The metal-cutting industry has been evolving drastically in the past decade, and one of the changes that stand out is the rise of indexable inserts. Threading innovation has given rise to a new and improved method of creating threads, resulting in cost savings and heightened productivity.

Traditionally, threading was carried out using solid carbide tools that were expensive and needed frequent replacements. Manufacturers had to maintain a vast inventory of custom-sized tools and replace them regularly, which meant extended downtimes and reduced efficiency in manufacturing processes.

The introduction of indexable inserts is a game-changer in this industry. These inserts are made of complex geometry and feature multiple cutting edges, making them cost-effective and efficient for threading. They can be Machining Inserts easily replaced when worn out without the need for frequent tool changes, and their high performance means longer tool life,, which translates to significant cost savings in production processes.

Another benefit of indexable inserts is the production of more precise threads with better surface finish quality, leading to increased product consistency. The improved geometry of these inserts makes threading significantly faster and reduces the incidences of part damage during cutting. Manufacturers can produce more components in a reduced amount of time, boosting productivity while maintaining high accuracy levels.

The threading innovation of indexable inserts has also led to increased adaptability in threading various materials. With solid carbide tools, it was often challenging to thread hardened materials, but indexable inserts have overcome this problem. The new inserts are coated with various materials to suit specific cutting applications and materials being cut, making threading more versatile.

The growth of the indexable inserts market has exploded in the past few years, and the future looks even brighter. With continued research and developments in the industry, it's inevitable that threading innovation will continue to evolve. Manufacturing processes will become more efficient, streamlined, and cost-effective, and the quality of the final product will improve even further.

In conclusion, the rise of indexable inserts is a significant turning point for the metal-cutting industry. This threading innovation has the potential to transform the industry and raise production efficiency, cost savings, and product quality outcomes. Manufacturers need to incorporate indexable inserts Cutting Inserts into their production processes to reap the full benefits and stay ahead of the competition.

Heidi and Bob Devroy claim they have been “blessed” in their rapidly diversifying business, but there is more to their success than luck or divine providence. Behind this couple’s outward humility is a combination of shopfloor expertise, business acumen and resolve that continue to flavor investments and filter into the culture of their 10,000-square-foot CNC machine shop, Prosper-Tech Machine & Tool.

This is not to suggest that the Devroys have not been fortunate. One of the first opportunities to evolve beyond the company’s automotive tooling roots knocked quite literally in 2017 in the form of a visitor seeking a machining process for a troublesome prosthetic assembly. With no prior contact with the shop, the man could have chosen among a variety of other potential subcontractors in and around Richmond, MI. Yet there he stood, offering a chance at what would become Prosper-Tech’s first medical contract. Now, a five-axis machining center runs overnight to churn out these and other comparable parts by the hundreds for inspection in a space newly dedicated to quality control.

Fortune seemed to smile on the shop again last year, this time in the form of a phone call. Assumed to be spam at first based on the caller ID, the number turned out to be legit. Again, someone needed a more cost-effective process for a difficult job. This time, the parts would be for one of the major commercial space companies. This work is now regular as well, produced mostly on one of the shop’s first-ever turning centers from difficult-to-machine superalloys. 

Such opportunities are never guaranteed, and the specific strategies and technology investments that Prosper-Tech used to capitalize on them might not be practical to replicate at other shops. However, other shops that successfully diversify are likely to be similar to Prosper-Tech in a broader sense.

For one, standing out among more established competitors with initially broader service offerings requires highly skilled machinists. Prosper-Tech’s success is rooted in the skills of a team with decades of combined experience in building automotive plastic injection molds.

For another, preparation must extend beyond the shop floor. In this case, neither the medical nor the space opportunity led the company anywhere that it did not already seek to go. Rather, these opportunities clarified and accelerated pre-existing plans to scale the business.

Finally, the Devroys credit much of their success to intangibles. Specifically, they credit their faith — not just in their God, but also in the idea that a strong work ethic, a commitment to serving others and the continuous pursuit of personal and professional growth can lead opportunity to spring from crisis.

The piston-and-housing assembly that became the shop’s first medical contract had stymied other suppliers. However, the banana-like portion of the piston proved to be ideal for a custom, on-machine finishing method that employees had originally developed to limit manual polishing of automotive plastic injection molds.

