Manufacturer - left handed carbide end mills

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One of the most obvious benefits of a multifunctional tool is in inventory management. Replacing multiple tools with a single tool that can perform all operations is not only a smart option, but also an economically advantageous one. These tools are great for limiting inventory carrying costs.

Combining operations in a single tool gives shops the ability to hold critical tolerances, improving dimensional control, increasing process reliability and production consistency.

Coincidentally, [John] at NYC CNC just released his own video from his recent jealousy-inducing tour of the Sandvik factory. That video is also well worth watching, especially if you even have a passing interest in automation. The degree to which the plant is automated is staggering – from autonomous forklifts to massive CNC work cells that require no operators, this looks like the very picture of the factory of the future. It rolls some of the Sandvik video in, but the behind-the-scenes stuff is great.

"There is generally less flexibility within a manufacturer’s programs of standard multifunctional tools when compared with corresponding dedicated tool programs," said Cetkovic. "Increased availability of dedicated tools allows consumers to make minor alterations to their machining process by changing one of many cutting tools."

Yea, big diamonds are relatively useless compared to the absolutly essential bits of diamond found in these cutting inserts.

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"These tools have the ability to machine detailed features with tight geometric tolerances," said Cetkovic. "Multifunctional tools often result in consistently tight geometric tolerances in production and low-volume applications."

"If your job calls for a ball-nose end mill, you simply screw one into the shank and you already know the distance from the spindle or home position," said Mitchell. "The next time the tool is used, you may require a slotting tool. The catalogue clearly shows the L dimension of the slotting tool and the home position can simply be calculated. This eliminates the need to use a height gauge and touch off, making setups much quicker and easier."

Today’s multifunctional tool options can combine operations such as drilling, slot milling, side milling, plunge milling, ramping, helical interpolation, and facing on a single tool. A popular option is the drill mill, which can drill, ramp, helically interpolate, slot, plunge, and shoulder mill. Another is a high-feed cutter that can often face, slot, ramp, helical interpolate, and plunge mill.

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Luminoso has a bachelor of arts from Carleton University, a bachelor of education from Ottawa University, and a graduate certificate in book, magazine, and digital publishing from Centennial College.

He explained that there are many multifunctional tools on the market. For example, choosing a face mill that can accommodate a square insert capable of a large depth of cut with eight cutting edges or a hexagonal insert with 16 cutting edges capable of a lighter depth of cut offers greater flexibility. Using the same body, the cutter can accommodate a round insert that can perform high-feed milling or extreme cutting conditions such as flame cutting.

Dan, I try to read every single article you write on Hackaday. I can’t say that for all Hackaday authors. Keep up the great content! Sometimes I swear YouTube must be serving us the same video feeds when I see watched videos resurface!

Introducing OSG’s expanded premium, high performance drill series, the ADO-40D 50D for deep-hole drilling. Drill up to 50 times diameter depth, without a peck cycle, in steels. Reduced thrust force design and EgiAs coating, reduce heat, enabling high speed and exceptional tool life.

CNC machines use tool changers, and depending on the style of tool changer, it can take anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds from cut stop to cut start to change over tools. And depending on the number of changeovers needed, this can add up. That’s valuable cycle time that is wasted, and in today’s manufacturing environment, every second counts.

You can do lots. You can use this tech to drill in mines or drill in concrete. Its cool that the tech goes back far enough that it was mentioned as a great thing back in the 1960’s/70’s when Monty Python was doing its show. Tungnsten carbide drilling and cutting is a wonderful thing. It makes many modern construction techniques possible, and makes this factory a real place of wonders. There’s plenty to do here. Need to ancher that gunsafe to the concrete floor. Tungsten carbide drill bits (along with a hammer drill) are there to make it work. Same goes if you want to run a wire through a concrete/brick wall or precut a crack in floor concrete so it doesn’t crack the wrong way. I was merely bringing up that that crazy band of mostly Brits back in the 60’s got it right in acknowledging the significance of this technology. :-)

"The obvious advantage to using a multifunctional tool is reduced inventory carrying costs," said Mitchell.

