CERATIZIT has developed a new tooling system for special face milling operations. The MaxiMill HFC (High Feed Cutting) system is synonymous with maximum feed and chip removal rates.

High-feed cutting tools are applied where maximum chip removal rates must be achieved in a minimum of time. A typical application is rough milling of flat faces, for instance in the field of mould and die construction.

MaxiMill HFC guarantees minimum vibration thanks to a light cutting geometry with positive rake angles and high chip removal rates. The inserts for this system have a special chip groove specifically developed for this application and are offered with the innovative HyperCoat coatings. CTP1235 (for steel), CTP2235 (for stainless steel) and CTC3215 (for cast iron). The combination of the new HFC milling system and the latest CERATIZIT grades guarantee maximum performance in terms of tool life, surface quality and reduced tendency for vibration.

The optimised tool coating ‘hard & tough’, which is both wear resistant (hard) and corrosion resistant (tough), guarantees long tool life. 

Flexibility concerning the coolant plays an important role when high-feed milling. Every tool therefore possesses a special coolant hole design which is particularly adapted for minimum quantity lubrication.

The main application range of the new MaxiMill HFC system is face milling with maximum feed (up to 3.0 mm per tooth), plunging for the production of deep pockets and with maximum chip removal rates (more than 1,500 ccm/minute).

With its segment strategy in the business unit end-users of the cutting tool division, the carbide expert CERATIZIT is particularly successful as the company counts on segment-specific and customer-specific products as well as on tailor-made solutions. In this way the global player in the field of advanced carbide solutions also proves its competence in niche markets. International cooperation within the group plays an important role here. An international team developed a unique milling concept for the automotive industry, namely the aluminium cutter MaxiMill HPC 12.

A complete tooling concept in only six months
The starting point of the project was a meeting at an automotive customer’s in July 2003. CERATIZIT made an offer to the production manager to deliver new tools which would meet the increased requirements within only six months. An extremely ambitious deadline chosen by CERATIZIT itself. The CERATIZIT project team had an additional goal: a new flexible tooling concept should be developed which would be suitable for the majority of applications in aluminium milling for the automotive industry.

This development project brought the MaxiMill HPC12 concept into being. The idea was to develop a milling concept where the number of teeth, the form of the cutter body, the coolant, the cutting edge geometry, the rake angles and the cutting materials (CBN, PCD) could be modified.

MaxiMill HPC 12 – the properties Low cutting forces thanks to positive rake angles Reduced deformation of the components Reduced built-up edge Increased tool life Tool body made of steel Precise repeatability during insert change Very high stability and longer tool life Options: bimetallic version (steel ring and aluminium core).  High speed – high performance Reduced work piece heating Maximum productivity Optimised design of tool and insert seat Axial fine adjustment Short setting time through easy handling Fine adjustment = 0.1 mm

HPC 12 allows savings up to 30 %!
The automotive industry in particular places high demands on their tools. The processes in this field must not only be quick and stable, they also need to be highly consistent and predictable. Furthermore, in most of the cases productivity has also to be improved. In a test with an AHPC 100R12.12 milling cutter MaxiMill HPC 12 showed its abilities and its saving potential at a CERATIZIT customer's who produces gear box cases made of aluminium AS7.

Applying the HPC 12 milling cutter the CERATIZIT customer was able to reduce the machining time by 11.3 seconds (at the beginning the machining time amounted to 30.5 seconds and was reduced to 19.2 seconds thanks to MaxiMill HPC 12). A surface quality of Rmax < 6µ – was requested, and CERATIZIT even obtained 4.42µ. The test is also very significant for its extreme cutting data:

• vc = 4,712 m /min
• n  = 15,000 rev./min
• f   = 25,200 mm/min
• fz = 0.14mm

These excellent results can be attained with the HPC 12 milling cutter thanks to its stability and its simple and precise fine adjustment.

International cooperation – voices of the CERATIZIT group:
The idea and the drawing for the HPC 12 concept come from France. The project was finally concentrated at the automotive segment at CERATIZIT Reutte, Austria. Jürgen Duwe from the development department in the BU end-users: “It was one of the first projects where employees of several sites were involved. Despite different languages and cultures the project was a resounding success. We got to know each other better and are now in closer contact. This will definitely be an advantage for future projects.”

“I consider the tooling system HPC 12 a real ‘door opener’ for companies of the automotive industry,” says Tinus Zuetenhorst, sales manager of CERATIZIT Nederland. “Ever since we presented this tool we have had a much stronger presence and actively invited to carry out tests. We have already been successful at three companies with the tool – this looks very promising!”

Gonzalo Artaega, sales representative at CERATIZIT Ibérica about the HPC milling system: “This solution has enabled us to offer our customer Fasa Renault Valladolid an efficient and economic tool which is better than the competitors’ tools. Above all, the low weight, the long tool life and the good surface quality produced by this milling cutter have convinced our customers.”

AUDI HUNGARIA MOTOR Kft. in Györ, Hungary, has 5,500 employees. Here the engines for the brands of the Volkswagen group, Audi, VW, Skoda and Seat are manufactured. In Györ the Audi TT Coupé and Roadster is built, and the Audi A3 Cabriolets will be built there in the future. In 2006 more than 23,500 vehicles and close to two million engines left the plant. This makes Audi Hungaria the second biggest exporter in Hungary. For the machining of crankshafts Audi Hungaria counts on the technology and experience of the carbide expert CERATIZIT.

Audi is synonymous with optimum technical performance and the logo with the four rings. In a few words: Audi ranks as one of the top firms in the automotive world. It therefore makes sense to purchase products at CERATIZIT, the technological leader in the field of carbide for wear parts and cutting tools.

Crankshaft machining at Audi
Györ is situated 45 km from the Austrian border, in Hungary, and numbers 130,000 inhabitants. Since 1994 Audi Hungaria Motor Kft has been located at the periphery of the town. Audi selected this site for various reasons: the logistic connection is very good, within a radius of 50 km there are competitive subcontractors, a hall with a surface of 100,000 sq.m. already existed, and a lot of people in this area speak German very well. Furthermore the technical University of Györ ensures that well-trained engineers and experts are available.

Crankshafts are exposed to enormous forces; their production requires maximum precisionZoltán Szathmári is in charge of production planning and tool technology in engine production at Audi Hungaria Motor Kft. He works closely together with the CERATIZIT representatives and development specialists. His most important contact on site is Barnabás Deri, the sales manager of CERATIZIT Hungaria.

Szathmári leads us through the impressive production department: high, luminous halls with three extremely long and up-to-the-minute production lines, which are in addition fully automated. At Audi in Hungary it is very clean and one is immediately aware that the employees are proud to work here.

