EDGE Magazine 2015-2

ROCKET SCIENCE

The construction equipment industry is reaching new heights thanks to efficient production at components manufacturers.

Building efficiency Dancing with wolves

A mag a zine fro m Sec o issue 2 – 2015

Contents EDGE ISSUE 2 – 2015

04

news & Trends

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07 KNowledge trends in MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

3D printing and porous materials are among the most important trends in the aggressively growing orthopaedics industry.

08 CASE: material COVER STORY testing the new duratomic®

Nomet, a Finnish component supplier is one of the first customers to trial Seco’s new TP grades based on Duratomic technology.

14 Case: application MILLING

The new flexible manufacturing system (FMS) units prove a great success for Brazilian machine tools manufacturer Romi.

18 Possibilities recycling in space

Countdown for new space technology: reus­ able rockets that return to the launch pad.

20 Edge and you Heinz Krähenbühl

“When I started out, it was just me and my machine in an old cowshed.”

22 Cutting edge Q&A with patrick de vos

Our cutting expert answers any and all questions submitted by readers.

28 Edge of the world Hindrik Engström

Seoo’s grade developer doubles as a forest farmer on his family’s 540 hectare farm.

32 Edgeucation high feed milling

Seco’s product manager gives inside tips on the benefits of High Feed Milling.

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The cooperation with Seco is creating sparks for Italian turbine blade manufacturer C*Blade.

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23 Case: Industry power generation

1144 1188

2288

Yes, it is ­possible Is it really possible to make the Duratomic inserts even better? This was the challenge we presented to our Research & Development department in 2012. After

thousands of hours spent on research and testing we can proudly say yes! Launched in April this year, Seco’s new generation of the ­revolutionary Duratomic turning grades has already started to make a big impression in machine shops all over the world.

One of the first customers to trial the new grades ahead of the official release was Nomet, a Finnish component supplier, who found that the new Duratomic TP grades allow higher cutting speeds, are more durable and reliable than those offered by our competitors. Turn to page 8 to read more.

Other great stories and new insights featured in this issue of Edge include reports on the recycling trend in space (page 18) and the new materials and methods used in the thriving orthopaedics industry (page 7).

Enjoy!

Hans Hellgren

vice president, sales and marketing edge@secotools.com

Edge is a customer magazine from Seco Tools published in 25 languages worldwide.

Seco Tools AB Marketing Department, 737 82 Fagersta, Sweden. Phone +46 223-400 00 Fax +46 223-718 60 Internet www.secotools.com Publisher Hans Hellgren E-mail hans.hellgren@secotools.com Managing editor Katarina Annerby ­E-mail katarina.annerby@secotools.com Editorial production and layout Appelberg Publishing Group Project manager Per-Ola Knutas Art directors Cecilia Farkas, Johan Nohr Print Elanders Coverphoto Johannes Heuckeroth

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News & trends

News from the tool expert

Jörgen Andersson has been working at Seco since 2005 and started in the R&D organisation in the milling development department.

In 2012 he moved to the marketing organisation to take the position as corporate product manager for milling, responsible for copy milling and Minimaster® products.

Short facts Jörgen Andersson Position: Corporate product man­ ager for milling. Main responsi­ bility Copy milling & Minimaster® products.

Education: Bergsskolan Swedish school of mining & metallurgy and University of Dalarna.

Career background: 10 years as CNC operator in milling, develop­ ment engineer for milling products, corporate product manager.

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Lift-off for fuel efficiency A team of Dutch aeronautical students has taken its fuel-efficient race car to the next level.

The students study under Martin Kampinga, Inno­ vation Director at the Inholland University of Applied Sciences in Delft, who wanted to give them a practical application for their theoretical studies. He came up with the idea of “Team Apollo”. “I thought: ‘Let’s get them to build something cool’,” he says.

The resulting Apollo race car was designed using the same materials and theories used in aviation engi­ neering. It debuted in the Shell Eco Marathon in Rot­ terdam in 2013.

In the 2014 race, the carbon fibre vehicle, which weighs just 50 kilograms, travelled 550 kilometres on 1 litre of bio-ethanol fuel. The team is now designing its own engine for the 2016 event.

“We needed milling and tapping tools to help build our own engine,” Kampinga says. “So the students decided to contact Seco Tools Benelux, who have been very good, supplying us with tools and helping us think about processes and solutions.”

Kampinga adds that the Shell Eco Marathon is all about developing efficient technologies and showing the world what is possible. His aim, he says is to devel­ op better students. “Collaborating and communicat­ ing with companies is integral to this and Seco have been very supportive,” he says.

Steadyline®

In the limelight

Trends in today’s metal cutting include more and more complex work pieces, harder to machine materials and an ever increasing demand for productivity and prof­ itability. Seco’s new Steadyline® anti-vibration tooling range meets these demands, boosts productivity and can perform operations that are impossible to machine with tradi­ tional holders.

Benefits: Same cutting data as with classic short holders even if the overhang of the tool is 10xD. Seco’s range of Seco-Capto bars for turning/static operations can be used for boring operations as well.

With more than 150,000 views, the film Heavy Machining is one of Seco’s biggest Youtube block-busters. The two-minute film features super heavy turning of a 25 metric ton rotor shaft. If you haven’t tuned in already, subscribe to Seco Tools on Youtube.

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Number crunch

70 countries

Edge magazine has a print run of 80,200 copies. It is translated into 24 languages and distributed to about 70 countries.