From an operational standpoint, multifunctional milling tools don’t have any different requirements than standard tools. Proper maintenance, of everything from the insert to the retention knob, is important for optimum performance.

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A shop makes its money when the chips are flying. For jobs that require multiple milling operations, changing tools can take time away from the cutting process. This is where multifunctional, single tools can make all the difference. Combining multiple milling operations into one tool enables a shop to purchase fewer tools, improve production efficiency by reducing cycle time, and get products to market faster, all impacting the bottom line.

For example, high-feed cutters with their ramping capabilities are able to helically interpolate larger-diameter holes, Wilshire explained. While these tools are not as efficient as a large-diameter drill, they eliminate the need for a number of different drills to produce various hole sizes.

For anyone into machining, the video below is a must see. For those not in the know, tungsten carbide inserts are the replaceable bits that form the cutting edges of almost every tool used to shape metal. The video shows how powdered tungsten carbide is mixed with other materials and pressed into complex shapes by a metal injection molding process, similar to the one used to make gears that we described recently. The inserts are then sintered in a furnace to bind the metal particles together into a cohesive, strong part. After exhaustive quality inspections, the inserts are ground to their final shape before being shipped. It’s fascinating stuff.

Unfortunately, price seems to scale exponentially with hardness. Tungsten carbide inserts run around $5-10 each. A good friend owns a machine shop and has a surfacing machine specifically for milling heads. Happily, it uses only one CBN insert, because the last one he ordered from China ran over $200. (He’s my friend for life now because I found a package of ten new American-made inserts from someone who must not have known their value—$45 including shipping.)

"The advantage of using a high-feed cutter is its ability to direct cutting forces into the spindle to reduce vibration and chatter and the ability to improve tool life due to better heat dissipation," said Wilshire. "Also, high-feed cutters are excellent for high metal removal rates when milling but can’t match that of a larger drill. If shorter cycle times are the goal, shops may be better off using a dedicated tool instead of a multifunctional tool."

“The degree to which the plant is automated is staggering – from autonomous forklifts to massive CNC work cells that require no operators, this looks like the very picture of the factory of the future.”

Yet Mitchell noted that having multifunctional tools in a shop’s arsenal makes it much more agile and able to turn a job around quicker and for less cost than conventional tools, making more profit.

Another advantage of a replaceable-head end mill is the cost. A traditional solid-carbide end mill may be 4 or 5 inches long, yet the depth of cut required may be only 0.100 in. or less, which is a waste of expensive carbide. The replaceable-tip end mill is much shorter and therefore more economical.

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"If a multifunctional tool proves to be the best tool for an application, it is the best tool," said John Mitchell, general manager, Tungaloy Canada, Brantford, Ont. "Many customers have purchased multifunctional tools for one specific application, simply because it was the best tool for that application, even though they don’t use many of the other functions."

Opting for a multifunctional tool will depend on a number of factors. With so many options available, a shop needs to consider its priorities, whether that’s limiting stock investment or reducing cycle time, and then choose a tool that fits those needs. And, in some cases, it may make more sense for a shop to choose multiple dedicated tools.

The Sphinx pilot chamfer drill is a multifunctional tool that eliminates tool changes, thereby reducing cycle time by up to 50 per cent. Photo courtesy of Big Kaiser Precision Tooling.

Why use the sun when you can make your own? Someday. I really want to see a future with fusion deep-space propulsion, hopefully I’m still alive.

This is actually due to how these materials are made, which is slow and uses a HUGE amount of energy. They are crystals that are grown in laboratory environments by exposing a source material to very high temperatures for an extended duration. If we could harness the power of the sun more efficiently then these materials would be cheap.

