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by Kathrin Rehor, MAPAL The machine tool manufacturer bavius technologie gmbh was able to achieve impressive material removal rates of over 20 litres per minute on its new high-end model HBZ AeroCell 160 with a new generation of aluminium high-volume milling cutters from the tool manufacturer MAPAL. The result of this successful collaboration comes at the right time for the aerospace industry, which is taking off again following the downturn caused by coronavirus.  bavius has clamped a large aluminium plate in the machine for testing. The maximum possible cutting parameters are determined by milling flutes. ©bavius The machine manufacturer, which emerged from the Handtmann Group, has been operating as an independent company under the name bavius technologie gmbh since a management buy-out in 2017 and has its headquarters in Baienfurt. Despite all the changes, the business area has remained the same for almost four decades. CNC machining centres are designed and built for the precise high-speed machining of large workpieces made of aluminium.  The OptiMill-Alu-Wave is a new and improved version of the solid carbide roughing cutter from MAPAL. For the tests, the milling cutter with the largest available diameter of 25 mm was used and ran with a spindle power of up to 175 kW. It achieved a material removal rate of 20 dm3/min. ©bavius “Over 80 percent of our work is for the aerospace industry, where our AeroCell machines are used primarily to produce large structural parts”, explains Amit Paranjape, Sales Manager at bavius. Customers are aircraft manufacturers and their first and second tier suppliers. Large volumes are required to make full use of the bavius systems. There are currently two different machine lines from Baienfurt. The PBZ profile machining centres are used, among other things, to machine seat tracks for aircraft. The HBZ horizontal machining centres are used to manufacture large structural parts from solid. “Everything long and wide is machined here”, explains Paranjape. “Users can machine all the necessary parts for the airframe of an aircraft on our machines.” The material removal rates are extreme, as one example from a bavius customer shows, who mills out finished parts weighing only 35 kilograms from blanks weighing 1.3 tonnes. Trend towards horizontal machiningThe aerospace industry is undergoing a transformation in terms of machine concepts. After decades of preferring to work on gantry machines or vertical machining centres, horizontal machines are now preferred for new investments, where the components are clamped upright and the spindle is moved horizontally. The main advantage of the horizontal design is the easier removal of the large quantity of chips, which practically fall into the chip conveyor by themselves. At bavius, it’s clear that the aerospace industry has recovered from Covid. Passenger numbers have already returned to pre-pandemic levels and are continuing to rise. As a result, new planes are needed again, which keeps machine manufacturers busy. Demand in Germany, France, Spain and other countries reveals that there is a lot of investment in Europe again. Dynamic machines with high spindle power are particularly sought after.  The bavius horizontal machining centre AeroCell 160 for the high-speed machining of aluminium structural parts up to 1600 x 4000 mm. ©bavius bavius is currently expanding its high-end series HBZ AeroCell with the new AeroCell 160. With a range of mechanical changes, the manufacturer also achieves even greater dynamics with the new machine. Modifications in automation reduce non-productive times. Instead of functioning with hydraulic arms, it is now electrically powered. With the set-up station in front of the machine, a complete pallet change takes two to three minutes. If the pallet is already connected with the part, this takes less than a minute. Tool change has also been optimised with a chip-to-chip time now of 12 seconds. To the limits and beyondThe AeroCell 160 is designed for maximum material removal rates in aluminium. A powerful jet of coolant and a widened chip conveyor ensure that no chip particles can build up anywhere. “Thanks to our concept, we avoid problems that occur with gantry machines. In this way, we can optimally deploy modern tools”, explains Stefan Diem, Application Engineer at bavius. In order to test new machines and at the same time provide customers with references, bavius carries out milling tests that push them to their limits and beyond. “Lots of customers want to see evidence first before they buy a machine”, admits Diem.  