Some 95,000 copies of the Seco Tools catalogue are printed, and 65,000 copies of the complete Machining Navigator Catalogue set are distributed.

JS554-2C end mill

The Apollo carbon fibre vehicle weighs just 50 kilograms and travels 550 kilo­ metres on 1 litre of bio-ethanol fuel.

Advanced roughing, or dynamic milling, is a trend that is here to stay. Seco’s goal was to offer a tool that is capable of machining in all conditions and handling all CAM programmed toolpaths. In advanced roughing, typically a high axial engagement (ap) is combined with a small radial engagement (ae) and a relatively high cutting speed.

To achieve a continuous chip thick­ ness at all time, the CAM module adapts feed (vf) and/or changes the radial engagement (ae) depend­ ing on the work piece features. The 554-2C designed to perform in both these strategies.

Benefits: A single tool that offers a solution for a wide range of materials as well as for a wide range of ‘advanced roughing’ CAM modules.

Going great guns Armortek is a small company with big

off, grooving and threading. Specific

ness. Run by husband and wife team

turned parts include the guns’ barrels,

Mark and Gill Watkins, the company

breaches, muzzles, wheels, axles and

is the world’s leading manufacturer of

traverse and elevation mechanisms.

1/6th scale armour kits, including a model of the British WWI Mark IV Tank.

Recently Armotek launched a model

This 25 pounder field gun is 786mm long and weighs 9 kilos. The impressive model is made from aluminium, steel and brass. All parts are CNC machined and/or laser cut from solid bar, billet or castings, and manufactured to high tolerances.

turning operations, profiling, parting-

ambitions in a slightly unusual busi­

Prior to the creation of Armortek, Mark Watkins worked as a produc­ tion engineer at the Ford Company in

of the British 25 field gun that initially

Dagenham. It was here in 1983 that he

saw active service at the Battle of E ­l

first came into contact with Seco when

Alamein in 1942, and later in the Korean

involved in an innovative project to hard

and Vietnam Wars.

turn chilled iron – a process designed

Each gun kit comprises some 200different parts (excluding fasteners and rivets), and a significant proportion

to replace the previously used grinding method.

Remembers Mark Watkins: “The

of them are turned on Armortek’s CNC

project was successful and the role

turning centres using a range of Seco

that Seco played in the venture stuck

products and solutions, such as basic

with me.”

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News & trends

Seco Highfeed 2&4

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Seco’s High Feed milling cutters permit up to three times faster machining than conventional methods. Shallow depths of cut paired with high feed per tooth rates provide greater metal removal rates for intensely high levels of productivity combined with good stability even in long overhangs.

The new Seco Highfeed 2TM and Seco Highfeed 4TM incor­ porate new close-pitch and normal pitch designs, together with new rectangular inserts – LP05 (Highfeed 2) and LO06 (Highfeed 4) – that allow for more teeth/insert pockets per cutter diameter. With more teeth, they excel in high-speed cutting of hard and difficult to machine materials – especially when using smaller machines with high rpm and low torque spindles.

Benefits: Performance results of the new cutters in terms of speed and efficiency far exceed those using larger, higher horsepower machines and taking slower heavier cuts.

knowledge global trends

Ciaran Dillane Company Director of Irish tool supplier Premier Machine Tools

S

ixty percent of our business is in orthopaedics – mostly hips and knees – and we work with three of the biggest manufacturers in the world, which have their manufacturing in Ireland. The orthopaedics industry has been growing aggressively for decades, and the rates are expected to be between six and 10 percent for the next few years.

From a manufacturing perspective, one interesting thing happening is the development of the specialized market, where there is a lot of focus on new materials and designs that incorporate bone growth. The combination of those two factors has led towards increased interest in 3D printing, or “additive manufacturing.”

We’ve also seen new interest in tooling at the design stage of orthopaedics, so the implants are being designed with manufacturing in mind.

Orthopaedic industry trends

Bio-compatible Interview Linas Alsenas Illustration by Mika Pollack/AgentMolly

trends in medical technology

3D printing

Porous materials

Dry machining

From a tooling perspective, 3D printing makes a lot of people in our industry nervous, because they see finished products being created in near-perfect shape.

Personally, I think this is a great opportunity for the industry, because additive manufacturing will require specialist geometries and coatings, with renewed focus on finishing.

The main material used in implants has been cobalt chrome (CoCr), but 15 percent of humans are allergic to the material. So we’ve seen a large move towards titanium and titanium alloys instead, and the implants are designed in such a way that the bone actually grows into the implants; they need to be porous, or honeycombed.

Traditional machining uses oilbased coolants (emulsion-based coolants), which are removed afterwards with cleaning solu­ tions. However, when a material is 60 percent porous, you can see the difficulty in guaranteeing the removal of all the emulsions.

“Dry machining” doesn’t use emulsions at all.

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CASE material

Built

on trust

Finnish component supplier Nomet’s relationship with Seco spans several decades. The degree of trust the two companies share was made clear when Nomet trialled Seco’s new generation of TP grades, based on Duratomic technology, ahead of its release.

by Wif Stenger Photos by Aleksi Poutanen

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Nomet’s products include components for the construction, mining and forest product indus­ tries as well as power transmission, generator and engine manufacturing.

Relying on Seco

Photo: Jonathan Gainer / Getty Images

Seco is Nomet’s main supplier of milling tools, with hundreds of variations in use.

