ground on an 11,000-sq.-ft. [1,022-sq-m] facility in Meckenbeuren, Germany, to house its new division—SMW-Electronics—that will focus on developing sensors, clamping systems, and software to help automate and digitize manufacturing processes.

Swing by Booth 431522 to discuss how these items (and others) can take your machining applications to more productive levels, while increasing utilization of your shop’s tooling and carbide investment.

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