Have achieved the best results in aluminium machining in close cooperation (from left): Thomas Jungbeck (Technical Consultant, MAPAL), Tim Rohmer (Product Manager Solid Carbide Milling Tools, MAPAL) and Stefan Diem (Application Engineer, bavius). ©bavius It is important for the machine manufacturer to use the most efficient tools currently available for the tests, which are then also available for customer demonstrations. bavius regularly tests various manufacturers’ tools. Due to the tight production deadlines, there are not many options. “To save time, it is important for us to have a good exchange with the tool manufacturer”, says Stefan Diem. “We’ve had a good relationship with MAPAL for many years and have always been very pleased with the roughing and finishing tools. I appreciate our close collaboration with MAPAL. We receive excellent advice and are in good hands.”  With the OptiMill-Alu-Wave and the NeoMill-Alu-QBig, MAPAL showcases a complete range of products for high-volume machining of aluminium materials at EMO 2023. ©MAPAL Because milling cutters from the OptiMill-SPM series had previously been used at bavius and performed very well, MAPAL was asked again. It was perfect timing: the tool manufacturer had just finished developing a new solid carbide roughing cutter, the OptiMill-Alu-Wave, and also offered the new aluminium high-volume milling cutter NeoMill-Alu-QBig with indexable inserts for larger diameters. The milling tests are kept simple in design but put the tools through their paces. bavius mills a series of flutes in a large aluminium plate for this. Stefan Diem takes a very pragmatic approach: “if the tool can do the flute, we can also use it to mill pockets and do any other machining.” This means that the determined cutting data can be directly applied to customer parts. The tool could do even more The OptiMill-Alu-Wave is a new and improved version of the solid carbide roughing cutter from MAPAL. For the tests, the milling cutter with the largest available diameter of 25 mm was used and ran with a spindle power of up to 175 kW. It achieved a material removal rate of 20 dm3/min. ©bavius For the tests with the OptiMill-Alu-Wave, bavius chose the largest diameter of this three-fluted cutter at 25 mm. At a spindle speed of 25,465 rpm and a cutting speed of 2,000 m/min, the spindle power was gradually increased. Slot number 6 delivered the best material removal rate with a record-breaking 20 dm3/min. This test run was performed with a spindle power of 175 kW, with a torque of 66 Nm, and a material removal rate of 30 mm. The machine stopped during tests at higher powers. “The tool can be fully deployed, the limiting factor is the spindle”, Diem comments on the result. “With the 25 mm OptiMill-Alu-Wave, we have achieved a new dimension in aluminium machining. The milling cutter is definitely better than anything we had previously used.” bavius used the Safe-LockTM system as pull-out protection. “In this speed range, symmetrical pull-out protection is very important in order not to create imbalance”, explains Tim Rohmer, Product Manager Solid Carbide Milling Tools at MAPAL. A Weldon flat, which is often attached to such tools as pull-out protection, is the wrong solution here. To guarantee the smooth running of the machine, there is no way around careful balancing, even with symmetrical tools. The tests in Baienfurt were also met with a great deal of satisfaction in terms of surface quality. The cord geometry of the OptiMill-Alu-Wave ensures optimum chip formation. The polished groove profile ensures seamless chip removal, which is supported by the central cooling of the tool in cooperation with the external cooling in the machine. In further tests, pockets were milled into the aluminium plate, with a material removal rate of 16 litres still being achieved with very good surfaces. For Application Engineer Thomas Jungbeck and Component Manager Alexander Follenweider, who monitored the tests for MAPAL, this is proof of the very good dynamics of the bavius machining centre: “Other machines often stop in the corners and cause high vibrations. This doesn’t occur at all with the AeroCell, which goes round corners almost unrestrained.”  As an indexable insert tool, the new aluminium high-volume milling cutter NeoMill-Alu-QBig from MAPAL is an economic solution for larger diameter ranges. In the tests, the 50-mm milling cutter stood out with a high degree of stability and smooth running. It achieved a material removal rate of 18.4 dm3/min. ©bavius The tests at bavius with the new indexable insert tool NeoMill-Alu-QBig from MAPAL, for which the 50 mm diameter was selected, were also extremely positive.