For turning, Nomet has used the TP grades, based on Duratomic technology since it was introduced in 2007. Nomet was also one of the first companies to try out the new TP grades based on Duratomic technology, months ahead of its official release on 1 April 2015.

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CASE material

O

utside the Finnish headquarters of component supplier Nomet stands a large hydraulic rockbreaking hammer, jutting theatrically into the sky like a large harpoon. The hammer is an appropriate adornment to the plant, located in the town of Tampere in the country’s south, as many of its inner parts were manufactured here.

Today, theNomet workshop is abuzz with dozens of large milling and turning machines. Amidst them all, a Finnish puukko belt knife lies on a wooden table.

Workmanship still plays a key role in the plant’s operation, despite its reliance on CNC technology.

These two tools – the hammer and the knife – symbolise some of the key industries that rely on Nomet for precision metal cutting and parts supply. Rauno Virkorinne, Method Engineer at Nomet, explains, “The mining industry has been our biggest customer sector in recent years. The electrotechnical industry is also quite important.

So are the construction, forest, process and vehicle industries.”

Virkorinne says while sales slowed in 2008, the domestic market is now recovering. “We expect growth this year,” he says.

“We have plans to go stronger into export.

We supply machinery parts right across the Nordic region, within Europe and to countries including the US, Russia, Brazil and China.”

Nomet relies on Seco tools to maximise the speed, efficiency and profitability of its production. “The reason is reliability,” says Virkorinne. “We can trust them. And the support and knowledge Seco provides is also very important for us.”

When Seco staff visit the workshop, it’s immediately apparent how closely the two firms work together, as is the mutual respect and understanding that is felt. Seco Tools Finland’s General Manager Keijo Manner is accompanied by Technical Salesman Pertti Tingander. Tingander worked at Nomet for

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Promising results. Nomet was one of the first Seco customers to test the new generation of the Duratomic based TP grades ahead of its release in April 2015. Method Engineer Rauno Virkorinne is pleased with the results.

“ It’s close to a 50 percent improvement, so that’s a significant cost saving.

Rauno Virkorinne, Method Engineer, Nomet

Nomet in a nutshell Established in 1950, Nomet is a machine shop and com­ ponent supplier specialising in metal cutting processes.

Its main products include hydraulics components, screws, shafts, frames, semi-manufactured products and subassemblies.

The company’s key customer sectors include the min­ ing, construction and forest product industries, as well as power transmission, generator and engine manufacturing.

Nomet’s 55 employees work in a 5500 square metre facility in Tampere, the largest inland city in the Nordic region. In 2014, net sales totalled EUR 8 million.

Close contacts. Pertti Tingander, who is now a Technical Salesman, worked at Nomet for some 20 years before joining Seco in 2008. He still maintains close contacts with his old firm.

some 20 years before joining Seco in 2008 and he still maintains close contacts at the firm.

Keijo Manner explains, “We have another technical salesman here in Tampere, Jorma Kivinen, who’s here at Nomet every second week or so, helping them to raise their productivity.”

The two companies have a long shared history. Established in 1950, Nomet has used Seco tools for decades.

“The local Seco agent supplied our products to Nomet for many years,” says Manner.

“We bought that supplier when Seco Finland was set up in 2003.”

Tingander discusses wear behaviour with a machine operator who is testing out Seco’s new TP grades ahead of its release in April 2015. The Duratomic technology based coating has been redesigned at the atomic level to make it even tougher and more abrasion resistant. This ensures improved thoughness, heat and wear resistance as well as chemical intertness for longer tool life, also at high cutting speeds.

“We’ll probably start using this new insert,” says Virkorinne. “Our tests show that it’s 25 percent faster and more durable than the competitor’s product, and it’s more reliable, which is very important in this case.”

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CASE material

“ Our tests show that it’s 25 percent faster and more durable than the competitor’s product.”

Rauno Virkorinne, Method Engineer, Nomet

Manner explains, “Whereas an older insert might last for 20 minutes before you have to change it, the new TP grades may last 30 or 40 minutes.”

Virkorinne chimes in, “Well, it’s close to a 50 percent improvement, so that’s a significant cost saving. It depends on the material and so on.”

Besides tools, Seco supplies the company’s staff

with know-how, advising them on how to maximise operations by using the best turning grades. Both companies are keenly aware that Nomet’s use of cutting-edge technology can improve the firm’s bottom line and make it a more appealing partner for its own customers. Faster cutting speeds, with fewer stops to change tools, make everyone happier, and are also more sustainable.

“We present all the new products to Nomet as they become available,” says Manner.

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“We discuss any problems and try to solve them together.”

Virkorinne says the most recent major challenge involved hard part turning.

“Seco made suggestions of new ways to do it,” he says. “We changed to a different type of insert made of cubic boron nitride (CBN). We checked the insert quality and changed the tool holders because the inserts had a different shape. So, advice and suggestions are important.”

Manner says Nomet is an important customer. “They have great potential,” he says.

“Today, our ideas and thinking regarding efficiency are even more in sync than before.”

Virkorinne agrees the relationship is very good. Asked how the partnership could be improved, he smiles and says laconically: “There are no problems. It works fine now.”

Mutual respect. Pertti ­Tingander from Seco, Rauno Virkorinne from Nomet and Keijo Manner from Seco Finland, discuss new measures to maximise the efficiency of Nomet’s production.