In crankshaft machining Audi Hungaria relies on seven different types of inserts from CERATIZIT: special solutions CERATIZIT developed together with the machine manufacturer GFM. Maximum precision is required. Zoltán Szathmári explains: “The crankshaft is an essential component of the engine. It converts the linear movement into a rotational movement. The component is exposed to enormous forces. We manufacture six different crankshafts. The crankshafts are supplied in forged condition. Before machining, a crankshaft for the 3.0 TDI engine weighs 26 kg, after machining it still weighs as much as 18 kg.“

Interview with Zoltán Szathmári, production planning and tooling technology at Audi Hungaria

Mr Szathmári, what is important in the machining of crankshafts?
Szathmári: “Two thirds of production relate to the 3.0 TDI engine. The crankshafts for this engine are made of 42CrMoS4. Rough machining of this crankshaft represents a difficult task as it consists of a high-tensile material at the limit to soft machining. The hard forging skin virtually ‘eats away’ the tool.”

What does that mean for the tools?
Szathmári: “The blank crankshaft is irregular and shows varying properties and the surface is not homogeneous. This means hard and irregular strain on the insert.”

How long does an insert last?Szathmári:“When rough machining (rough milling of main bearing and webs) the inserts are mounted on a planetary milling cutter or side and face milling cutter. After around 250 crankshafts the inserts in the milling cutter have to be indexed.”

How do you assess the relationship with CERATIZIT?
Szathmári: “We have been working together with CERATIZIT for four years and maintain a very open relationship, there are no secrets. For every new development we are informed precisely about what has been improved. CERATIZIT is in a continuous optimization process and is aware that coming to a standstill is dangerous, because the pressure is high: every year we invite tenders for the inserts, every year there are new test procedures and CERATIZIT has to assert itself. We have been very successful for four years.”

Interview with László Janó, product segment V6, mechanical production department at Audi Hungaria

Mr Janó, how long does the machining of a crankshaft take?
Janó: “There are several ways of looking at this. You could say that at the end of the production line a finished crankshaft comes out every 49 seconds. This is the cycle time of the line. Including the buffers (per line there are 5,700 cranks in the buffers) the flow time for 1,400 parts per day amounts to around six days.”

How important is the role of the tools in this production line?
Janó: “Extremely important. This line is very complex and flexible. The investment for such a line, for instance, is three times as high as for a line for the production of cylinder heads. For such a complex machining method process security has to be very good. In the automated machining chain tool life has to be consistently high. 65% of the costs are tooling costs. The tools also play a very important role."

What is the proportion of non conforming material?
Janó: “The tolerances for a crankshaft are very close. The entire line is designed for this and is continuously optimized. Quality control is also very intensive. For the 3.0 TDI engine a 100% rupture test is carried out. For me the quality of the final product is important, not so much the share of non conforming material. In the last four years only two crankshafts have been returned to us; this was due to faulty material, not to faulty machining.“

What can a crankshaft withstand?
Janó: “I don't want to give numbers, but the basic rule is that the crankshaft has to withstand three times as much as the engine."

[Technical info box] Patrick Zobl, product manager at CERATIZIT, describes crankshaft machining in detail Technique for crankshaft machining High cutting speeds (up to 260 m/min) Planetary milling cutters with diameters ranging from 350mm to 750mm  Dry machining leading to high temperature stress on the cutting material.  High number of teeth of the planetary milling cutters (40 up to 200 teeth) Main bearing and webs are machined at the same time with two planetary milling cutters Due to the length and the relatively small diameter of the crankshaft machining stability is low Requirements with regard to the CERATIZIT inserts High resistance to thermal shock Consistent quality of the cutting material providing process security at the customer Long tool life, therefore low tool changing costs Smooth surface thanks to lower frictional heat and wear Materials used in crankshafts Cast iron materials for engines when subject to reduced stress in the engine Alloyed steel (Cr, Ni, Mo) with high fatigue strength in engines which are subject to higher stress or to reduce weight Basic characteristics of CERATIZIT inserts Geometry of the insert is mainly defined by the profile of the crankshaft CERATIZIT chooses the insert to be applied as well as the geometry of the cutting edge

[Info box about the production steps] Steps in the production of a crankshaft a. Preparation Cutting and centring Internal and external profile milling of the pin of the bearing and connection rod bearing pin Turning of the main bearing pins and the end parts Deburring Solid carbide deep hole drilling b. Hardening (induction hardening) c. Finishing Hard turning Threading Chain wheel broaching CBN grinding Fluorescent rupture test Dynamic balancing Finishing (polishing and lapping) d. Quality test

The tendency: exclusive styling
Light metal wheels are applied in formula 1 cars, trucks for heavy load transports and also in the aerospace industry. The major share however are aluminium wheels for automobiles where basically two types may be distinguished: one-piece rims in one casting and multi-piece rims which are connected by screws and consist of a rim bed, a rim crown and a centre hub.

Austria Alu-Guss is based in the Austrian Ranshofen, has been a member of the Borbet group since 1996 and develops and produces aluminium rims for Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Opel, GM, Porsche, VW, Seat etc. The company has 730 employees and offers wheel types with annual quantities over 100,000 pieces as well as small batches of less than 1,000 pieces. The trend is towards smaller batch sizes whereas the styling is becoming increasingly varied. “The most important task is to technically implement the customer’s wishes regarding the design,” says Alois Grömer from the mechanical machining department at Austria Alu-Guss. “A light metal wheel almost always represents a compromise.”

Stability and high performance: OvalFlex
On a conveyor belt the blank aluminium rim is transported to the CNC machine, where it is turned at around 2000 rev/min applying OvalFlex.
OvalFlex has exclusively been developed for machining light metal wheels. The oval shape differs from the conventional round shape of copy turning tools. In this way the tool does not need so much space and can go deeper into the rim. The height however has remained the same and guarantees stability which increases profitability, as high stability makes larger depths of cut possible.
The main attraction: the new oval interface connects the tool shank with the tool head. Four tapered surfaces around the interface provide accurate connection with the location face in both radial and axial direction. Thanks to this highly precise connection it is almost unnecessary to make corrections.
High flexibility, reduced logistics
Another advantage of OvalFlex is its modularity. Different styles of tool heads can be mounted on the adapters. In addition, different angles can be set on the tools. A system which ensures that aluminium wheel manufacturers benefit commercially and logistically, as thanks to modularity they need fewer special tools and the necessity for stock keeping is decreased.
Exact positioning of the inserts
For Ovalflex CERATIZIT has developed new inserts. The X32 insert is larger than the common inserts and extremely stable. Thanks to its top faces it may be positioned precisely, assuring that the insert also absorbs the cutting forces better. The X32 insert is even protected against drawing cuts in the best possible way through the shape of the top surfaces.

The steps in the manufacturing process of light metal wheels:1. High-quality metal is melted and the respective alloy formed so that the wheels can be cast in low-pressure machines.
2. An x-ray facility checks every wheel for faults in the casting.
3. A heat treatment taking several hours increases the strengths of the wheels.
4. The wheel profile is turned on CNC machines, subsequently the valve hole and the holes for the bolts are drilled. Everything is done with tools from CERATIZIT.
5. All wheels are checked for unbalance, cleaned and then finished with lacquer. A 3-layer structure of the lacquer protects the wheels while being used.
6. Finally a fully automatic helium pressure test facility verifies if the wheels are leak-proof.
Interview with Alois Grömer from the mechanical machining department at Austria Alu-Guss:
Which step is the most tricky when manufacturing aluminium rims?
Grömer: “This depends on the design. In general you could say that a combination of all processes leads to a good product. When producing a wheel made of easy-to-machine material there may be problems during casting. But then, with a wheel that can easily be cast, there may be problems during machining. Various special lacquers may also cause problems during production.”