This kind of expertise had already driven expansion beyond the company’s initial customer base, which consisted mostly of industry contacts made during Bob Devroy’s long career at another moldmaking company. Prosper-Tech’s first parts had been cut in 2007 on some of that now-defunct company’s previous equipment in the family garage, where the Devroys started their own business amid deep recession and sudden, unexpected unemployment. “We figured we could either go down, or pick ourselves back up, shake it off and recognize that when one door closes, others can open,” Mr. Devroy says, recalling taking on roofing jobs on the side to keep the company afloat.

For her part, Mrs. Devroy pursued a business degree while simultaneously working to grow the fledgling company. The couples’ hard work paid off, and the shop moved into its own facility in 2014. However, the Devroys’ growing customer base was still largely automotive. They had long recognized the potentially devastating effect of another downturn, and that meeting what they saw as core responsibilities to their children, to co-workers-turned-employees and even to the broader community would require diversifying the business. The chance to develop a machining process for the artificial foot piston and housing could not have come at a better time.

Toolmaking expertise aside, the team’s thinking changed as Prosper-Tech took on additional work from its new customer. As Mr. Devroy puts it, “the little stuff becomes more important when you’re machining 500 parts versus one or two.” Nonetheless, previous experience provided valuable lessons as the process evolved. The current strategy is reminiscent of how many mold shops automate production of electrical discharge machine (EDM) electrodes. A carousel-style robot (a 60-station Erowa Robot Compact 80) sequentially feeds pallets loaded with blanks into a five-axis machining center (a Haas UMC750 with side-access auto-door). A common interface between the pallets, the robot and the machine table ensures repeatable enough positioning to load the carousel and step away.

Mr. Devroy says this modular pallet system is the “glue” that holds short-run production together, even beyond the machining center. “We can take that pallet right to the CMM without losing any time or money switching fixtures,” he says.

Prosper-Tech purchased its CMM (a Hexagon 4.5.4 SF with articulating head) at the same time as the robot and pallet system. From there, the shop focused on process development, particularly obtaining IS0 9001 certification for the new quality control process.

However, another quality control certification has played an equally important (or perhaps greater) role in Prosper-Tech’s evolution. Had the shop not undergone an AS9100 aerospace audit only one month before the fateful, seemingly random phone call from the commercial space company, that call probably would have ended immediately, Mrs. Devroy says. Instead, Prosper-Tech got another chance to test its mettle on a new variety of work: mostly prototype fittings with various square- and hex-shaped geometry that are produced in small lots and subject to frequent design revisions.

Machining these parts effectively from materials including nickel-based alloys such as Inconel and Monel would require the shop’s largest investment in a single piece of equipment to date: a turn-mill (EuroTech CMZ TA20) with a 12,000-rpm live-tool turret and heavy-duty box ways. None of the staff had much experience with CNC turning outside the toolroom, but Bob Devroy says he relished the chance to try something new.

In fact, he’d been waiting for that chance. A year prior, in 2018, Heidi Devroy accepted a nomination to participate in Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program, which supports entrepreneurs with education, capital and other resources. During her research for an individual “growth project” that could apply to her company, Mrs. Devroy had what she calls a “lightbulb moment.” According to data in the IBIS World Industry Report for Machine Shop Services, Prosper-Tech had a key weak point compared to other, similar businesses: lack of turning capability that had led to missed quoting opportunities over the years. Potential for turning beyond the space parts increased confidence about investing in a more capable machine than the Devroys initially envisioned, as well as a CNC laser marker.

The 10,000 Small Businesses program also provided a more direct path to diversification. Another program participant that year was the owner of another woman-owned small business: Mettle Ops, a research, development and fabrication company focused largely on defense applications. Together, the two companies formed a joint venture: Mettle Craft, one of four businesses selected for a 5-year, $19 million opportunity to support the production of military ground vehicles.

Like AS9100 certification, the timing could not have been better. By the time the Coronavirus pandemic began to shutter the economy – taking a quarter-million-dollar mold contract from a major automotive customer along with it – defense parts comprised about 15 percent of the shop’s work. The call from the space company came just a few weeks later. “We ended 2020 surprised and humbled with the makeup of our work,” Mrs. Devroy says. “In a turbulent year to say the least, our sales ended up being 33 percent medical, 23 percent automotive, 23 percent defense, 15 percent space and 6 percent other — a very nice,Tungsten Steel Inserts diversified balance going into the new year.”