Cutting data using Duratomic based TP2501 Component: Sleeve (more details not available due to trade secrecy) Material: 34CrNiMo6, a low-alloy steel containing nickel, chromium and molybdenum. Very tough and heattreatable with high tensile strength.

Operation: Outside rough turning Machining objective: Better reliability, chip control Cutting tool: CNMM190624W-R7, TP2501 Machining data: cutting speed 175.5Â metres/minute

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CASE Application Milling

Efficiency through

flexibility By thomas Milz Photos by Luiz Maximiano

Brazilian machine tools manufacturer Romi has optimised its production process by introducing flexible manufacturing system (FMS) units. Seco Tools was involved in the change, supplying the necessary milling cutters.

Guilherme de Abreu knows all about optimising production processes.

As Machining and Processes Engineering Supervisor at Industrias Romi, his daily work revolves around the three MCX 900 horizontal machining units that make up Romi’s new flexible manufacturing system (FMS). From its base in Brazil, Romi uses the equipment to manufacture components for its entire range of machine tools as well as its and plastic injection and blow moulding machines.

Romi’s involvement with FMS started in 2011 when it acquired the German machine tools manufacturer Burkhardt + Weber (B + W). Abreu, who is responsible for Romi’s FMS units, then spent four months at B + W developing Romi’s FMS project together with the German engineering team.

Romi produced the first components on its newly installed FMS units in April 2014.

The production of the components at the Romi production unit at Santa Bárbara d`Oeste, São Paulo State, made the company the first Brazilian machine tools manufacturer to use FMS.

Today, Romi produces some 30 different components on the FMS units, medium-sized parts for the whole range of the company’s machine tools, such as engine and CNC lathes, turning and machining centers.

Supply Chain Manager Fernando Marcos Cassoni says there are plans to further expand the concept. “We are constantly transferring the production of further components to the FMS units,” he says. “This is happening at a rate of one component item per week until we reach 150 components.”

Romi plans to increase machine running times from today’s eight-hour shifts up to three shifts, allowing for round-the-clock operation by the end of 2015.

Shifting production to the FMS has huge advantages. The machines feature a magazine for 390 different tools and an automatic feed system for parts and fixtures. “The FMS allows us to reduce the production set-up time to zero”, says Abreu. “Before the FMS, each machine set-up took us between three and four hours, forcing us to produce a whole batch of each component item EDGE (2. 2015)

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Case Application milling

390

Number of different tools in the magazine of the FMS units.

Romi Indústrias Romi S. A., founded in 1930, is the Brazilian machinery and industrial equipment market leader. Exporting to five conti­ nents, Romi`s core markets include Latin and North America as well as Europe, with representations in England, Spain, Germany, France, USA, Mexico and China, supplying various industrial sectors such as oil, gas, mining, tooling, machining, automobile and aircraft as well as metallurgy.

instead of the number actually needed. This built up unnecessary stock.”

This benefit is on top of the FMS’s increased reaction speed to demand variation, which helps to avoid unproductive intervals. The new technology has made it possible to shorten manufacturing periods by up to 30 percent.

Cassoni explains, “We started the FMS project because we needed more flexibility in our production process. The machinery and equipment markets are our core business and demand rapid solutions. So, we need to deliver rapid and customized, unique solutions.”

However, flexibility alone isn`t enough to achieve high productivity. “The FMS highspeed procession requires high-end tools, and fortunately Seco has them,” says Cassoni. Guilherme de Abreu adds, “Our decision to bring Seco into our FMS project was due to the high quality and reliability of its cutting tools as well as its excellent support.

We knew this from previous projects.”

Claudenir Paro Junior is Seco Tools Brazil’s Component Engineered Tooling Coordinator. “We joined the project in its development phase, as we had to make sure

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that our products would be able to respond to all requirements,” he says. “As Romi produces a wide range of different components on the same machine, our job was to adapt our tools so they would work perfectly within the different set-ups.”

Seco Tools now supplies all the milling cutters used by Romi’s FMS units, and it provides support for the ongoing expansion of the FMS. Cassoni says speed and quality will be even more important moving ahead. “Brazil makes up about 70 percent of Romi’s sales, and it’s a difficult market, especially now with the economy going through hard times,” he says. “You have to work harder and be even more flexible to become as competitive as need.”

Further investment is planned, focusing on automation of all production processes, including miniload and further logistic solutions.

“Brazil’s economy often suffers from a lack of investments in innovative solutions.

But we do things differently,” says Cassoni, showing the same entrepreneurial spirit that has brought Romi to the vanguard of modern production processes.

“ The FMS allows us to reduce the production set-up time to zero.”

Guilherme de Abreu, Machining and Processes Engineering Supervisor, Industrias Romi

Seco at Romi Romi’s decision to choose Seco Tools as a supplier for its FMS project was based on the two compa­ nies working together successfully on previous projects.

Seco supplies Romi with more than 100 milling cutters for the FMS units, including Square 6TM, Double OctomillTM and carbide cutters. It also sup­ plies custom tooling.

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Possibilities RECYCLING IN SPACE

Rocket science The recycling trend has now reached space. While most rockets are designed to burn up on reentry, California-based space technology company SpaceX is developing rockets designed not only to withstand reentry but also to return to the launch pad for a vertical landing.

