Precimac conducts in depth Research and Development projects for best cutting performance in certain complicated applications.
Addressing simple factors of:
- Rigidity of the tool holding system
Simulating customer’s production cutting condition is essential in the research. This normally includes the tool holding system, part holding system, coolant supply situation etc. The tool holding system is always a concern in the simulation to verify that the rigid enough to produce a solid cut.
- Speeds and feeds
In a deep grooving application, a “ring” shape chip is much better than a “belt” shape chip. It is much easier for the chip evacuation, the higher chip-load leads to a high productivity too.
- Temperature impacts
The heat is a killer of the carbide cutting edge in such a deep closed grooving operation. It may destroy the PVD coating layer easily and cause the cutter failure prematurely. Therefore always pay great attention to the cooling system is necessary to apply the coolant to the cutting zone as much as possible.
The cutting zone temperature can be simply monitored by looking at the color of the chips. With an improved coolant supply method, the chips changed to silver color from a dark blue color, which indicates the heat generated at the cutting zone is removed more efficiently, a good condition for preserving the cutting edge.
During the research the chips are collected according to each test cut. The chips are reviewed with microscope and documented.
In a particular case of deep grooving operation , the in-depth study has discovered the big potential around the cutting edge. The research has found a 300% efficiency gain without any major capital investment.