The Devroys’ approach to running their company has been driven by a consistent set of underlying principles and philosophies. Examples include: ?

Put Yourself Out There. The initial call from the space company was not as random as it initially seemed. As it turned out, a student who had toured Prosper-Tech in 2014 as part of the company’s regular collaboration with local schools ended up working for the space company. This tour made enough of an impression that the shop came to mind years later when the need arose for a new supplier.

Other examples of active participation in the broader manufacturing community abound. The 2018 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago provided an introduction to the robot and deep hole drilling inserts five-axis machine. The shop is a member of Automation Alley, a nonprofit center for private-public partnerships to fuel manufacturing innovation, as well as the Aerospace Industry Association of Michigan and the Michigan Manufacturers Association. A website populated with professional video about the company and its processes exemplifies the Devroys’ belief in the power of marketing.  

Have a vision. Although the Devroys never envisioned turn-milling parts that might one day end up in space, both aerospace and turning capability were already part of the plan when that opportunity presented itself. Similarly, the first defense work was not for Mettle Craft, but for general production part contracts won around the same time that the shop implemented the five-axis machining cell and CMM. “You have to envision where you want to be, then ask what it’s going to cost and whether it will be worth it,” Mrs. Devroy says. “If it’s too much, then rethink that end point.” (For Prosper-Tech, of course, the space opportunity enabled investing more than planned).

Act like a franchise. One key lesson of the Small Business Program was the importance of standardized processes, Mrs. Devroy says. “Treat the business like its McDonald’s — like you’re going to franchise it.”

At Prosper-Tech, this means “following written procedures and focusing on making them better,” she says. For example, she says the shop has developed a particularly robust system for material verifications and certifications. On the shop floor, “Even the coolant concentration must be exact” for some of the shop’s medical work, Mr. Devroy says.

Commit to Personal Growth. “Everyone is like their own business,” Mr. Devroy says. “I have a certain profit margin I need to meet in my household, and I need to strive to get the skills and education I need to further that business and my family in general,” Mr. Devroy says.  

Hiring people who think the same way ingrains these values in the company culture. “(Employees are) not just succeeding for us,” Mrs. Devroy says. “We want to help get that training someone needs, even if they end up working somewhere else later. We ask (prospective hires) about personal goals outside of work, because that’s important for who we want to attract.”

Maintain Perspective. The Devroys say they are driven by a deep sense of responsibility, to their customers and beyond. “These parts are going to end up on somebody’s body,” Mrs. Devroy says. “Our soldiers will depend on these parts. Some of what we’re developing could one day end up in space.”   

Whatever opportunities the future brings, the couple believe they will be rewarded for remaining true to their core values and doing what they think is right, both in manufacturing and in life. “God put us together, and we have the unique talents to make this work,” Mrs. Devroy says.

End mills in a CNC machine play a vital role in creating slots or 3D contouring over a workpiece during profiling, drilling, reaming, etc. It is a crucial component for industrial milling applications. The end mills are composed of many components each serving a vital purpose in performing a specific operation over a workpiece.

In this blog, you will know about all the details of specific components that make up an end mill. After reading it completely, you will be able to do a well-informed selection over a variety of end mills.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN END MILLS AND DRILL BITS

Before we dive into the details of the end mill’s components, you should know the answer to a common question about the difference between end mills and drill bits. Many people consider they are the same, but actually, there is a prominent dissimilarity between the two.

Drill bits plunge into the material directly thus merely creating holes, while the end mills cut the workpiece laterally thereby creating profiles or slots. Though end mills also plunge into the material, their unique profile-creating capability makes them far more versatile than drill bits.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INCH SIZE AN METRIC SIZE END MILLS

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Because different countries use different units of measurement, the end mills are available in units of inches and millimeters. There is no technical difference between an inch size end mill and a metric size end mill, it is just the unit conversion with micro variation in measurement that occurs during conversion from one to another unit.

Countries like the USA, Canada, Mexico, etc. use inch-size end mills whereas Asia and Europe, etc. use metric size end mills.

Following are common inch size and metric size end mills:

Inch size end mills: 1-1/2″, 2”, 2-1/2″, 2-3/4″ and 3” etc.

Metric size end mills: 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.5 etc.