What is important with regard to the hard metal?
Grömer: “We have to find the ideal composition of the carbides. The higher the silicon content in the aluminium alloy, the faster wear occurs.”

What was the most complex rim you have ever produced?
Grömer: “It was a Rolls Royce rim, a so called ‘Nature Wheel’ which was very difficult to machine because of its thin walls.”

What is the tendency in the aluminium wheel sector?
Grömer: “The tendency is towards individuality and light construction. The unsprung masses have to be reduced, this means a consistently light construction of the wheels."

How long does a cutting insert last on average?
Grömer: “It is very difficult to make a precise statement as the service life of an insert depends on numerous factors. By rule of thumb however you can say that a cutting edge can work up to 400 rims (standard rim 17 inches).”

What is CERATIZIT's strength?
Grömer: “CERATIZIT has always been one of the leading companies in the field of aluminium machining. With the recently developed modular OvalFlex tooling system CERATIZIT has succeeded in offering a completely new and stable system which shows great performance capacity and flexibility. This is where I can see an essential advantage compared to competitors.”

“Now it is important to find one’s own way to follow in the footsteps of a great predecessor.” This is how Andreas Olthoff, new managing director of the CERATIZIT Deutschland GmbH, sees his task. At the beginning of August he followed Jan van der Veen who retired after fifteen years at CERATIZIT.

“I believe that a company cannot be successful without team spirit“, says Andreas Olthoff, new head of CERATIZIT Deutschland GmbH. He sees his style of management as ‘result-oriented’ while allowing employees a good deal of individual responsibility.
 
A rapid career
The new managing director (age 41) has already gathered experience at the German branch of an American company. He began his career in the field of sales there after studying mechanical and economic engineering. He became key-account manager for northern Europe, subsequently sales manager and was then appointed managing director.
“After fifteen years I was looking for a new professional challenge,“ he states. At CERATIZIT Germany he accepted this challenge. The sales volume of the CERATIZIT group in Germany is >100 million Euros; the sales company employs 65 people. The new managing director says: “I’m happy to have found a growing company with an excellent international position. It is a gratifying and challenging task to contribute to the further success of CERATIZIT.“
 
Commitment to the Corporate Values
Andreas Olthoff considers Corporate Values an overall concept with important functions. He thinks that the value of communication and an interaction based on trust between superior and team are essential for a continuously growing company. “No company can be successful without the active implementation and experiencing of values,” he says. “I would like make a contribution to this company culture.”His predecessor Jan van der Veen supports this belief: “I have often regretted that we talk a lot about our corporate values but do not always live according to them. Communication matters, trust and respect matter!“ So the change of generations at the vanguard of the CERATIZIT Deutschland GmbH is all settled.
 
Short description of Andreas Olthoff
Age 41, married
Hobbies: running (marathon), squash, motor-biking
Studies: mechanical and economic engineering
Professional career:
15 years in the German branch of an American company (listed on the stock market) selling hydraulic tools. His positions were
- Junior sales representative
- Key-account manager for northern Europe
- Sales manager
- Managing Director
.

What do the punctual departure of a train, a tenancy agreement, a game of chess and New Year’s Eve have in common? They are all subject to time. A contribution on the ‘time on the wrist’, the innovative watch manufacturer Rado and CERATIZIT’s role in the production of scratchproof watch cases.

The presentation of the first scratchproof watch in 1962 represented the start of Rado’s success story. Everything began when Rado chief designer at the time, Marc Lederrey, put forward a totally new idea. He was constantly irritated when gold and steel watches, which at the beginning looked beautiful, often showed scratches after only a few days and subsequently had to be polished frequently. Then, tungsten and titanium carbides were only known as extremely resistant materials in the field of high-tech production of special tools. “Making a watch out of this material - that would be the solution," said Lederrey. And Dr. Paul Lüthi, who was at that time the boss of Rado, gave the go-ahead for this development. The result: the first scratchproof watch in the world!

High-tech materials in watch production
Today Rado is one of the most important watch manufacturers in Switzerland. The Rado group has been part of the Swatch group since 1983 and already has more than 300 service centres and more than 8,000 sales points.

While other watch manufacturers apply conventional materials such as gold, copper or steel, Rado counts on high-tech materials of the future. Lanthanum, ceramic, sapphire crystal, high-tech diamond and last but not least carbide. The level of scratch resistance of a material depends on its hardness. Hard materials make scratches in softer materials: diamond makes scratches in sapphire, sapphire in glass, and glass in metal. The harder a material, the more brittle it is, and thus more sensitive to impact. Resistance to scratches therefore is not the same as indestructibility.

Rado has never only focused on beautiful watches. The main decision has always been the selection of the material. In this way design and material combinations are developed which perfectly combine the two functions of a watch:  a modern piece of jewellery and a functional time indicator.

Carbide from CERATIZIT for the top watch brand Rado
CERATIZIT has supplied Rado with carbide cases for decades. The development and the production of the cases started at the beginning of the 1960's at the Reutte site. Now they are produced in Mamer, Luxembourg and are then subjected to several machining processes at Rado’s subcontractors until they become high-quality watches. Marc Lanners, production manager of the watch case line in Mamer: “The most tricky thing when producing watch cases is aesthetic quality. The preparation of the feedstock (a mixture of powder and binder) is of maximum importance in order to be able to fulfil the quality requirements. Both surface and form have to be absolutely perfect. This is why quality control is obviously extremely important for these products. We have very precise control systems.”

“We produce tens of thousands of carbide watch cases per year, today we have five models,” says Hans Müller, business segment manager of special industrial wear parts. “Even for these high-quality products the life cycle is continuously decreasing. We must therefore react ever faster. The latest case model was developed within only four months by CERATIZIT.”

Interview with Peter Oppliger, Rado Purchasing Manager

How did the partnership with CERATIZIT start?
Oppliger: The partnership began in the middle of the 1980’s. After carrying out a detailed study about batch production of our model ’The Original’ whose success has been unparalleled since 1962, we decided to modify our production method. We no longer wanted to produce the watch crown of our top model through pressing but through injection moulding. So we referred to Cerametal in Luxembourg.

Why does Rado count on carbide from CERATIZIT?
Oppliger: CERATIZIT has a reputation as a reliable business partner. Its extensive know-how in the field of carbide injection moulding enables embossing of our logo in the watch case. In this way it’s also easier for us to proceed against counterfeits.

What is important with regard to the watch cases? What are the special characteristics and properties?
Oppliger: Since its foundation 50 years ago Rado has always been a watch manufacturer who has focused specifically on technology and innovative batch production processes. At the time of the market launch the objective was to create a watch on which time would leave no traces, i.e. a scratchproof watch. For this purpose you need a hard and sufficiently shockproof material. Carbide combines these characteristics and in addition is a visually pleasing material, which is extremely important for watches.

