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Category Archives: CERATIZIT

Parts loaded in the machine (photo courtesy of Staub Precision Machine)

CERATIZIT USA Partners with Companies in the Ventilator Manufacturing Process

CERATIZIT USA has joined forces with several companies to make ventilators.  The CERATIZIT Group has extensive experience in the carbide production process, from the powder to the finished cutting tool. Not only does this allow special-purpose tools to be developed for customer-specific applications but it also means that a full range of industry-specific standard tools are held in stock and quickly available. High-precision drilling, reaming, countersinking and boring are specialties of CERATIZIT. Involved in this effort is Staub Precision Machine and the industrial distributor Abrasive Tool.

Parts loaded in the machine (photo courtesy of Staub Precision Machine)
Parts loaded in the machine (photo courtesy of Staub Precision Machine)

Staub Precision Machine used CERATIZIT reamers to perform a finishing operation of high-precision holes to size.  The reamer was a solid carbide PCD tipped (polycrystalline diamond) with through-tool coolant diameter of .626” +.0005 -.0000.  The material cut was aluminum and the production run quantity was 2,500 parts per week.  In addition, Staub designed and machined two tombstones as well as collets.  There were 33 parts on each of the four sides of the tombstone in the machine and Staub made 132 parts at a time. The machine was running at 4900 RPM (revolutions per minute) and 78 inches per minute feed. The hole was only .250” deep, taking less than a second per hole to ream. In addition, the hole was sized .616” before reaming, leaving .010” of stock allowance.  While the hole has a .0005” tolerance, the reamer cuts the same size every time with a high mirrored finish.

Located in Hamburg, New York, Staub Machine Company was founded in 1975 in Tony Staub’s garage.   Over the next 43 years, the company developed into an industry leader in precision machining and the precision industry. In 1995, Staub moved into an old Super Duper grocery store located at 206 Lake St. in Hamburg. Tony Staub decided to sell the assets of Staub Machine Company to Staub Precision Machine, Inc. to keep the company intact, innovating and growing. Today, the company supplies high-volume production to match the needs of customers, producing machine component parts for a number of manufacturers across the country, especially in Western New York.

The Fullmax reamer (photo courtesy of Blackhawk Industrial)
The Fullmax reamer (photo courtesy of Blackhawk Industrial)

The close collaboration between Staub and CERATIZIT was achieved thanks to Abrasive Tool. Located in Buffalo, New York, the company is a distributor of high quality tooling solutions. Jay Janca, distributor sales engineer, supplied Staub Precision Machine with the reamers, helped process the part and also coordinated delivery of several other parts. He and Tony Staub started this project on a Thursday evening in his garage with a set of drawings and a part he needed to make for a ventilator client. Through Janca, he reached out to Chuck Somerville, CERATIZIT sales engineer and told him about the project. Quickly, Tony, Jay, Chuck and the staff at CERATIZIT worked on confirming details of the tool. CERATIZIT had an approved drawing at the beginning of the week and the reamers were shipped on Friday of the same week and in production the following Monday. This was just over a week after the initial discussion. Staub machines run unattended for maximum productivity 24/7, so CERATIZT worked to make the process as smooth as possible. Tony was very happy with CERATIZT, saying, “I was amazed at how quickly they responded and the reamers produced a beautiful part. I am sure we will continue working with CERATIZIT in the future.”

A close-up of the part with the holes being reamed (photo courtesy of Staub Precision Machine)
A close-up of the part with the holes being reamed (photo courtesy of Staub Precision Machine)

Another two companies that joined CERATIZIT in the manufacturing of ventilators were Blackhawk Industrial and another manufacturer of precision metal components.  As CERATIZIT products are distributed by Blackhawk, the company helped connect CERATIZIT with their customer. Commenting on why CERATIZIT was chosen, sales engineer Mitch Vraja said, “We were asked to provide reamers because they know our quality and we had a quick delivery.”   Blackhawk Industrial is an industrial distributor in Brunswick, Ohio.  The machining process performed by their customer company involved machining adapters.  In order to ensure that the tool holding device could accommodate various types of cutting tools, CERATIZIT reamers were used to create a hole for better positioning. Different cutting tools in the adapter were used on various machines. The tool involved was number 52M.57.0497, known as Fullmax – DBGU – Ø4,97 +4µ.  The material cut was stainless steel. The ventilators had to fit in a precise location, thus dowel pins were used to locate the mounting brackets to the mobile unit. In this process, five reamers were used to provide a true position diameter. The tool diameter of the reamed blind hole in stainless steel was .1958 +/- .0005.  There were three holes in each bracket and over 10,000 brackets were made.