In March 2014, SpaceX began testing the F9R devel­ opment test vehicle, an advanced prototype for the world’s first reusable rocket. A commercial version of this rapidly reusable space launch vehicle could reduce the cost of reaching Earth orbit by one hundredfold, according to SpaceX.

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Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Building your own reusable spaceship?

In EDGE’s Possibilities section, we look at some of the world’s more interesting curiosities and the Seco tools that can be implemented to help construct them.

Space program Tools made by Seco have been used in the develop­ ment of the rocket thrusternozzles. Seco produces a range of products aimed at the space and aerospace industries.

MS2050 The introduction of Seco Tools’ new MS2050 insert grade allows for a whole new level of productivity.

When machining aerospace parts in titanium, MS2050 will extend tool life by 40 to 60 percent compared with conventional inserts across the same cutting param­ eters.

Perfect for square shoulder milling, face milling, copy milling and high feed milling in titanium applications, the grade MS2050 features a new coating technique and substrate, optimised for dif­ ficult situations.

Read more on secotools. com/aerospace

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edge and you

Big is beautiful

by Michael Lawton Photo by Basile Bornand

Heinz Krähenbühl founded his PRO-CAM CNC business in the small Swiss village of Huttwil nearly 20 years ago. Right from the start, he specialised in offering customers a flexible approach to the handling of large components.

Heinz When I started out on my own nearly Krähenbühl 20 years ago, I decided to focus on size. My Age: 50 Function: Founder and CEO of PRO-CAM CNC AG Location: Huttwil, Switzerland Family: Married Hobbies: Ice hockey. He is the honorary CEO of the Brandis ice hockey club.

Education: Vocational training as machine mechanic.

first CNC machine was able to handle items that were six metres long, which was huge at the time and quite unusual in Switzerland. I recognised that dealing with larger items would be a specialisation that would differentiate me from most of the other machining shops. I’ve stayed with that idea ever since. We can now handle items that are 16 metres long, and we’ve just put in a CNC machine that can deal with components that are 3 metres square and 4.3 metres high.

We’re a small company with 15 staff. You would usually expect to find machines such as ours in companies with 100 or 150 staff.

However, our size means that we’re flexible and that we can respond more rapidly to market requirements.

Seco Tools has a special position here.

When I started out, it was just me and my machine in an old cowshed in the middle of nowhere and only Seco could be bothered to find the way. Since then, our relationship has developed. I know that I’m always up to date with the latest technology, and they are very quick to solve problems.

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cutting EDGE Q&a

Patrick de Vos, Corporate Technical Education Manager at Seco Tools Group, answers your questions about machining.

Ask Patrick

Do you have questions?

Send them to the email address below: patrick.de.vos@secotools.com

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Is the chrome appearance of the new Duratomic coating purely cosmetic, or does it have a function?

Why does Machining Navigator 2015 include a textbook on metal cutting?

How do high-feed milling tools and techniques lead to longer tool life?

Answer: The new Duratomic technology coating has a chrome appearance/Used Edge Detection. In turning applications, the used-inserts box inevitably contains a number of cutting edges that have not been used. Based on visual observation, the operator cannot be sure whether they have been used already, so, just to be safe, he or she will take a new insert instead. This is a serious waste of money.

However, the new Duratomic coating’s high contrast chrome color clearly signals whether the cutting edge has been used.

This seriously reduces the throwing away of new cutting edges: we found that Used Edge Detection reduces the percentage of disposed, unused cutting edges from an average of more than 10% to nearly zero.

An important side note: the Chrome Used Edge Detection does not affect the performance of the coating. In the past, coating materials have often featured a certain property – but at the same time also introduced some kind of limitation. This is absolutely not the case for the new chrome Duratomic technology based coating. 

Answer: Some people seem to be capable of doing magic in metal cutting. If that’s the case, “magical” phenomena is controlled by “magic” formulas. And magic formulas are found in magic books.

For metal cutting magic, there are lots of magic books available. However, most of them were written back in 1950s, and more recent ones are rare. The textbook Metal Cutting, Theories in Practice was written in 2014, and it tells the story as it is today, with today’s tools and for today’s workpiece materials.

Making the best tools available is Seco’s core business, but informing our customers about the best techniques and methods on how to use the tools is equally important. Too often good advice for a fast, economical and reliable cutting process is obtained at random and by coincidence. By including this textbook in Machining Navigator, Seco underlines its ambitions of being a competent supplier. Machining Navigator thus expands from being a reliable source of information to being a reliable source of knowledge, as well, for the industry. 

Answer: Productivity in metal cutting is driven by the metal removal rate. A higher metal removal rate (the volume of material removed per time unit) equals a more efficient and productive process. The removal rate is determined as the product of the axial and radial depth of cut, the feed/tooth and the cutting speed.

When comparing traditional milling tools with high-feed milling tools, we observe that for the same depth of cut and feed, the width of the chip increases when using high-feed milling tools. At the same time, the average thickness of the chip is reduced, which means that the feeds can be increased to very high levels (what we refer to as a high feed milling technique). These differences mean lower mechanical, thermal and tribological loads on the cutting edge – and therefore better-controlled tool deterioration phenomena, longer tool life of the cutting edge and a more reliable cutting process. 

CASE INDUSTRY POWER GENERATION

new spin on an old tradition When the 2008 economic crisis hit, Italian turbine blade manufacturer C*Blade needed to find ways of becoming more flexible and more efficient.

With help from Seco Tools, it streamlined its machining processes and is now thriving.