What are the current projects and further developments?
Oppliger: Following its pioneering spirit Rado is working on several projects simultaneously; however, we are unable to discuss anything particular about them right now. CERATIZIT has offered us a very interesting new carbide which is light and hardly releases any nickel. So it can continuously be in contact with the skin. This new material allows us to think about many possible applications for the future.

Are there any materials which compete with carbide?
Oppliger: In a certain respect high-tech ceramic manufacture which was introduced in the watch industry by Rado, is a carbide competitor. Its lightness and hypoallergenic properties make this ceramic a material which can be easily worn on the wrist without complications.

What would CERATIZIT have to optimise in order to score additional points and to get more business?
Oppliger: As for every other supplier for us it seems important to maintain close cooperation and good communication. As these are luxury articles where aesthetics and quality are basic requirements it is obviously decisive to guarantee consistent and impeccable quality.

The Rado Story

• In 1917 in Lengnau (canton of Bern, Switzerland) the watch producer Schlup & Co. was founded by the Schlup brothers. Later on, this subcontractor for the watch industry becomes Rado Uhren Co. Ltd.
• In 1957 the first watch collection is presented under the brand name Rado.
• Today the Rado products are available all over the world in 180 countries. 
• The brand has about 8,000 sales points and more than 300 service centres.
• Rado has around 300 employees.
  

Technical article by Peter Uttenthaler, Business Segment Manager ’Energy & Transport’ / Cutting Tools and Dr. Uwe Schleinkofer, head of the Development Department Cutting Tools at CERATIZIT

We deal with titanium every day. A white painted house wall contains titanium as purified rutile (TiO2). In the field of medical systems titanium has become indispensable for joints and tooth implants. And the aerospace industry now counts on titanium for primary structures which in the past were made of steel. But titanium is an intractable material: it is difficult to machine it efficiently. The new carbide grade CTP5240 from CERATIZIT provides higher productivity combined with lower wear and higher cutting speeds.

Light and shade
Titanium is a chemical element which occurs in the crust of the earth. It has the atomic number 22 and belongs to group 4 of the periodic table.
Titanium alloys have properties that are useful for many applications:
- Strength similar to steel with half the density
- High elasticity and strength
- Low thermal conductivity:
o No embrittlement at extremely low temperatures
o Good creep resistance at high temperatures

These properties however also give some disadvantages when it comes to the machining of titanium alloys:
- Difficult to machine
- High machining and tooling costs
- Extremely expensive material (at the moment at least 25 times more expensive than aluminium)

Titanium is a demanding material
Titanium alloys are very bad thermal conductors: their thermal conductivity is ten times less than steel. For cutting tools this means that 75% of the heat produced during the process goes into the tool and is not evacuated with the swarf. In order to withstand this, a heat resistant carbide substrate and efficient cooling are needed during the machining process. This leads to the use of large quantities of coolant, preferably all with high pressure all through the spindle, directly onto the cutting edges of the tool. For this reason a tool provided with internal cooling is the first choice when machining titanium alloys.
A further consequence of the bad thermal conductivity of titanium alloys is the high temperature at the cutting edge. It leads to chemical reactions such as oxidation and diffusion on the surface of the tool’s cutting edge; problems where CT offers a solution with the new grade CTP5240.

Resistance to machining
Titanium is a polymorphic material. After solidification at 1,668°C it is characterised by a cubic body, a centred lattice and it shears into a hexagonal lattice structure at 882°C. Nevertheless titanium shows very good formability below this temperature as numerous glide and twinning planes are present in the crystal lattice.
In cold forming titanium tends to strong hardening while tensile strength triples and ultimate elongation is reduced up to 90%. The tendency to hardening represents significant resistance to the machining process. The cutting edges easily chip or the cutting material may be shattered. Positive sharp cutting edges help to a certain extent by reducing cutting forces but the cutting edge must not be too positive however as it would then be too weak for this application area.
The high elasticity of the material causes the titanium to ‘relax’ immediately after the cutting operation. This creates particular demands on the geometric position of the cutting edge. Result: it is really not easy to machine titanium!

CERATIZIT develops a new carbide grade for the machining of titanium
Many of the components utilised in the aerospace industry are forged titanium alloys. These components show irregular hardness on the surface and thus provide unpredictable stress for the inserts applied in machining. CERATIZIT solves this complex task with a special heat resistant coating, using its HyperCoat coating technology, which has been especially adapted for this application area, combined with an innovative carbide substrate. This new carbide grade is called CTP5240 and is in ISO classes P and M 35.

Highly efficient: the new grade CTP5240
The new grade CTP5240 is an extremely heat resistant carbide substrate with medium grain size which combines high wear resistance with sufficient toughness and very high heat resistance.
The coating is adapted to titanium alloys and shows a clearly reduced tendency to chemical reactions like oxidation and diffusion with the work piece material. It is characterised by excellent tribological properties and high thermal stability combined with extraordinarily high hardness.
In addition to the very high hardness this coating acts as a highly efficient heat shield which protects the carbide substrate against early wear at high cutting speeds. In addition the coating is subject to a special surface treatment which leads to a very smooth rake face and considerably reduces the friction coefficient during machining. The swarf can glide along the rake face considerably more easily.

Highly positive design of the geometry
The cutting edge geometry of grade CTP5240 from CERATIZIT is provided with a highly positive design which resembles their aluminium geometry -27. This geometry allows machining with very low cutting forces and pressures. In this way the process temperature can be maintained between 200 and 250°C for a longer period of time, which is considerably below the level possible until now for titanium alloys.
Other positive effects of our cutting edge geometry are the very good chip formation and the efficient chip evacuation. Thanks to the good chip formation this cutting edge geometry supports swarf evacuation as the swarf form is more compact. A litre of removed material has now notably less volume than previously.

Cutting speeds and feed rates
With this geometry and grade combination CERATIZIT has already achieved 120 m of tool life in rough machining operations at a feed per tooth of 0.12 mm and 6 mm of axial cutting depth.

Application examples from the aerospace industry

Heavy duty structural component Ti 5.5.5.3 (TiAl5V5Mo5Cr3)
Helical flute end mill ANFT.80.R.05-19-A32-60
 Vc = 30 m/min
 fz = 0.1 mm/rev
 ap  = 18 mm
ae = 5 mm
Tool life > 100 min

Airframe component TiAl6V4
Button insert cutter C251.32.R.04-10-AR70
 Vc = 65 m/min
 fz = 0.21 mm/rev
 ap  = 1.0 mm
ae = 32 mm
Tool life > 70 min

Quotation:
“Applying CERATIZIT HyperCoat CTP5240 inserts we have been able to considerably increase our productivity and process security."
Michele Casarin, production manager, Tibeni group, Italy.

