ITC HELPS TARPEY-HARRIS LTD INCREASE THEIR HIGH SPEED MACHINING CAPABILITIES
17 January 2007 - ITC Tooling

To gain an additional high speed resource and increase the range of their new DEPOJET 1208 machining centre the company have invested in an Air Turbine Tools 250XJS - 30,000 rpm high speed unit supplied by Industrial Tooling Corporation Ltd. The new unit has been a great success paying for itself in the first job as Anthony Harris, Works Director, outlined.

' When we invested in the DEPOJET 1208 we wanted the capability of a large tool making machining centre but also a platform for high speed machining operations too. The DEPOJET features a manually positioned universal head which can mounted on the main machine spindle housing in minutes, allowing the Air Turbine to be mounted and positioned at virtually any angle. The machine spindle is blanked off with a spindle tool and a new datum position established.'

' The compact design of the ATT spindle permits accurate collision free machining of deep cavities. With only an air line to connect, set up and removal takes just a few minutes. We have easily achieved 10 micron limits in aluminium wax dies and 5 micron limits in hardened steels using 1mm dia ball nose cutters, with excellent surface finishes. We have also had good results running the spindle unmanned overnight. (We operate NC Graphics and check our mould cavities with a DEA, CMM.) '

The ATT spindle develops 1.4 HP (1.1kW), features a low maintenance stainless steel body and sealed for life ceramic bearings. At 30,000 rpm the spindle delivers a smooth, vibration free cut while a governor ensures constant torque under load. ATT claim concentricity is better than .0005 ( 0.127 ). A wide range of tapers including R8 and BT40 are available. Cutters up to 8mm in dia are held in a Swiss Regofix collet system. Being air driven it only requires a single connection to a clean oil free air supply, 90 psi - 6.2 bar.

Anthony Harris concluded : ' The ATT spindle has proved to be a highly successful low cost addition to our machining capability. It's simple, reliable and accurate'.

Tufflay Realise Versatility is the Key
Drawing upon 30 years of experience, Tufflay of Woking has built an enviable reputation within the subcontracting industry. However, in the last twelve months the company has come under new management. The new ownership has seen Tufflay Ltd employ new working practices, methodologies and above all investment.

This emphasis on technology and investment now enables Tufflay to successfully compete in the aerospace, motor sport, electrical and the military sectors. Part of the new investment has been three new machine tools. To further optimise performance, maximise machine utilisation and reduce cost and production times further, Tufflay has invested in ITC Tooling.

Working in its particular industries, Tufflay uses an increasingly high amount of aluminium. To machine this, the company uses the 2041, 2051 and 2052 range of aluminium cutters from ITC. All three series of cutter are used in diameters from 4 to 20mm for a multitude of tasks.

Tufflay Director Russell Tschumi says: "Working with a considerable amount of aluminium we had to look at some very high quality cutters, hence the use of ITC. The tooling has given us so many performance benefits and reduced costs to such an extent we will not look at the competition and just use the ITC range."

The glowing endorsement of the aluminium cutters follows a 25-30% reduction of tooling inventory, set-up times, machine downtime and costs. The cutters have also improved surface finishes. All this has become possible through the key feature of the cutters, the geometries and the relieved shank on the 2051 series.

Cutter Design
Production engineering manager, Peter Foskett comments: "The shank is reduced all the way down the length of the cutter giving us a variable range of cutting protrusion, whereas other manufacturers are restricted to a certain length. Other tooling manufacturers offer reduce shank tooling as specials, which results in our machine shop waiting on the tooling supplier. ITC has a complete range from the shelf as standard, which enables us to manufacture efficiently without waiting for modified tools."

ITC's Technical Representative Dave Cleeve supports this: "The cutters can be held out as long or as short as the customer wants, which is why Tufflay keep them in stock. Whatever job comes in, the tools can be used immediately."

This ability to use the cutters for numerous operations has vastly reduced tooling stock at Tufflay, specifically special cutters. Another contributing factor to stock reduction is the ability of ITC cutters to perform roughing and finishing tasks.

Foskett continues: "Using one cutter for both operations cuts set-up time dramatically. We would normally require a ripper to rough and then an end mill for finishing. The ITC cutters enable us to do both operations with one tool. This was recently demonstrated when the high helix 2041 was successfully introduced to a chassis component."

This ability to rough and finish with one tool is credit to the rigidity of the tooling. The short flute supported by a solid carbide shank provides total rigidity. This excellent rigidity allows the cutter to perform extremely well at high speeds and feeds. At Tufflay, a typical roughing cutter of 16mm diameter runs at 10,000rpm with a feed of 3200mm/min and ½ diameter depths of cut with a cutter protrusion of approximately 74mm.

Foskett continues: "The speeds and feeds are ideal for us. Most manufacturers do not state suitable speeds and feeds for the 'real world'. The ITC recommendations work really well and the technical support we have is excellent."

The success with aluminium cutters has seen Tufflay introduce the ITC Cyber Range of multi flute cutters to particular titanium components for the Motor Sport industry. The company is currently testing new innovations from ITC.

ITC's continual innovations and exceptional customer understanding are drivers behind the company's research into launching a new cutter. Designed with a shallower 40 degree helix to meet customer specific requirements for machining thin web sections, the cutter will be ideal for the aerospace sector.

http://www.itc-ltd.co.uk

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