The aluminium high-volume milling cutter achieved a material removal rate of 18.4 dm3/min. On the machine, the milling cutter stood out with its high level of stability, smooth running and low cutting forces. For use at spindle speeds up to 35,000 rpm, MAPAL fitted the tool body with four threaded bores for fine balancing. The high-precision peripherally ground indexable inserts achieve surface finishes of Ra 0.8 µm and Rz 4 µm during rough and fine machining. They are equipped with a polished chip guiding stage to reduce frictional resistance and heat release. Weight was also saved in order to reduce centrifugal forces. “For larger diameters, milling cutters with indexable inserts are the more economical solution”, explains Heiko Pup, Product Manager for tools with indexable inserts, contrasting the NeoMill-Alu-QBig milling cutters with solid carbide milling cutters. With a 25 mm diameter, the two systems merge. “Some of our customers always go for the more cost-efficient indexable inserts if possible, others prefer to save themselves an extra machining step and continue with the solid carbide milling cutter”, explains Stefan Diem. With different possible radii for its tools, MAPAL provides users with flexibility. With the horizontal machining centre AeroCell 160 and the aluminium high-volume tools, bavius and MAPAL provide users with a combination that takes machining structural parts to a whole new level.
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by Sean McIntosh, OSG District Sales Manager OSG’s HY-PRO® CARB VGM end mill boosts productivity and lowers cost per part in aerospace bracket application.  From left, Allied Tool & Die CNC Process and Machining Manager Jamie Lerma, CNC Machinist David Dao and CNC Programmer John Hernandez. Founded in 1951 in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, Allied Tool & Die Co. is a family-owned precision machine and fabrication company that specializes in the manufacturing of quality parts for aerospace, medical, communications and commercial industries throughout the world. Seventy years since its establishment, this privately owned shop has grown with multiple facilities and an estimated 32,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Phoenix, Arizona.  CAD / CAM model of a part made from 13-8 stainless steel One of the challenges Allied Tool & Die faced recently was the machining of aerospace brackets made of Inconel 718. As is with most shops, machining Inconel 718 is time consuming. Moreover, due to the material’s special high strength and heat resistance properties, short tool life is a common obstacle. In search for performance improvement, Allied Tool & Die CNC Process and Machining Manager Jamie Lerma reached out to his local OSG representative for new solutions. Lerma had worked with OSG previously on a 13-8 stainless steel application by utilizing OSG’s HY-PRO® CARB VGM series end mill to achieve high-efficiency milling.  A part made from 13-8 stainless steel that was machined by OSG’s HY-PRO® CARB VGM end mill. OSG’s HY-PRO® CARB VGM is a high performance variable geometry end mill series. Its variable index and unique flute geometry enable the reduction of vibration and chatter, promoting smooth and stable cutting with low cutting forces. With the addition of OSG proprietary multi-layer EXO coating, higher wear and heat resistance is achieved to prolong tool life. OSG’s VGM offering features 5-, 6- and 7-flute lineups, and is available with multiple lengths of cut, with both square end and corner radius variations. This series is suitable for carbon steels, alloy steels, die steels, stainless steels, cast iron, nickel alloy, titanium, and hardened steels up to 45 HRC. For the 13-8 stainless steel application, the VGM end mill dominated the machining result by extending tool life from seven parts to 21 parts per tool. The parts were also completed in half the time and the tool cost is also cheaper than the competitor tool. Lerma was so impressed by the VGM end mill that he decided to apply the tool to the Inconel 718 aerospace bracket application.  CAD / CAM model of an aerospace bracket made from Inconel 718. Image courtesy of Allied Tool & Die  An aerospace bracket made from Inconel 718 that was machined by OSG’s HY-PRO® CARB VGM end mill. Allied Tool & Die was previously using a high feed indexable milling cutter for the Inconel 718 aerospace bracket application. However, the amount of time and money spent on changing the inserts was less than desired.