By gea scancarello Photos by Maurizio Camagna

Creating sparks. C*Blade manufactures turbine blades for use in the power generation industry.

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CASE INDUSTRY POWER GENERATION C*Blade uses 3D modelling to design the molds for the turbine blades.

It all started with knives.

Seven centuries ago, while the rest of what is now modern Italy was developing commerce, science and the arts, artisans in the town of Maniago were learning how to expertly forge metals. Located at the foot of the Dolomite mountain range, the town’s iron-rich soil and abundant water supply, made it ideally suited to the craft of knife making. Its high quality blades quickly became highly sought after, and the town is today considered by many to be the world knife capital.

Since the 1960s, Maniago has also been known for another blade making tradition – manufacturing turbine blades for use in power generation. The town is home to C*Blade, one of only a handful of companies capable of meeting the high demands of the power generation industry. From two plants, C*Blade’s 130 technicians provide the big names in the power generation market with a wide range of completely-readyto-fit blades for both steam and gas turbines.

Gianluca Canzian, C*Blade’s Cam-Cad Office Manager, explains the business is continually evolving. “Over the last 15 years, blade manufacturing has changed significantly,” he says. “New processes and engineering techniques have been introduced.

The power generation industry needs more efficient products, which means better performing blades. However, for manufacturers this means more complicated machining.”

The global economic crisis that started in 2008 made the situation even more challenging. Even the most successful power generation companies drastically reduced

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C*Blade Based in the north-east Italian town of Maniago, C*Blade’s specialty is manufacturing forged turbine blades. It carries out every step of the production process, from creating the first paper sketches to providing the ready-to-fit product. The company assumed its current name in 2000 with the merger of Campolin & Beltrame and ISTAL, but its origins stretch back to 1963 when it began forging steel products. Its expertise has continued to grow ever since.

Today, C*Blade is one of the few companies in the world capable of machining any turbine blade for the power genera­ tion industry. Products include blades with overall lengths of up to 1,500 mm and weights of up to 180 kg. The company pro­ duces 40,000 blades a year.

“ The change has translated into a 40 percent drop in our costs, as well as a boost in productivity.�

Luca Bassan, Machining workshop manager, C*Blade

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CASE INDUSTRY POWER GENERATION

their spending, with many postponing new investments on turbines.

“This has also partially changed the focus of our work, as we’re often asked to produce new blades to replace older ones on existing turbines,” says Canzian.

To adapt to the changes, C*Blade has had to become more flexible and efficient and to work in a more timely fashion. Manufacturing precision has had to be maintained, despite lowered revenues.

The company has dealt with the changes by completely rethinking its approach to operations and machining. In this, it has had help from one of its long-term solution providers, Seco Tools.

Previously, all milling tools used by C*Blade were completely customised for individual machining jobs. This provided a high degree of precision, but was costly and time consuming, as tools had to be both produced and then replaced when they worn out.

The forgings are normally made from spe­ cial bar quality steel. The CAM programs required for the milling of the blades in the company’s CNC machines are devel­ oped by C*Blade itself (below).

Customised solutions Seco Tools works side by side with C*Blade in creating engineering tools tailored for specific machining needs. Since 2013, two major inno­ vations have been introduced: the customised disc milling cutter with standard insert and the Fir-Tree cutter.

The customised disc milling cutter with standard insert is a family of disc milling cut­ ters designed to suit C*Blade processing. The

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EDGE (2. 2015)

tailored body adapts to specific milling criteria, while standard inserts can be changed and replenished in an easy, timely fashion, cutting down both storage and investment costs.

The Fir-Tree cutter optimises the produc­ tion of the foot of turbine blades, doing work that was previously carried out by two separate machines. Processing time has been reduced by 70 percent.

C*Blade’s origins stretch back to 1963 when it began forging steel products. Its expertise has contin­ ued to grow ever since.

Photo: C*Blade Customised disc mills are assembled with standard SNHQ12 inserts for profiling the finishing machining of the fork type foot of the turbine blade.

Luca Bassan, C*Blade Machining Workshop Manager, explains, “In order to be more flexible, we needed to reduce both the costs and stock-replenishing time for our milling tools. Working side by side with staff from Seco Tools, we were able to come up with a challenging idea that proved effective.”

The engineers came up with the idea of combining customised tools with standard ones. This meant, for example, using a customised disc milling cutter with standard inserts. Unlike disc milling cutters, standard inserts can be ordered and replaced at any time, with just a couple of days’ waiting time for stock to be replenished. The inserts are always in stock and are cheaper than the custom ones.

By combining these two types of elements,

C*Blade has been able to maintain quality while reducing costs. “Standard inserts don’t suffer from obsolescence and don’t require investment spending, and this means less money stuck in the store room,” says Bassan, “The change has translated into a 40 percent drop in our costs, as well as a boost in productivity.”

The idea has proved so successful that it has become a standard approach for all processes involving the different varieties of milling tools at C*Blade machining. The concept of modularity was introduced to the Fir-Tree cutter, making the production of blades significantly easier.

Costantino Lovato is International Application Expert for the Power Generation segment at Seco Tools, says, “It’s very important to listen to customers’ needs, and to work intensively to try to satisfy them. This is what we did with C*Blade.”

Seco Tools and C*Blade staff are now continuing to cooperate, discussing problems and potential solutions, as they manage the transformation of the processes and ensure that each operation runs smoothly. “If our customers need greater flexibility, then we need to become more flexible too,” says Lovato.