Technical article written by Dr. Uwe Schleinkofer, head of the development department cutting tools at CERATIZIT

In order to be able to carry out highly efficient cutting processes the demands on the tools and inserts are continuously increased. Both higher cutting speeds and feed rates will have to be achieved. In addition to these trends, properties such as reliability combined with maximum heat resistance and chemical stability play an ever increasing important part in the field of the cutting materials. In particular this applies to dry machining. CERATIZIT is facing this trend by developing high-performance inserts in all materials. The extensive competence of the CERATIZIT group in the sector of HSS produced with powder metallurgy, carbides, cermets, silicon nitride and mixed ceramics, as well as ultra-hard cutting materials like CBN and PCD have now been completed through the new multi-phase SiALON CTI3105.

For the very first time: high-performance cutting for super-alloys
The concept ’SiALON’ stands for an individual ceramic material group, which is based on silicon nitride (Si3N4) and includes other components like aluminium and oxygen. CTI3105 is the hardest and thus most wear resistant SiALON in the world which is provided by a specifically adapted micro-structure of the grain shape (see picture) and unlike the notably softer SiALON materials of our competitors, does not loose toughness.

The long grain structure of some phases in the ceramic composite material required for the hardness and wear resistance of this kind has been achieved with a specific composition and sinter-technology specifically developed for this grade. Also the new CTI3105 is characterized by maximum chemical stability at extremely high temperatures. The combination of high hardness and good toughness as well as chemical stability and heat resistance for the first time allows HPC processes (High Performance Cutting) in cast iron machining and difficult-to-machine materials like super alloys.

Faster production process, longer tool life
With this new generation of cutting tools it is possible to increase both the cutting speed and feed rate without reducing the reliability of the machining process. The increased cutting speed possible with the new multi-phase SiALON CTI3105 from CERATIZIT reduces the production cycle by up to 20%. Thanks to the excellent wear resistance even with high cutting speed and applying ceramic materials, tool life may be increased up to 25%.

Die Anforderungen an die Walztechnologie sind in den vergangenen Jahren deutlich gestiegen: Die Walzgeschwindigkeiten steigen und das Computergestützte Management (CAM) ermöglicht immer größere Tonnenmengen. CERATIZIT hat mehr als 9000 Produkte für die unterschiedlichsten Warmwalzanlagen im Sortiment. Um auf die neuen Entwicklungen in der Warmwalztechnologie zu reagieren, hat CERATIZIT die E-Familie der Hartmetallsorten entwickelt. Eine Reportage beim CERATIZIT Kunden STFS in Schifflange / Luxemburg.

Ein Freitagmorgen im Mai, leichter Nieselregen fällt. Es duftet nach Frühling, doch für René Mauer wird es heute heiß, sehr heiß.
René Mauer ist Segmentleiter Warmwalzen im Geschäftssegment Verschleißteile für allgemeine Industrieanwendungen bei CERATIZIT in Luxemburg. Seit 35 Jahren ist er in der Walzenindustrie tätig und kennt sein Geschäft genau. Heute fährt er nach Schifflange zu STFS. Dieses Unternehmen betreibt eine Warmwalzstrasse, die mit Hartmetall von CERATIZIT ausgestattet ist.
Mauer parkt vor der riesigen Industriehalle aus rotem Backstein mit hohen, dunklen Fenstern, wo Emmanuel Rossi, zuständig für die Walzanlage, und sein Assistent Eric François ihn bereits erwarten. Mit Helm und Arbeitskleidung geht es in die halbdunkle Fabrikhalle. Es riecht nach Stahl und Öl, die gigantische vollautomatisierte Beförderungsanlage taktet ununterbrochen vor sich hin.

Vom Walzgut bis zum Draht
In dieser Halle produziert STFS Draht in Durchmessern von 5,5 bis 16 Millimetern. Dieser Draht geht als Halbzeug an Unternehmen aus den verschiedensten Industrien, die daraus u. a. Drähte und Kabel für Brücken, Aufzüge und Seilbahnen sowie Einkaufswagen, Klaviersaiten, Nägel und Drahtcord für Reifen herstellen.
Der ganze Prozess vom Walzgut bis zum Draht dauert nicht länger als zirka zwei Minuten. Pro Jahr stellt STFS im Dreischichtbetrieb ungefähr 700.000 Tonnen Draht her, was bei einem Durchmesser von 5,5 Millimetern einer Länge von etwa 3 Millionen Kilometern entspricht. Damit könnte man den Erdball 75 mal umwickeln. Der Hauptabsatzmarkt von STFS ist Frankreich (50%), gefolgt von Italien und Luxemburg.

Warmwalzen – das Verfahren
Walzen ist ein Formgebungsverfahren, einerseits zur Herstellung von Flachprodukten wie Bändern, Folien oder Blechen und andererseits von Langprodukten wie Profilen, Schienen, Rohren, Drähten oder Stäben. Im Gegensatz zum Kaltwalzen wird beim Warmwalzen das Ausgangsmaterial in speziellen Öfen (Hubbalkenöfen) auf eine Temperatur von bis zu 1250 Grad Celsius erwärmt.
Nach dem Erwärmen werden die Größe und Form der Brammen (die erste feste Formgebung des Stahls nach der Produktion im flüssigen Zustand) durch wiederholtes Umformen in elektrisch angetriebenen Walzen verändert. Während des Walzprozesses hat das rotglühende Material eine Temperatur von 720 bis 980 Grad Celsius, je nach Stahlqualität und Durchmesser.
Das Warmwalzen findet in mehreren Umformungsstufen, den so genannten Walzstichen, statt. Jeder Walzstich erhöht die Länge und verringert die Dicke des Walzgutes und führt zu einer ‚Zerstörung’ des ursprünglichen Gefüges. Durch das Erwärmen kommt das Walzgut in einen anderen kristallographischen Zustand.
Beim Stahl wird das Gefüge vom harten ferritischen in den weichen austenitischen Bereich erhitzt. In diesem Zustand findet die plastische Verformung statt, durch die Umformgrade von bis zu 250:1 möglich sind. So kann eine Bramme vor dem Warmwalzen 240 mm und danach nur noch 0,8 mm dick sein. Beim Kaltwalzen sind nur Umformgrade von 10:1 möglich. Beim Warmwalzen lässt sich die gewünschte Umformung also besser erzielen.

Die Schritte im Walzprozess
1. Die Brammen oder Stahlknüppel kommen vom Stahlwerk
    und werden zum Spezialofen transportiert.
2. Die Brammen werden auf 1250 Grad Celsius erhitzt.
3. In mehreren Schritten formen die Walzen den glühenden Stahl um,
    bis am Ende der fast 500 Meter langen Anlage der Draht herauskommt.
4. Der Draht wird aufgewickelt, gelagert oder zum Kunden transportiert.

