News

SPPW milling cutters shine in new splendor

Rapid-Line and Mirror-Line milling cutters from SPPW are now available with the innovative Dia.HC Rainbow surface treatment.

This consists of a Ta:C hard carbon coating system (tetra amorphous carbon thin film), also known as super hard tetrahedric amorphous carbon.

In terms of performance, Dia.HC Rainbow represents an absolute high-performance finish among DLC coatings. It is an efficient and cost-effective alternative to classic diamond coatings and PCD tools. Dia.HC Rainbow is characterized by its diamond-like properties and offers a multitude of advantages.

1. It significantly improves the performance of tools and is the ideal solution for demanding applications where both very good wear protection and excellent sliding properties are required.
2. With its exceptionally high coating hardness, Dia.HC Rainbow offers a high level of abrasive wear protection, which is particularly important when machining demanding composite materials.
3. The very smooth carbon surface also ensures a high level of adhesive wear protection.
4. The excellent tribological properties result in a low coefficient of friction and ensure a low tendency to cold welding and built-up edge formation.
5. High thermal stability enables application temperatures of up to 400° C.
6. Dia.HC Rainbow is biocompatible, which allows the cutting tools to be used in the food industry and medical engineering.
7. The sharp cutting edges of the milling tools are coated evenly and close to the contour. Rounding of the cutting edges is negligible due to the low coating thickness.

Dia.HC Rainbow is suitable for a wide range of applications. It enables reliable machining of various materials:

- Aluminum and aluminum alloys with a high silicon content
- Composite materials, lightweight materials such as GRP and CFRP
- Non-ferrous metals such as copper, bronze, brass and precious metals
- Plastics, wood and paper
 
With its optimum price-performance ratio, our Rainbow coating represents a valuable added value for any production process.

Opti-Mag - Exceptional tools for micro mould making

The production of complex forms requires many work steps with different tools. Our tools are characterized by consistently high quality. We cover the entire process chain in micro mould making (from diameter to 0.05 mm) - with an extremely large program width and depth - for reliable machining of high-strength materials.

14 reasons why Threads should be milled

Thread Milling is a modern and efficient method of threading. Especially Solid Carbide Thread Mills from SmiCut give you many benefits compared to other threading methods. On this page you will learn the top 14 advantages of thread milling.

Thread Mills are available as solid tools or as a tool with exchangeable inserts.

1) A secure machining operation

Minimal risk for machining stops as the cutting forces are low and the chips are short. Should there be an accident, the work piece will not be destroyed, as the tool will not be caught since the diameter of the thread mill is less than the thread.

2) Threading in difficult machined materials

The excellent cutting conditions makes it possible to thread mill materials such as hardened steel up to HRC 65, Titanium and other difficult machined materials.

3) Higher thread quality

The cutting conditions are extremely good when you are thread milling. The result of the thread is a higher quality of surface finish, tolerance, angle, etc. compared with other threading methods.

4) Flexible tool

Same cutter can be used for right hand and left hand thread. Threads with different diameters can be made with the same tool as long as the pitch is the same. The same thread mill can be used for blind holes and through holes. W, BSPT, PG, NPT, NPTF and NPSF are thread profiles where you can use the same tool for external and internal thread.

5) Threading in blind holes

When thread milling you will get a complete thread profile to the bottom of the hole. When tapping it´s necessary to drill much deeper as it´s not until the third thread the tap will make a complete thread profile. Sometimes you are able to change the construction as you don´t have to take the deep hole into consideration.
 

6) Less wear on the machine spindle

Thread milling will give you longer life to the machine spindle compared with tapping as the rotation on the spindle doesn´t need to be stopped and reversed for every thread.
 

7) Energy-saving production

Low energy consumption as the machine spindle doesn´t need to be stopped and started after each thread.

8) Thread Milling in a lathe with live tools

Reduced machining time compared turning. Excellent chip control.

9) Threading without burrs

The thread entrance will be burr free when using ThreadBurr. Threading and deburring in one operation. No additional time for deburring. Read more about ThreadBurr.

With solid carbide thread mills from SmiCut you get the thread deburred in the same operation as threading.

10) Shorter machining time

The machining time will be short as you don´t need to chamfer the thread while using ThreadBurr. Big diameters, fine pitches and long holes saves the most time compared with thread tapping.