Blackhawk’s customer blends old world craftsmanship with cutting- edge technology. Capabilities include precision turning, grinding, milling, automated assembly and inspection, semi-automated assembly, manual assembly and wire EDM. Additional capabilities are CNC machining, Swiss machining, machining ranges between 3mm and 66 mm and material neutral machining. The company serves the automotive, hydraulics, sensor, recreational vehicle, plumbing, application, natural gas, firearms, off-road vehicle and medical equipment markets.  Within the medical field, the company specializes in manufacturing small diameter components requiring strict tolerances and superior finish.

As an industrial distributor, Blackhawk specializes in metalworking equipment categories such as carbide cutting tools, abrasive, fabrication and machining equipment. In addition, the company has a wide offering of packaging, MRO products and a proven ability to provide custom industrial vending solutions, as well as creative supply chain solutions.


For more information, please contact:

CERATIZIT S.A.
101, Route de Holzem
LU-8232 Mamer, Luxembourg
Tel: +352 31 20 85-854
www.ceratizit.com

CERATIZIT USA, Inc.
Canada, United States
11355 Stephens Road
Warren, MI United States 48089-1833
Tel: +1 586 759 2280 (Toll free: +1 800 783 2280)
www.ceratizit.com

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All contours can be machined in one setup

High Dynamic Turning With the Freeturn Standard Range Tooling From CERATIZIT Is Now Available

The 360º “revolution” in Turning

High Dynamic Turning with the FreeTurn standard range tooling from CERATIZIT is now available

In September 2019, CERATIZIT launched the first standard range of products for its innovative High Dynamic Turning (HDT) with FreeTurn process at EMO. The tool manufacturer has taken the next step in revolutionizing turning. CERATIZIT was joined by leading machine tool and control system manufacturers as well as providers of CAD/CAM systems. This new development is now available and will be showcased to the North American market at IMTS in Chicago in September, 2020.

360° rotation of cutting surface
CERATIZIT High Dynamic Turning (HDT) with FreeTurn tools allow 360º rotation of the cutting surface.

High Dynamic Turning (HDT) from CERATIZIT has turned conventional turning methods into a new direction. This new turning technology, combined with the company’s dynamic FreeTurn tooling, means that it is now possible to carry out all traditional turning operations such as roughing, finishing, contour turning, face turning and longitudinal turning with just one tool. HDT with FreeTurn represents a completely new method of turning.

For 100 years, new cutting materials, new chip breakers and a few new tooling systems have been invented to optimize turning. However, the actual basic turning process has remained essentially unchanged. Even today, a contour is created with an indexable insert at a fixed angle to the workpiece. This method has not changed, even with the addition of controllable axes in modern turning-milling centers, machines which are intended to serve one purpose, namely, to manufacture a component as completely as possible within a single machine work envelope. CERATIZIT has taken advantage of the features on these turning-milling centers and developed the High Dynamic Turning (HDT) System. The simple idea behind HDT: the tool approach and point of contact in the machine can be varied as opposed to conventional turning with a fixed tool.

Utilizing the milling spindle for 360° degrees of freedom

All contours can be machined in one setup
All contours can be machined in one setup, as the traditional turning operations of roughing, finishing, contour turning, face turning and longitudinal turning are all accomplished with a single tool.

Instead of the classic, static position of the insert in the holder, the milling spindle is now used to produce the corresponding approach angle to the workpiece. The use of the spindle drive, in conjunction with the slim, axial tool design of the FreeTurn tools by CERATIZIT, creates a degree of freedom of 360° without the risk of collision, thus providing unprecedented flexibility. Due to the rotation around its own tool axis, the cutting edge change can be done without interrupting the cutting process. Additionally, the angle of approach is freely variable at any time and can even be changed while cutting. This not only enables flexible machining of almost every workpiece contour, but also optimum chip breaking, higher feed rates and an increase in tool life. Depending on the machine capabilities, the technology can be used functionally in all areas of turning operations. The approach of the milling spindle on the Y/Z axis on turning-milling centers is widespread. As a result, further possibilities can be achieved with HDT that seemed previously unachievable. For example, cutting from above and below is possible. Depending on the machining area and workpiece size, this freedom can be an important factor in production.