Die Rolle des Hartmetalls: Formen und Führen
CERATIZIT stellt für Warmwalzanlagen zwei Produkte her: Erstens Walzen aus Hartmetall, also die Teile in der Anlage, die das Material unter Druck verformen. Zweitens die Arbeits- und Führungsrollen, die das glühende Material über die sehr lange Anlage von einem Maschinenteil zum nächsten führen. Hartmetall spielt auch hier seine Stärken aus: der Prozess des Warmwalzens verläuft unter hohen Temperaturen und in einem sehr hohen Tempo, denn die Rollen drehen sich mit  50.930 Umdrehungen/Minute, die Walzen mit zirka 14.700 Umdrehungen/Minute. Maschinenteile, die solchen Bedingungen ausgesetzt sind, weisen einen sehr hohen Verschleißgrad auf.
CERATIZIT stellt Walzen und Führungsrollen für die unterschiedlichsten Warmwalzanlagen her, insgesamt hat das Unternehmen 9000 Produkte im Angebot. Das Team von Philippe Lanners am CERATIZIT Standort Mamer/Luxemburg ist für die Produktion der Hartmetallteile für über 100 Warmwalz-Kunden zuständig.

Die neuesten Entwicklungen im Bereich Warmwalzen
Seit einigen Jahren gibt es zahlreiche Veränderungen in der Walztechnologie:
1. Kontrollierte Kühlung oder Niedrigtemperaturwalzen zur Verbesserung
    der Eigenschaften des Walzgutes.
2. Höhere Walzgeschwindigkeiten.
3. Verwendung eines „Reducing-Sizing“ Mini-Blocks für kleinere
    Toleranzen beim Walzen.
4. Computergestütztes Management (CAM) für Walzprogramme, um maximale
     konstante Tonnenmengen pro Woche zu produzieren.

CERATIZIT hat all seine Sorten Hartmetallsorten an diese Bedingungen angepasst und entwickelte die neue „E“-Sortenfamilie. Ziel ist, eine bessere Beständigkeit gegen mechanischen Schock und Rissausbreitung, ohne die Leistung des Walzwerks zu beeinträchtigen.

Die Eigenschaften der neuen "E"-Sortenfamilie von CERATIZIT
> Geringfügig größere Korngröße, da die kleinste Korngröße aus der
    Mikrostruktur eliminiert wurde.
> Regelmäßigere Korngrößenverteilung, durch die Ketten kleinster Partikel
    in der Mikrostruktur vermieden werden.
> Dank dieser Verbesserungen geringere innere Spannung.
> Größere Zähigkeit, dafür niedrigere Härte von ca. 40-50 HV (Vickershärte)

Where the big players of the sectors meet, the Luxembourg carbide expert CERATIZIT is also present: at EMO. Thousands of interested expert visitors confirm the assumption of Member of the Board Thierry Wolter: “CERATIZIT is more than just an alternative to the big three“.

At the EMO press conference Wolter continues: “Our group has set a course of above average expansion. There are new sales offices in Mexico and Spain as well as our first acquisition in the USA: Newcomer Products Inc.” Wolter emphasized that concerning acquisitions, growth was not the number one priority, but finding suitable companies. “New companies have to adapt to the CERATIZIT group strategically, culturally and also financially.”

Ambitious turnover goal
Today CERATIZIT is the number five in the world market. Member of the Board Wolter emphasizes his approach of excellence: “We prefer to be the number one in selected segments, namely in mechanical engineering, aerospace, oil industry and automotive industry, than the number three in total."

In particular he pointed out the vision 2012 which also includes a goal with regard to the turnover of the CERATIZIT group: “We are most certainly talking about a billion Euros here.“ Two thirds of this figure will be generated by the cutting tool division, and one third by the wear part section.

Innovative sector ‘coatings’ and saxophonists
Wolter sees an enormous potential in the innovative sector of coatings: “A lot is still possible." He pointed out: “You need to be a certain size as a company to be able to allow for research and development, so that what is happening on the front of these small inserts may be understood. And in the meantime this size has been reached by CERATIZIT, which is why we are so innovative.”

This particular clarity and power of innovation are also reflected in the generous CERATIZIT booth. It is dominated by ultra-light constructions interspersed by info islands with illustrative technical exhibitions on the segments of CERATIZIT, much resembling a modern technical museum: the expertise of CERATIZIT on show for its customers. The customers were also enthusiastic about the three girl saxophonists in the HyperCoat dresses. Even the senior managers were carried away by their lively pieces of music and spectacular dancing.

They weigh up to sixty tons and are the ‚flat makers’ in the roll mills: the huge rolls which convert the most varied metals into sheet metal or strips. When machining rolls the Åkers roll foundry in Styckebruk (Sweden) relies on ceramic and carbide inserts from CERATIZIT.

Åkers Styckebruk is situated close to Stockholm in the Swedish province Södermanland. The landscape is extensive with little development. The motorway is almost empty. Forests, meadows and lakes follow one another. In this quiet, almost forgotten area operates the largest roll manufacturer in the world: Åkers.

Since 1580 the company has been involved in casting. Once Åkers produced cannons for the Swedish army. The first roll was produced as far back as 1806. Today 1,400 employees produce high-quality rolls for sheet metal production in 12 factories in 6 countries achieving a turnover of 300 million euros. Other Åkers production sites can be found in Belgium, France, Slovenia, the USA and recently also in China.

Every week up to 50 rolls are produced, more than 123,000 tons per year.
Every week the Styckebruk site produces between 35 and 40 medium-sized rolls and around five large rolls. In 2006 the total production of the group amounted to 123,600 metric tons, out of which 44% were sold in Europe, 24% in Asia and 25% in North America. Åkers is a solid family-owned company which successfully relies on sound corporate values. The goal of Åkers is to secure and further extend its position as the worldwide leading roll manufacturer. Some of the Åkers customers are steel works like Mittal, Tata and Bao Steel.

From the car body to the coin – everything made of sheet metal
Sheet metal is the base material for numerous products used in everyday life i.e. car bodies, housings of electronic devices, coins and sinks are stamped or formed out of sheet metal. These sheet metals are produced in steel mills. Aluminium or steel billets are rolled to sheet metal applying a warm forming procedure with several roll passes at temperatures between 700 and 1,200 degrees centigrade until they have the required thickness. Depending on the end product, cold rolling is used to make hot rolled strips thinner and to improve the surface quality.

Everything is larger
Åkers thinks big - and in this company everything is larger than elsewhere; the workers in the halls resemble miniature figures. Kennet Önnestig, Production Engineering, describes the production process. “In a first step the rolls are cast. For this purpose the requested iron alloy is melted and subsequently poured into a casting mould. The base material is iron scrap which is bought in locally and then alloyed. Åkers applies two casting procedures: conventional static casting and centrifugal casting. During centrifugal casting the molten metal is poured into a giant centrifuge which is built into a hole in the ground. At 600 to 700 revolutions per minute the centrifugal force makes sure that the molten metal is hurled against the internal wall of the casting mould.” The advantage of this method is that the surface of the roll is not as rough as in rolls produced with conventional procedures. Machining is therefore easier.