11) Correct Thread Diameter right away

The Pitch diameter has been optically measured on thread mills from SmiCut and the theoretical external diameter has been individually laser marked on each cutter so you will get a correct thread straight away. When the tool starts to wear it´s possible to make adjustments in the CNC-program.

Double ThreadBurr thread milling cutter with double deburring

A major feature of the ThreadBurr thread milling cutters is the standard deburring feature. This makes it possible to cut and deburr the thread in a single operation. In the same way it is possible to deburr through threads on both sides. For this purpose, a special thread milling cutter is manufactured according to the application, since the position of the second deburring stage depends on the thickness of the material to be milled. We recommend the following procedure:

- The cutting length (l) must correspond to the material thickness. The lower deburring step has a height of at least 150% of the pitch (P).
- Example: Thread M30 x 3 Depth 40 mm
=> 40 / 3 = 13,33
=> 13 gears
=> 13 x 3 = 39 This results in a thread length of 39 mm.
- Thread milling cutter NBB2020D39_3.0ISO (l1=39)

ThreadBurr and through holes

ThreadBurr is available with cutting lengths from 1.5xØ to 3xØ. A standard ThreadBurr can always be used in through holes. The thread milling cutter only has to be moved to the correct depth in the hole.

ThreadBurr and basic bores

In the case of blind holes, the correct cutting length (l) is important in order to use the deburring stage. Normally there is a standard tool for this (cutting lengths 1.5xØ - 3xØ). If this is not the case, a standard thread milling cutter is shortened to the correct length within a short time. Please observe the following instructions:
- The cutting length of the thread milling cutter to be shortened should be at least the required thread depth + 1 gear.

- The length to be shortened (C) must be divisible by the gradient.
- Example: M16 x 1.5 Depth 24 mm from ThreadBurr NB1212D29_1.5ISO (l1=29.25)
=> 24 + 1.5 = 25.5 (required cutting length)
=> 29,25 - 25,5 = 3,75 (maximum length to be shortened)
=> 3,75 / 1,5 = 2,5 (number of gears to be shortened)
=> 2 x 1.5 = 3 (length to be shortened)
=> (29,25 - 3 = 26,25 (cutting length after shortening)
=> 26.25 - 1.5 = 24.75 (thread length after shortening)

Burr-free thread and thread entry in one operation

One of the main advantages of ThreadBurr thread milling cutters are the standard deburring steps. These make it possible to mill the thread and the thread entrance in one operation. No additional machining time is required for countersinking or deburring, because the deburring is done automatically. You receive a burr-free thread entrance without additional costs.

Reliable drilling of fibre plastics

Drilling tools for reliable machining of CFRP/GFRP

With special twist drills, reamers and high-performance cooling channel drills for fibres, Spanabhebende Präzisionswerkzeuge GmbH offers the right tool for every type of fibre.

Depending on the field of application and the desired properties, modern plastics are reinforced with carbon or glass fibres, which can be unidirectional, interwoven or interlaced or multidirectional. SPPW has developed the optimum drilling tool for drilling such fibre-reinforced materials and the various fibre types and proportions.

"Depending on the fiber type, delamination, fiber breakage, fiber overhang and unclean surfaces occur. Avoiding burr formation is also very important," explains Ulrich Schäfer, Sales Manager at SPPW, the difficulties involved in machining CFRP/GRP. "The aim of our new drilling tools is to counteract these effects and achieve fast and clean machining.

In addition to CFRP/GRP, fibre-plastic-metal composites pose a particular challenge, since the drilling tool must be able to machine several materials with very different chip behavior.

In particular, the pressing of metal residues into the fibrous material must be avoided when drilling metal CFRP composites. SPPW has developed a special drilling tool for drilling holes in such metal-fiber hybrid materials that meets all requirements as a single-shot drill.

In addition to spiral drills with sickle tips or tip geometries with angles of less than or equal to 100 degrees, drill reamers distribute the cutting forces optimally during drilling and ensure delamination-free entry and exit of the bore as well as a special surface quality.

High-performance cooling channel drills with several cutting guide chamfers are particularly suitable for the efficient production of high-precision drill holes without delamination and fiber overhang - they can be supplied in various versions and as special drills with deburring function.