If you need inch size PDF Catalog? please view :https://ESToolcarbide.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/HUANA-Inch-Size-Carbide-End-Mill.pdf

If you need metric End Mill PDF Catalog please view: https://ESToolcarbide.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HUANA-Carbide-End-Mill.pdf

COMPONENTS OF END MILLS

The geometry of end mills is divided into the following specifications:

TYPE

There are numerous types of end mills based on shapes but categorically, they are divided into 7 Cermet Inserts types:

These features in an end mill define the functioning of the end mill during the machining operation and cutting possibilities with regards to shape and performance.

MATERIAL

Following are the two main materials used to manufacture cutting tools, carbide, and HSS.

?Carbide –?These are more expensive compared to HSS because they offer better rigidity and operate up to 3 times faster compared to HSS. They are highly heat resistant which makes them feasible to use for tougher materials.

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HSS CCMT Insert (High-Speed Steel) –?Compared to coated carbide, it is economic and is good wear-resistant. It is used to slot or plunge softer materials like wood and some metals like aluminum.

So here’s the bottom line. You can go for Carbide coating end mills if you want to make your investment worth it because carbide-coated-manufactured end mills provide extra durability and contain longer tool life.

Another type of coating that adds extra tool performance to your milling operation is TiAIN (Titanium aluminum nitride) coating. Periodic results prove that it cuts up to 25% faster in comparison and bears lighter on the pocket too. If you care less about the tool’s performance, then you can get a carbide-coated end mill up to 8mm or lesser diameter otherwise go for HSS for larger cutters.

CUTTER DIAMETER

The diameter of the cutter relates directly to what profile you want to cut. For instance, to make a box having interlocking joints, you cannot use a cylindrical tool with a small radius because it will deliver a small circular profile at every internal corner, equal to the radius. This is why “dogbones” are used that have a larger cutting diameter and can easily craft an accurate 90o corner.

Using a tool with a larger diameter offers two significant advantages. Firstly, the tool with larger dia is more rigid allowing deeper cuts simultaneously reducing the tool’s deflection. Secondly, it increases the Material Removal Rate (MMR) which is the material removed in a given unit of time. Since the tool operates internally of material, it performs the cutting job faster with larger dia.

FLUTES

Flutes are deep built-in spiral grooves at the tool’s surface that forms chips of material and evacuates it from the workpiece during the milling process. Also referred to as “teeth” they are the sharp cutting edges due to which the end mill cuts any material.

The end mills come in a different number of flutes like 2, 3, 4, 6, etc. Their number depends on the type of material under consideration. The harder the material, the more flutes required.

Choosing an end mill with a certain number of flutes impacts the following factor:

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Feed rate –?This is the velocity the material is introduced to the cutting tool. More flutes increase the machine’s feed rate.

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Finishing surface –?Which is the roughness or the smoothness of the finished material. More flutes deliver a smoother surface. An end mill with more flutes is utilized for softer materials like wood and vice versa.

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Chips clearing ability –?Which is the tool’s ability to evacuate material’s chips while processing. The more flutes in an end mill have shorter flute length and offer less space for chips evacuation, resulting in clogging of flutes, tool deflection, or material breakage. It is the main reason to use softer material for end mills with more number of flutes and larger flute lengths.

OVERALL LENGTH

The overall length is the sum of the length of the shank and flute length. The end mill comes in longer and shorter overall lengths. Longer end mills are used to cut deep parts of the material without collision of the spindle mandrel with the workpiece. The phenomenon is also called “stick out”.

During milling operation with end mills for deeper parts, remember that the cutting depth does not exceed flute length otherwise chips will not evacuate properly, heat will accumulate and the tool may damage.

HELIX ANGLE

The helix angle is the angle of flutes. These angles define the cutting force, vibration, and heat generation during machining. Most end mills have 30° helix angles. The more degree of helix angle, the smoother the material’s finished surface but the weaker the end mill and unable to sustain heavy cutting depths with high feed rates.

For brittle material, use end mills with lower angles which sustains the heavy cutting depths but delivers a rough finished surface.

CONCLUSION

End mills are cutting tools used in CNC machining to create slots, 3D contouring, and a variety of shapes that are not possible with ordinary cutters. Each component of an end mill plays a significant role in the milling process. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the specifications when selecting an end mill to have minimum operation cost, required finish of the material, and avoid breakage of the tool or material.