Editor’s comment: March 2017

Machine tool manufacturers are producing faster, more efficient machines year on year; cutting tool companies are refining materials and geometries to produce tools that last longer and cut faster; and cutting fluids are a far cry from the dermatitis-inducing cocktails that I worked with during my machining days in the 1980s. Now they’re safe, advanced chemical formulations produced by very intelligent people in white coats under laboratory conditions.

Whether it’s a new machine tool, component cleaning plant or an all singing, all dancing CMM, most manufacturers do invest in new equipment regularly, but there are other ways to become more productive without breaking the bank; High Feed Milling for example.

I visited tooling specialist Seco recently to find out more about the process. It isn’t new; neither was it invented by Seco, but the company is mounting a significant campaign in early 2017 to promote its virtues. But what is it exactly?

Well essentially it’s a roughing process – but because it involves taking shallow depths of cut, you don’t need the grunt of a BT50 taper machine costing half a million quid to adopt it successfully. Depth of cut is shallow, but productivity is achieved through high cutting speeds, high table feeds and high rpm. All cutting forces are directed axially back up though the spindle.

Of course tooling selection is of paramount importance to carry out High Feed Milling successfully and that’s where Seco’s experience and expertise comes to the fore. It has a range of tools specifically designed for the process spanning diameters from 1mm to 208mm.

As a process, Seco’s technical manager Jon Shipley describes High Feed Milling as ‘forgiving’ and ‘bulletproof’ especially under unstable machining conditions and/or where weak fixturing and low powered machine tools are in the equation.

Check out the full article here.

Dave Tudor Editor