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Edge of the world hindrik engström By karin strand Photos by jonas Gauffin

Hindrik Engström Age: 38 Background: Agricultural ­college, studies in mechanical engi­ neering at Chalmers U ­ niversity, degree-related work at Outo­ kumpu in Avesta, Sweden. He is a grade developer and project manager at Seco Tools’ R&D department in Fagersta, Sweden.

Hobbies: Moose hunting, ­ downhill skiing, spending ­ time with his family.

28 EDGE (2. 2015)

A perfect balance

During office hours, Hindrik Engström is a developer within Seco Tools’ research and development department. But in his spare time, the 38-year-old cuts down trees, builds roads and maintains old buildings. He feels he truly has the best of both worlds.

The road to Dullbo farm, some 30 kilometres northwest of Seco’s headquarters in Fagersta, Sweden, winds its way through a white, fairytale landscape. Snow weighs down the young deciduous trees, bending them into graceful arcs across the road. Even the dark fir trees have white drifts on their branches.

But then, the forest opens up and the farm comes into view. It’s situated high up, overlooking an icecovered lake and a forest-covered hill.

Hindrik Engström is dressed appropriately for the outdoors, from the cap on his head to the snow gaiters on his legs and the heavy boots on his feet.

He has come straight from the forest where he has

been working on his harvester.

We enter his house, which dates from 1808, and settle down in the large kitchen. Ekko, an elkhound, stretches out on the floor as steam rises from the teacups.

“The farm has been in the family since the sixteenth century,” Engström explains. “There’s even a preserved deed of endowment from [the founder of modern Sweden] King Gustav Vasa. It’s dated 20 April 1552 and it states EDGE (2. 2015)

29

Edge of the world hindrik engström

“ Suddenly, the wolves were just 10 metres from me.”

Hindrik Engström

that Peder Jonsson in Tullebo is entitled ’to cultivate and use’ the land on condition that he pays taxes to the Crown. It was the King’s ploy to satisfy loyal subjects and secure income for the state.”

Tullebo became Dullbo and, nowadays, it’s Peder Jons-

son’s descendant Hindrik Engström who cultivates and uses the land. Essentially, this means that he’s a forest farmer in his spare time. Overall, there are 540 hectares divided into three sections, with Engström himself handling a good deal of the work.

“I have a lot of fun and get a lot of stimulation from my job as a developer and project manager, and that includes lots of interaction with people from various countries. But, at the same time, it’s extremely pleasant to return to the peace and quiet here at home in the forest after a working day. And to work on managing and improving my ancestral farm.”

During his childhood, the forest was Engström’s main interest, and he studied at the agricultural college with the intention of becoming a forest ranger or forester. But after military service, he wasn’t so keen on studying, and he drove a harvester for three years.

“But that’s a lonely job with very little social interaction,” he says. “So I moved to Gothenburg, undertook supplementary study, and was accepted

by Chalmers University where I studied mechanical engineering. Eventually, I got a job at Seco Tools’ R&D department where, in my role as a project manager, I monitor products from concept to realisation and constantly deal with people. It’s very stimulating and enjoyable.”

Engström is part of the team that developed many of Seco’s Duratomic product grades. This task is primarily focused on turning grades, but he has also had a lot to do with the development of milling grades.

“Now that I work so much with farm machinery, I have some understanding of the demands made on many of the parts produced using our inserts,” he says. “Unfortunately, there are no Seco Tools products in my forest machinery. But I’m sure that Seco’s

30 EDGE (2. 2015)

1552 The year when Hindrik Engström’s ancestors were given the rights from the Swedish Crown to “cultivate and use” Dullbo farm.

inserts have been used somewhere in the manufacture of the equipment.”

However, forestry is not Engström’s only pursuit away from his job. Dullbo farm comprises no fewer than 28 buildings. These range from a nineteenth century log cabin, which served as accommodation for labourers and maids, to a modern machine hall, decked out in shiny silver-toned metal. The need for maintenance is constant.

“Looking ahead, I plan to paint the hall red so that it blends in better,” Engström says. “Otherwise, the barn is this year’s project, which involves repairing the roof. And then there’s always facades that need

3 types of equipment necessary for a forest farmer

Forwarders: “Absolutely necessary for driving timber to the road.”

painting and windows that need new putty.”

Because he spends a lot of time in the forest, Engström has had some very exciting experiences there. What made the biggest impression was his encounter with a pair of wolves.

“Suddenly, they were just ten metres away from me,” he says. “The female was completely silverwhite and the male was black with a brown mark on his forehead. These powerful and cunning animals looked confidently at me and then walked around me in a semi-circle, before continuing away determinedly. That was a really memorable experience.”

Excavators: “To repair roads and a thousand other things – an investment that pays off quickly.”

Brushcutters: “Clearing and thinning young forests is crucial in ensuring good growth.”

See more images of Hindrik and his family’s farm in the EDGE iPad app.

EDGE (2. 2015)

31

High Feed Milling is recommended if … You have problems with vibrations … You want to increase productivity … You are roughing hardened materials and super alloys.

32 EDGE (2. 2015)

Edge-ucation

Faster and more efficient There are a number of excellent reasons to use High Feed Milling. Here are a few tips to get you started.

By cari simmons Photos by jonas Gauffin

High Feed Milling is fast. It’s designed to remove as much material as possible in the shortest amount of time. In fact, it can almost triple the amount of material removed compared to machining with conventional methods.