Up to 50% of the material is removed from every roll
In a second step the rolls are ground, turned, parted-off and milled. This is where the rolls really ‘loose weight’: up to 50% of the material is removed from every roll and returned to the foundry as iron scrap. For the machining of rolls CERATIZIT provides Åkers with ceramic and carbide inserts. “In roll machining tool life and security are crucial“, says Hans Axelsson, cutting tools sales manager for North Europe. “The machining of a roll can take several hours or even days, the process therefore has to be stable, insert changes necessary due to breakage or premature wear must be avoided, as this would mean extra time. Sometimes the cutting depths are enormous, even up to 100 mm.”

Interview with Kjell Andersson - Purchasing Manager of the Åkers Group

Mr Andersson, what are the most important quality criteria of a roll?
Andersson: “A roll should be in action as long as possible without having to be reworked as this always means a lot of effort and loss of production time. The customers usually rework the rolls themselves.”

How are the rolls transported to the customer?
Andersson: “The smaller rolls, let’s say up to 25 tons, are transported by truck, the larger rolls by train or by ship. Most customers have their own rail connection.”

What are the trends in the roll industry?
Andersson: “There are two trends: one trend is towards high-tech rolls, these are rolls with a higher percentage of alloys added. In this way the shell of these rolls becomes harder and more resistant, so the service life is longer, however they are also more difficult to machine. The second trend is that grinding in the first machining phase is becoming ever more important than rough machining. Grinding however has the disadvantage that the waste material can no longer be melted down directly as the grinding slurry is contaminated by the coolant. I am therefore almost sure that grinding will never entirely replace rough machining.”

How did cooperation with CERATIZIT begin?
Andersson: “In milling CERATIZIT (the former Plansee Tizit) has been a reliable partner for many years. When we extended our group by the plants in France we realized that the turning, parting-off and grooving strategy at these sites was very successful. The Thionville and Sedan sites were supplied with tools from Cerametal. We took a detailed look into this and decided that we would do the same in Sweden.”

What are CERATIZIT's strengths?
Andersson: “CERATIZIT offers very good technical support and implements projects quickly. Within a year the new cutting strategy was introduced and the process was stable. CERATIZIT does a good job and makes also very good suggestions for roll machining. This is exactly what we need!”

Wet or dry? This is a frequently asked question with regard to machining processes. Dry machining is desirable but cannot be applied to all work piece materials, then wet machining is applied and emulsion and/or oil is used as a cooling lubricant. The problem: in case of high temperatures cooling lubricants lead to chemical reactions and the disposal of contaminated chips and liquids requires additional costs and effort. For years CERATIZIT has therefore offered solutions for the reduction of coolant quantity and for dry machining.

Take-off with the aerospace industry: aluminium machining with minimum quantity lubrication
It was twenty years ago that the coolant quantity the field of aluminium machining began to decrease. The aerospace industry took the initiative and started machining with minimum quantity lubrication. In this method the mixture of air and liquid, also called aerosol, was sprayed in the direction of the cutting edge. The result was virtually dry chips, extremely low coolant consumption and acceptable tool life combined with high cutting speed.

CERATIZIT is one of the main suppliers for HSC tools in the aerospace sector. When developing these tools mainly aerospace components made of high-tensile aluminium alloys were applied with minimum quantity lubrication. The result: the tools are suitable for wet machining, minimum quantity lubrication and dry machining. The CERATIZIT tooling systems HSC/HPC19 and HSC11 are currently considered the benchmarks in high-speed milling and high-performance milling.

Wear resistant, heat resistant, tough: HyperCoat C for the machining of steel and cast iron
Dry turning of steel at high speed represented another big challenge. The main problems in this context were the high temperatures during the machining processes (up to 1,200°C on the cutting edge) and the adhesion of the work piece material to the cutting material in the cutting edge area. In order to prevent plastic deformation of the carbide at high temperatures the CERATIZIT research department developed special carbide compositions with a low share of cobalt binder and an increased share of cubic carbides such as TaC, NbC, TiC and ZrC. In the peripheral zone of the carbide substrate they were combined with special gradients (e.g. CTC1110, CTC1115 and CTC1125). Particularly the new grade CTC1130 of the innovative HyperCoat C series with its special surface morphology allows a substantially reduced lubricant quantity in the P30 area, as the tendency to stick was considerably reduced.

The contrary ones: super alloys and titanium
Until today materials like high alloyed steel, super alloys and in particular titanium have ‘defended themselves’ successfully against dry machining. It is not even possible to reduce the coolant or lubricant quantity. Therefore swarf adhesion, chip evacuation and chemical reactions between cutting material and work piece have to be analysed. For the production of titanium components the tool design has been adapted. Large chip flutes and coolant holes optimised for chip evacuation, specifically shaped chip grooves of the inserts and the new grade CTP5240 which is part of the HyperCoat P line ensured notable increases in performance, i.e. higher chip removal rates when wet machining.

Definitely both is possible
Dry machining? The answer is yes and no. There are very successful applications in dry machining. Nevertheless there are application fields where cooling and lubrication will remain indispensable in the near future. Manufacturers and tooling suppliers will therefore have to develop additional solutions together.

The CERATIZIT customer Hunting Oilfield Services BV (Netherlands) provides high-quality tubes and couplings with threads. The tubes are applied worldwide for the production of oil and natural gas. Until a short time ago the swarf resulting from the production of couplings stayed in the work piece and was removed manually. Dangerous work, as hot and sharp chips were thrown around and could injure the workers. CERATIZIT found a quick solution.

A show of strength: the exacting process of winning oil
Tubes and couplings are exposed to enormous stress during oil extraction as most oil deposits are four to five kilometres beneath the surface of the earth. A boring head or trepan has the difficult task to ensure access to the oil.
The boring tool consists of steel tubes placed at its ends which are connected by threaded joints to form the pipe string and drill string. Shortly before the trepan reaches the oil deposit the drill string has a length of several kilometres and, weighs around 110 tons which corresponds to the weight of a large diesel locomotive. This enormous weight is suspended on the upper thread, the quality of which therefore has to fulfil exacting demands.

Precision and security: threading
Hunting Oilfield Services BV in Velsen-Noord, north-west of Amsterdam, specialises in problem solutions for oil and gas extraction.  Some customers of the affiliate Hunting PLC group are Gaz de France, Total Fina and Exxon Mobil. Hunting Oilfield Services was founded in 1986 and today has around 60 employees who work seven machines around the clock (shift work).

Hunting Oilfield Services produces the threads in tubes and couplings which are applied for oil and gas extraction. The tubes mainly come from Japan and have a length between 10 and 15 metres. 75 % of the tubes consist of high alloyed chromium steel, the remaining 25 % of low alloyed steel with medium strength (P110, C95 or L80). Threading both sides of the tube takes about 15 minutes. One cutting edge of an insert lasts for about 10 to 14 threads.

Risk of injury at the workplace
To avoid damage of the work piece and ensure longer service life of the insert it is absolutely necessary to evacuate the swarf as fast as possible. Until a year ago at Hunting the swarf resulting from threading operations remained in the coupling. From there the workers extracted it by hand, the CNC machine remaining in operation and the door open - a dangerous situation. When turning, the spindle in the CNC machine rotates very quickly, hot sharp swarf is flung about and coolant sputters around. The danger of injury is very high.
The Holland Institute for work security (ARBO) criticised the machine and demanded that Hunting operate the machines securely.

