Milling-Boring-Grinding of Automotive, Aerospace and Medical Parts

These indexable face milling cutters, PCD-tipped Micro Boring Bars and new bond system for centerless grinding increase production rates and lower cost per unit.

CITCO Tools (Concord Township, OH) will introduce a new line of high velocity, indexable face milling cutters in Booth N-7463 at IMTS 2012 that are designed for use with PCD and PCBN inserts to help manufacturers increase performance in production milling applications such as for automotive components (engine blocks, cylinder heads, manifolds and transmission cases) and aerospace components such as stringers and seat rails.

A unique feature of the new face mill body design, which incorporates a positive lock with limited adjustment, enables diamond or PCBN-tipped inserts to be accurately aligned in a much faster process.

The cutters are designed for use with both roughing and finishing inserts, helping to simplify inventories and set up procedures.  The new milling cutters are available in sizes from 50 mm with two cutting edges up to 305 mm with 26 cutting edges.

CITCO Tools will also introduce a new line of PCD-tipped Micro Boring Bars that are custom designed to fit specific applications using CITCO PCD material that is developed expressly for fine boring. They are available to cover a size range of .080 to .250 minimum bore.

CITCO engineers select PCD material with super-dense properties and proprietary processing techniques to produce micro boring bars with cutting edges that stay sharp longer than conventional tools that tend to become ragged when machining tough, abrasive materials.

As a result, these Micro Boring Bars are proven to help manufacturers of medical components such as heart stents and pace makers, for example, to consistently meet stringent size and finish tolerances in production applications.

Gardner Abrasives (South Beloit, IL) will introduce its new BDP Bond System for high production centerless grinding applications that provides increased production rates and lower cost per unit. The BDP bond features a high porosity design that produces higher G-ratios and provides freer cutting in OD grinding applications.

The added porosity allows better penetration of coolant into the grinding zone. The results are fewer dressings, fewer wheel changes, and the ability to grind far more parts while lowering abrasive cost per part. One user that replaced cork wheels with the new Gardner BDP Bond wheels increased productivity by a factor of three in thru-feed centerless grinding of needle valves.

CITCO Tools and Gardner Abrasives are operations of Cinetic Landis Corporation, part of the global Fives Cinetic group, leaders in advanced manufacturing technology. www.fivesgroup.com/tools