Not only does High Feed Milling increase productivity by removing material faster, but it also achieves this with greater stability, extending tool life. Jörgen Andersson, Product Manager, Copy Milling, explains, “High Feed Milling is less sensitive to vibrations due to axially directed forces than ordinary milling methods, which means that you can keep up the feeds even in long tool overhangs.”

EDGE (2. 2015)

33

“ The more difficult the materials are to machine, the more beneficial it is to use High Feed Milling.”

Jörgen Andersson, Product Manager, seco

Even with the increased productivity, High Feed Milling consumes less energy than conventional milling, while removing the same amount of material.

(See the sidebar for details.)

High Feed Milling is mainly used as a roughing method and it can be applied in all kinds of applications and materials. It can be found in all industrial segments, especially within aerospace, die and mould, and general engineering. “The more difficult the materials are to machine, the more beneficial it is to use High Feed Milling,” says Andersson.

The decision on whether or not to

use High Feed Milling also comes down to the application. “High Feed Milling is especially recommended if you have difficult-tomachine materials or if you have long overhang on the tools, for instance when you have deep cavities to mill,” says Andersson.

Seco Tools has been expanding its portfolio of tools for High Feed Milling to match every application. The company was one of the first on the market to offer High

How it works High Feed Milling is a milling method that pairs shallow depth of cut with high feed per tooth, which provides higher metal removal rates, resulting in more parts being machined. The cutting forces are directed at the machine spindle in the axial direction, meaning greater stability and reduced vibrations, extend­ ing tool life.

The most common use for High Feed Milling is in hard-steel intense industries, such as aerospace and engineering, where the method is used for roughing, the first step in the metalworking process.

34 EDGE (2. 2015)

Edge-ucation

Feed Milling solutions. Demand has risen sharply since the first product family was launched in 2003, the R217/220.21-Rxxx range with 218.19 inserts.

“Today, we’re also adding double-sided high feed insert solutions, so that we can offer highperforming solutions that are also more cost effective,” says Andersson. “The double-sided solution means that you can multiply the number of edges, provided that you don’t have sticky materials or require a lot of ramping. In that case, the double-sided solutions can have some limitations in performance.”

A number of factors must be considered to get the most out of the High Feed Milling strategy, and it’s here that Seco Tools’ expertise can help. “We look into what kinds of machines are being used, the machining applications, the materials and what is being manufactured when we recommend a tool so that we provide each customer with the best possible solution,” Andersson says.

Seco’s new Highfeed 2 and High­ feed 4 incorporate new close-pitch and normal pitch designs, together with new rectangular inserts – LP05 (Highfeed 2) and LO06 (Highfeed 4) – that allow for more teeth/insert pockets per cutter diameter.

Despite such support and the many

advantages of High Feed Milling, there is still some hesitancy to use it. Andersson believes some people are fearful that it will cause their machines to break down.

However, he dispels this fear.

“In my opinion, it’s more beneficial for machines to run with High Feed Milling tools because the power consumption in the machine goes down, meaning less stress on the machine and longer life.” Above all, says Andersson, “Don’t be afraid of High Feed Milling!”

Read more on Seco’s new Highfeed 2 and Highfeed 4 on page 6.

Button insert cutter Q = 20.4 cm3/min W = from 43 to 45 w/cm3/min

High feed cutter Q = 45 cm3/min W = from 37 to 39 w/cm3/min

How High Feed Milling increases material removal rates and decreases energy consumption.

Q= material removal rates (MRR cm3/min) W= power consumption EDGE (2. 2015)

35

tools of the trade

Want more? check out Edgeupdate.com’s new look, featuring access to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Also, don’t forget that you can read an enhanced version of every EDGE issue on your iPad by downloading the app!

Get more on Your Ipad Enjoy videos, slideshows of addi­ tional photos and more on EDGE ­magazine’s iPad app.

the Industry’s Best grades for steel turning TP2501 designed for manufacturers focused on dependable productivity and reliable part production. This grade is the top choice for operations, from roughing to finishing, involving a variety of workpiece material requirements and unpredictable working conditions.

TP1501 Widely applicable to steel workpieces, as well as those made from softer, low-alloy steels, the TP1501, with its well-balanced properties, is the top choice for operations requiring high wear resistance and elevated cutting speeds.

TP0501 Best suited for stable conditions and situations allowing the highest output, TP0501 is the top choice for achieving the highest possible wear resistance and/or cutting speeds in high-alloy and abrasive steel turning applications.

Edge Updated Just like the magazine, Edgeupdate.com has a new look and a lot of new features. Be sure to check it out!

like us!

And don’t forget to visit our ­Facebook and Instagram pages, and send us a tweet on Twitter about anything Seco related.

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EDGE (2. 2015)

steel turning remains one of the most common industrial processes in the world. Through the incorporation of Duratomic technology in the TP2500, TP1500, TP0500 and TP3500 grades, Seco has built a reputation as a leader in this application area. Now, Seco is living up to that reputation with a dramatic new introduction. Since the launch in 2007,

Seco has continued to conduct extensive research into the Duratomic technology.

All of that knowledge has been incorporated into three new grades: TP2501, TP1501 and TP0501. While keeping the same characteristics and strengths of their predecessors, these new grades represent a substantial improvement to both toughness and wear resistance.

03007279 ST20156492