The previous competitor tool was used at 150 SFM (45.7 m/min), 0.009 IPT (0.23 mm/t), 0.05 Aa (ap = 1.27 mm) and 0.75 Ar (ae = 19.05 mm). After reprogramming to utilize OSG’s 0.5-inch diameter 5-flute VGM carbide end mill with a 0.030-inch (0.762 mm) corner radius and 1.25-inch (31.75 mm) length of cut (EDP# VGM5-0143), the cutting parameters were changed to 250 SFT (76.2 mm/min, 2,548 min-1), 0.0022 IPT (0.056 mm/t, 713 mm/min), 0.75 Aa and 0.035 Ar. The application went from a 4-hour cycle time to just one hour and 45 minutes. Allied Tool & Die no longer had to keep stopping the machine to rotate or change inserts, which they were doing four times per part previously. By switching to the VGM end mill, the tool was loaded, and the job did not have to be tended to until the part was completed. In terms of efficiency improvement, Allied Tool & Die estimated that the tool change has generated a cost savings of $6,875 USD on the Inconel 718 aerospace bracket parts. Moreover, with a lower tooling price versus the previous milling cutter, the cost of tooling also decreased by almost $100 USD per part. With the VGM end mill, Allied Tool & Die was able to machine Inconel 718 at an astounding 250 surface feet per minute (76.2 m/min) – a speed that is only commonly seen in alloy or stainless steels, not HRSA materials. With the recent successes, Allied Tool & Die’s CNC Programmer John Hernandez decided to apply the VGM end mill into most jobs he programs. Being such a versatile tool, the VGM can be used to machine anything from common carbon steels up to the nickel alloys required by the aerospace industry.  Next Generation Tooling's new SoCal Office, Showroom, Warehouse & Training facility is located at 22343 La Palma Avenue, Suite 126, Yorba Linda, CA 92887 Sacramento, CA. - Next Generation Tooling, LLC, a manufacturer's representative agency, founded in 1995 and servicing the California Nevada Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico CNC manufacturing markets has just opened TWO offices in California. Most of Next Generation Tooling's customers know them as "the Next Gen guys" according to Chris Savolainen, the Founder and President of 'Next Gen Tooling'. What was the rationale of opening not one, but two offices when the entire team has worked out of their own home offices for years?  "We've grown our market service area quite a bit since we started out servicing just Northern California. We now include most of the Western States of the US. We've s been adding some of the best technical CNC application people we can find to support the unique mix of principles we represent. The products that we represent are what are considered very high performance tooling and workholding. It's some of the premiere products in our entire industry! We determined that we really needed a place to provide on-site technical training. We also needed to carry some inventory to support the unique needs of the aerospace, medical, electronics and defense industries that we support." Said Savolainen. Rob Aldama, Vice-President of Next Gen Tool picks up the story, "At first we thought that one training and showroom might be good enough, but as we started talk to our distributor, machine dealer and end-user manufacturing customers, we discovered that there was a real need for facilities in both Northern and Southern California. None of our competitors are providing the deep technical service that has helped us gain market share, so we really felt we should just take it to the next level and open two facilities."  Next Generation Tooling's new NorCal Office, Showroom, Warehouse & training facility is located at 8171 Alpine Ave, Suite A, Sacramento, CA 95829 But what about the Pandemic? With the Covid-19 pandemic raging there are not a lot of companies expanding. Most are cutting costs and employees. When asked about this both Chris and Rob stated that their team of people have remained pretty busy throughout this entire period. Chris said "We get asked in to shops to provide technical support pretty often. Putting on the full body PPE suits has been kind of common for us during the past few months." Rob picked it up from there, "I think we may be some of the really select few that have been asked to come into shops because we're not just taking orders, we're reducing cycle time and we're improving efficiency" Chris jumped back in, "And maybe its a little bit self serving, We can have the equipment set-up at both locations instead of trying to bring it into a facility. It's actually a lot easier, faster and safer to bring people to one of our locations rather than try to move things with lots of sweat and heavy breathing in PPE." "Yea, We can bring people to either location and do the training. There are far less interruptions and the I think people learn a lot more, and learn it faster" stated Rob. NGT Warehouse and Training What types of training do they provide at Next Gen's new buildings? They start off with a lot of fundamentals that people running CNC machines may never had any formal training about. That's where their basic Training Classes fit in. 
