With its solid carbide roughing cutter NeoMill-Alu-QBig for aluminium materials, MAPAL is taking full advantage of the performance of the fastest machines available on the market, thus achieving a material removal rate of more than 18 litres per minute. At the same time, it is of course also possible to use the high-volume milling cutter on less powerful machines. The tool manufacturer is thus taking into account the fact that aircraft parts are often manufactured on machines with spindle outputs between 40 and 80 kW, for which there was previously no suitable milling cutter in the portfolio.
In order to achieve as large a material removal rate as possible, the new aluminium volume milling cutter is designed for use at spindle speeds of up to 35,000 rpm (with a diameter of 50 mm). For a tight fit despite high centrifugal forces, screws with increased tensile strength are used to hold the indexable inserts firmly in the prismatic seat. In addition, countersinks on the indexable insert ensure weight savings. MAPAL has fitted the tool body with a fine balancing system. Four threaded bores enable precise adjustment in order to protect the machine spindle at high speeds and achieve the highest possible surface finishes.
In addition, focus was placed during development on low cutting forces and highly precise indexable inserts. High chip volumes with very high achievable surface finishes of Ra 0.8 µm and Rz 4.0 µm for rough and fine machining can thus be achieved with the tool. For the main application, machining wrought aluminium alloys, MAPAL uses uncoated cutting edges with a highly positive rake angle and polished chip guiding stage for low frictional resistance. This reduces the amount of heat generated. For this purpose, PVD-coated indexable inserts for machining AlSi alloys and CVD-diamond-coated indexable inserts for the automotive industry and general machining are available in the portfolio.
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