The engineering behind the tools

Polycrystalline diamond (PCD) is a layer of sintered diamond particles brazed onto a carbide body. It is the hardest practical cutting material and keeps a sharp edge for a very long time in abrasive, non-ferrous work: aluminium alloys (including high-silicon casting alloys), copper, brass, composites and plastics.

PCD is not used on steel: at cutting temperatures the carbon in diamond reacts with iron and the edge wears rapidly.

Solid carbide (tungsten carbide in a cobalt binder) is tough and rigid, holds tight tolerances and suits steels, cast iron, stainless steel and, with the right geometry and coating, hardened steels. Our flat end mills are rated for steels up to 65 HRC.

HSK (Hohlschaftkegel, hollow shank taper) clamps on both the taper and the flange face, which gives high radial and axial stiffness and repeatable positioning at high spindle speeds. That is why it is common on modern machining centres in high-volume automotive lines.

Form A is the general form for automatic tool change, with coolant through the centre. Form C is designed for manual clamping. The number (32, 40, 50, 63, 100) is the flange diameter in millimetres.

We supply tools and holders on HSK A and C in sizes 32, 40, 50, 63 and 100, and modular holders. Tell us your interface in the RFQ.

At high spindle speeds a small out-of-balance mass becomes a large rotating force: it causes vibration, poor surface finish, shorter tool life and spindle bearing wear. Tools and holders for high-speed cutting (HSC) are therefore balanced, and the balance quality is stated against a standard.

Our PCD face mill cutters are balanced to DIN 69888 for stable running at HSC spindle speeds, and each cartridge is set axially to micron level.

ISO 286 tolerance classes describe how far a finished size may vary from the nominal size. In a hole tolerance such as H7, the letter H puts the lower limit exactly on the nominal size and the number 7 sets the width of the band (IT7).

For a 10 mm bore, H7 allows 10.000 to 10.015 mm. The band grows with diameter. Holding a class like H7 consistently in production is the job of finishing tools such as reamers and fine boring tools, which take a small, controlled final cut.

HRC is the Rockwell C hardness scale, used for hardened steels. Annealed steels are typically too soft to register meaningfully on it; through-hardened and case-hardened parts are commonly in the range of about 45 to 65 HRC.

Harder workpieces need tougher, more rigid tools, lower cutting speeds and suitable coatings. Always give the hardness with the material in an RFQ.

Spiral point taps push chips ahead of the tap, so they are the choice for through holes. Spiral flute taps lift chips back out of the hole, which makes them the choice for blind holes.

Form taps cold-form the thread instead of cutting it: no chips, a stronger thread, and they work in both through and blind holes in ductile materials. They need a larger pre-drilled hole than cutting taps.

Thread milling cutters cut the thread by circular interpolation. One cutter can make different diameters with the same pitch and profile, and a broken tap stuck in an expensive part is no longer a risk.