FreeTurn inserts with more than 2 variable features

In the future of HDT, the static turning tools of the past will be replaced by dynamic tools. One such dynamic tooling solution is FreeTurn by CERATIZIT. The defining characteristic of FreeTurn tooling is its simple structure. The tool holder, together with its slim shank and axial concept which optimizes the direction of the cutting forces into the spindle, form a stable unit. At the cutting end, there is a multi-sided insert, which is simply screwed in place. The principle is quite simple: the patented FreeTurn insert can consist of several cutting edges with different properties. This allows for different angle points, corner radii or chip breakers – even different coatings and cutting materials are conceivable. The tool can therefore be adapted to the machining requirements, offering the further advantage of replacing several tools on a job. This, in turn, leads to significant savings in tool change times, tool magazine loadouts and tool costs overall. The result is making components with highly complex contours without limitation, using only one FreeTurn tool. This flexibility ensures complex component holding can be quickly and effectively adapted to the new machining situation.

The future of turning starts now!

One indexable insert
One indexable insert with several cutting edges can comprise different cutting angles, corner radii, chipbreakers, coatings or cutter materials to suit specific applications.

With High Dynamic Turning and the FreeTurn tools by CERATIZIT, a new era in turning has arrived. In terms of efficiency, HDT exceeds the conventional turning process many times over and, as the experts from CERATIZIT are demonstrating daily, will replace the classic approaches, sooner than later. This new turning technology will continue to open and reveal possibilities in the future to make turning processes faster and more precise. The future of turning will rapidly change with HDT and CERATIZIT developers are looking forward to supporting their customers along this journey, according to a company spokesman.

Saving tools and machining time

In one recent application at Spanish wheel manufacturer ROTOR, an indexable insert with two different cutting edges was used to manufacture an aluminium wheel hub. One cutting edge is used for roughing (1500 rpm, ap = 2 mm, f = 0.4 mm/rev) and one for finishing (2000 rpm, ap < 1 mm, f = 0.25 mm/rev). When using HDT, the approach angle can be changed during machining, making it possible to machine all contours in just one setup, even undercuts that would not be possible with a standard approach angle of 90°. The tool is also able to cut in both directions, saving time-consuming rapid moves and increasing efficiency. In comparison to the turning process normally used by ROTOR for wheel hubs, this machining process used four fewer tools and reduced the machining time by 30%.

The first HDT solutions

Since CERATIZIT presented High Dynamic Turning and FreeTurn tools, a number of major machine and control system manufacturers have begun developing solutions for an automated process. CAD/CAM providers have also begun to develop solutions for programming HDT-specific program sequences. A number of promising CAM programs were on display at EMO 2019, including Open Mind and Siemens NX. CERATIZIT HDT and FreeTurn tools also generated considerable interest during the live presentations from machine manufacturers DMG Mori and Mazak.

FreeTurn is ready now!

The FreeTurn test program includes four insert geometries and can be used for many standard applications. Contact CERATIZIT to arrange the program.

From the beginning of the HDT process, CERATIZIT has relied on an open source model, supplying all interested parties with the relevant information to allow them to help develop their HDT turning process.

Meanwhile, the tool manufacturer devoted its attention to its core business, developing a standard range of FreeTurn tools. Four indexable insert geometries were initially launched. This range included indexable inserts for machining steel/stainless steel (2x roughing and 1x finishing, 3x roughing, symmetrical) and for aluminium (3 cutting edges, symmetrical). This initial range covers a number of applications. The holders are available with a range of different overhang lengths for each size and are available for the HSK-T and PSC machine interfaces. CERATIZIT is making this insert package available to interested parties on a test program basis. Please contact the company for details.


More information about High Dynamic Turning and FreeTurn tools from CERATIZIT can be found at www.ceratizit.com/hdt

Product videos:

Conventional vs. HDT
The Revolution in Turning
Explanation of process and tool features
Technical Experts and Developers

Published on behalf of
CERATIZIT S.A.
101, Route de Holzem
LU-8232 Mamer, Luxembourg
Tel: +352 31 20 85-854
www.ceratizit.com

CERATIZIT USA, Inc.
Canada, United States
11355 Stephens Road
Warren, MI United States 48089-1833
Tel: +1 586 759 2280 (Toll free: +1 800 783 2280)
www.ceratizit.com

For specific requests regarding the HDT – FreeTurn technology we have a centralized email address.
FreeTurn@ceratizit.com

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