But they also can go much deeper with their Advanced Part Manufacturing training series
Join us at #IMTS2018! We'll be learning about new products at our principals booth. Check out our schedule, come join us and we'll learn some new things together!  Wednesday September 12th
10:30 - 11:30 AM - NTK Cutting Tools Booth W-431664 1:00 to 3:00 PM - Big Kaiser Booth W-431610 Thursday September 13th 10:00 to 11:00 AM - Heimatec Booth W-433427 11:00 to 12:00 PM - 5th Axis Booth W-431158 1:00 to 2:00 PM - Precision Cutting Tools W-432164 Friday September 14th 10:00 to 11:00 AM - Carmex Booth W-431480 11:00 to 12:00 PM - OSG Booth W-432080 1:00 to 2:00 PM - Techniks Booth W-431075   We are very excited to announce that effective October 1, 2017 we will be representing Precision Cutting Tools Inc. in the California and Nevada market areas. Precision Cutting Tools Inc. was founded in 1963 and ever since has specialized in the production of high-quality cutting tools. Today, with over fifty years of experience, PCT is a leading cutting tool manufacturer that distributes its products all across the United States and Mexico. They have based their company’s success on their long-standing commitment to satisfy our customers’ needs, by utilizing the finest raw materials, introducing innovative cutting tools and providing excellent customer service. We look froward to working with them to develop new Carbide, Cobalt & Powdered Metal end mill and drill substrates and geometries that will meet the material cutting needs we find uniquely on the West Coast. We think you are in for a a real treat once we see what we're working on with PCT!!! Farewell & Parting: Next Generation Tooling ends relationship with MA Ford after 22 years.9/29/2017  MA Ford 138 End Mill for Aluminum developed by NGT 1998 After 22 years, Next Generation Tooling has ended our relationship as an independent sales agent for MA Ford in the Northern California and Northern Nevada territories. Our last effective day will be September 30, 2017.
We truly appreciate and greatly value our long, successful relationship fostered by both MA Ford and NextGen since the inception of our company. We realize, with no reservation, that the wonderful people at MA Ford were a huge part of our success by working with us to develop technical solutions and will always value our memories and our personal friendships. At the outset of our relationship in the late 1990's, we worked hand-in-hand with MA Ford to introduce their products to the unique applications and high speed machining that takes place in our markets. In conjunction with the MA Ford engineering team we developed the 138 series end mills for use in aluminum and non-ferrous milling. As a result, many other end mill manufacturer's followed in the footsteps of that tool and began developing material specific tooling. Because of the unique needs of our market, we suggested the expansion of LOC and OAL from what was commonly offered in "Stub, Standard, Long & Extra Long" lengths. The 138 series end mills where the first nationally recognized brand to offer 7 different lengths of cuts as stock standard. We are very grateful to everyone at the MA Ford team who has worked with us hand-in-hand for so many years, and wish only the best for MA Ford in the future.   We where very excited to meet and greet many of our customers at the 2017 Western Tool & Supply Open House. It was held at their San Jose, CA. on September 21- 22, 2017. We featured quite a few featured products from our principals during the two day event. It was great discussing lots of technical applications that machinists brought to us! |
NEWSOur NEWS blog section is written by several different people. Sometimes, it from our team here at Next Generation Tooling & at other times it's by one of the manufacturer's we represent. 
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