Precision cutting tool specialist Mapal says its new ModulBore-Carbon range of bridge tools is ideal for the accurate machining of large bores up to 3,500mm in diameter, whilst maintaining high levels of productivity.
The new tools, which feature carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CRFP) bodies, are unaffected by temperature fluctuations during use, and therefore consistently maintain high degrees of accuracy without the need for adjustment.
Conventional bridge tools for large bores tend to have steel or aluminium bodies. With these types of tool, if the ambient temperature changes or if the tool heats up during use, dimensional fluctuations occur resulting in the thermal expansion of the tool body. This means in order to maintain machining accuracy the tools need to be regularly adjusted and test cuts made, which can have a significant impact on productivity.
In contrast, the CRFP bodies used in ModulBore-Carbon tools have a coefficient of thermal expansion which is practically zero. This means that the new tools deliver consistently high accuracy irrespective of temperature fluctuations and, because adjustments during use are no longer needed, they allow savings to be made in machining time.
Additional benefits of the carbon tools include their light weight, which aids handling and the use of the accurate and well-proven ModulBore fine adjustment system which makes tool set-up simple and reliable.
Mapal offers ModulBore-Carbon bridge tools in versions suitable for machining bore diameters from 500mm to 3,500mm. The tools can be supplied for internal or external machining and are available as double bladed versions, with a leading stage and finely adjustable stage, and as single bladed versions with an integral counterbalance weight.
www.mapal.com