Mum: How are you liking it down the mine, Ken? Ken: Oh it’s not too bad, mum… we’re using some new tungsten carbide drills for the preliminary coal-face scouring operations. Mum: Oh that sounds nice, dear… Dad: Tungsten carbide drills! What the bloody hell’s tungsten carbide drills? Ken: It’s something they use in coal-mining, father. Dad: (mimicking) ‘It’s something they use in coal-mining, father’. You’re all bloody fancy talk since you left London.

Cetkovic added that multifunctional tools also are designed to successfully incorporate the functionality of a sequence of tools into a single operation. Using a sequence of tools, each designed with a singular purpose, often requires a programmer to develop a machining process. Multifunctional tools reduce the possibility of in-process failure caused by a sequence of unrelated tools.

The main disadvantage is that most multifunctional tools compromise performance for versatility. This is not always the case, but it is certainly something to consider when looking at investing in this type of tool. For example, drill mills can drill and mill, but usually can’t match the efficiency of a drill for drilling or an end mill for milling.

Beyond changeover times, cycle times can be reduced with tools such as multifunctional, replaceable-head end mills. Mitchell noted that once this tool is placed into the machine, either using a mill chuck or shrinkfit adapter, the distance is fixed and setups are much quicker, since the home position (distance from the spindle) is already predetermined.

"If you are a job shop, this tool is great," said Mitchell, "given the nature of the job shop environment and not knowing what job tomorrow will bring. By having a multifunctional tool on the shelf you can simply select the insert for the job and you’re up and running."

He added that every shop should have a multifunctional face milling tool. Some face mills offer high-feed roughing, large depth-of-cut face milling, economical multi-edge inserts, and even inserts to fit the same body to machine gummy materials and reduce spindle load. Depending on the application, one tool can provide multiple options.

"A multifunctional tool eliminates tool changes and machining time needed for a sequence of conventional tools it replaces," said Cory Cetkovic, product manager, Sphinx, Big Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc., Hoffman Estates, Ill. "For example, a multifunctional chamfer drill is capable of reducing cycle time needed for a drill and chamfer mill by up to 50 per cent."

But if you need a REALLY hard material, the next best thing to diamond is cubic boron nitride (CBN). Knoop hardness is about half that of diamond, while tungsten carbide is about a fifth that of diamond. (Fun fact: hard as it is, diamond nonetheless can’t be used for precision machining iron/steel because it forms iron carbide; messes up the cutting edge.)

Lindsay Luminoso, sr. editor/digital editor, contributes to both Canadian Metalworking and Canadian Fabricating & Welding. She worked as an associate editor/web editor, at Canadian Metalworking from 2014-2016 and was most recently an associate editor at Design Engineering.

"Many machines currently used still have a relatively small number of tool pockets (30 or less), so tools like drill mills and high-feed cutters that can perform multiple functions open up positions for dedicated tools such as taps, thread mills, finishing end mills, reamers, and more," said Brian Wilshire, technical center manager, Kyocera Precision Tools, Hendersonville, N.C. "They also limit the number of tools and inserts a shop needs to keep on hand for production."

With a multifunctional tool, the operator doesn’t need to program complex information about multiple tools; rather, he or she can focus on the one tool, ensuring that all tolerances are met. This will help increase accuracy and speed up production, while maintaining consistent process reliability.

The MFH Mini cutter offers high efficiency and high-feed cutting and can face, slot, ramp, helical interpolate, and plunge mill. Photo courtesy of Kyocera Precision Tools.

It seems a touch ironic that one of the main consumables in the machining industry is made out of one of the hardest, toughest substances there is. But such is the case for tungsten carbide inserts, the flecks of material that form the business end of most of the tools used to shape metal. And thanks to one of the biggest suppliers of inserts, Sweden’s Sandvik Coromant, we get this fascinating peek at how they’re manufactured.

The DoTwistBall milling cutter acts as both a high-feed milling tool for rapidly removing material in the roughing stage, and with an insert change, acts as a 3D profiling tool or a semi-finishing tool that performs similarly to a round insert finishing tool except it offers more cutting edges. Photo courtesy of Tungaloy.