The danger was recognised and averted
The CERATIZIT engineers Jackie Roland and Fabrice Casagrande (the latter being the business segment manager cutting tools/oil industry at CERATIZIT Luxembourg) were asked for advice. Their solution was to produce the thread from the inside towards the outside of the component so that the chips are eliminated automatically. For this purpose they designed a special tool holder which positions the insert securely. Even if it is drawn into the opposite direction as is here the case.
The new tool holder concept ensures that the chips are transported on the shortest way from the work piece and that the coolant stream is precisely directed onto the cutting edge. The Dutch Institute for work security was satisfied with this solution so that production was allowed to go on at Hunting without any interruption.

Interview with André Verbiest, Manufacturing Manager of Hunting Oilfield Services BV
Mr Verbiest, what is important when threading for the oil industry?
Verbiest: “We are under great time pressure. We must therefore produce quickly and without interruption. If we do not supply, the work on the oil platform comes to a halt. This costs a fortune. A further point is that the connections between the couplings and the tubes, namely the threads, are standardised. It is absolutely necessary that the thread be gasproof and have a consistently high quality.”

What characterises the cooperation with CERATIZIT?
Verbiest: “I have noticed a combination of determination and technical competence. The representatives believe in their product and are really behind it - this is easily perceivable. Furthermore, CERATIZIT does not try to sell us stock articles after a delivery time of 12 weeks, but offers exactly the solution that we need after only a couple of weeks. This is what we like in particular.” "

What is the quality of the CERATIZIT products?
Verbiest: “The double clamping system is very good. You can see what is going on and the insert is positioned perfectly safely. Recently we have conducted numerous tests where we achieved considerably better results than our competitors, as we applied CERATIZIT inserts.”

What could CERATIZIT improve?
Verbiest: “CERATIZIT takes little things into account, which make a big difference in customer service. For example, the packages they deliver have little grips. So, both the freight carrier staff and our staff carry the packages instead of throwing them. This causes less transport damage which subsequently has a positive effect on the cooperation. So I can only say: keep going!”

CERATIZIT of Mamer, Luxembourg acquires Newcomer Products, Inc, a privately owned company headquartered in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The agreement was signed on July 10th, 2007.

“The Newcomer acquisition meets our objective for sustainable global growth through expansion in the NAFTA countries and Asia,” comments CERATIZIT Spokesman Jacques Lanners. Newcomer is the third site of CERATIZIT in the United States.

Newcomer Products, Inc., a household name in the US carbide industry

Privately owned US company Newcomer Products is specialized in the manufacturing and finishing of tungsten carbide products for metal cutting and wear applications. From water-based spray dried powders to sinter-hip technology, Newcomer Products is on the leading edge of carbide enhancements and supplies major US metalworking industries.

The company was founded in 1945. Today Newcomer Products employs 130 people and realized sales of more than 20 million dollars in 2006. The company’s headquarters are in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

Says Nate K. Parker Jr., Chairman of Newcomer Products: "We were looking for a partner with strong technological support and both a global view and strong roots in the US. Clearly, CERATIZIT is one of the rising stars in the business and they wanted to build up their presence in the US. CERATIZIT is a perfect fit and we are happy to be part of their team".

They are considered standard publications in the cutting tool sector: the main catalogues from CERATIZIT with the focus on application, inserts and tools. The new catalogue ‘Tools and inserts for turning' has recently been published in a completely revised edition which is also updated with new products. A work consisting of 340 pages with a pleasant design and numerous orientation aids for the reader. This new catalogue covers all areas of turning.

Precise and modern: MaxiLock D
“The new clamping system MaxiLock D is an advanced method of clamping negative inserts with holes,” says Herbert Ronacher, product manager for turning, multi-function tools, parting and grooving at CERATIZIT. Until now the lever lock systems were the industry standard. However, the new MaxiLock D is a top clamp system for negative inserts providing higher precision location thanks to the double clamping effect of the clamping element. MaxiLock D is one of many recently developed tools which can be found in the catalogue ‘Tools and inserts for turning’.

Top performance with maximum reliability
In terms of coating development HyperCoat is synonymous with ‘modern grade technology’. In addition to tooling systems and chip groove geometries the new catalogue showcases the grades CTC1130 for steel and CTC3110 for turning applications on cast iron. “We have managed once again to satisfy our prerequisite to distinguish ourselves through innovation”, says Herbert Ronacher. 

Reading made easy
It is easy to read any CERATIZIT catalogue. Unknown to most, CERATIZIT is the only company in the market which designs its catalogues based on visual orientation points. The five chapters (introduction, applications, inserts, tools and technical information) are characterised by individual colours. On the right-hand side the reader will see the main navigation bar with clearly recognisable symbols. A customer who is looking for something specifically is able to find it in next to no time. The latest catalogue ‘Tools and inserts for turning’ is available at all CERATIZIT sales companies and partners.

Carbide products have become indispensable for cold forming. Of course steel can be tempered, but beyond a certain degree of stress its properties are simply insufficient. In the field of cold forming carbide tools from CERATIZIT give convincingly better tool life and higher dimensional accuracy.

The business unit ’Industrial Wear Parts’ of the CERATIZIT group develops, produces and supplies various carbide tools for cold forming, such as high-performance cold heading tools for the fastening technology, dies, pressed blanks, punches and drawing dies. The CERATIZIT Hitzacker site produces blanks which are subsequently finished in the customers’ own tool room while the Italian based company (in Alserio) delivers ready-for-use tools. In this way CERATIZIT customers are supplied with blanks and tools by one source only.

Cold forming – the all-rounder amongst the production methods
Cold forming is applied worldwide to manufacture the most varied products: nails, screws, pins, copper tubes, aluminium drinking bottles, Steelcord for radial tyres etc. Also, most of the metallic objects in a household are produced applying this method: handles, hinges, connectors, strips and many domestic appliances.
Cold forming is a collective name for all production methods where the form of metals or metal alloys such as copper, aluminium or brass is deformed at room temperature with high pressure, but without changing its volume, weight or the essential properties of the material. In cold forming the blank is normally formed in several stages. In this way the deformation capacity of the material is not exceeded, so material breakage is avoided.

A practical example: carbide insert at SFS Intec in Switzerland
SFS Intec in Heerbrugg, in the north-east of Switzerland has been a customer of the CERATIZIT group for more than 15 years. Today the company has more than ten production sites with over 2800 employees where it produces precision forming parts, special screws and mechanical fastening devices. In 2005 it reached a turnover of 465 million euros. For the automotive industry, for instance, SFS Intec produces special forming parts and special screws for steering systems, adjustment systems for the seats and electronic regulation systems. In the electronic industry SFS has made a name for itself with special screws for mobile phones, special screws for razors and for the mounting of PC components..

Interview with Werner Marte, head of the mould and die construction department at SFS Intec

What are the advantages of cold forming?

Marte: “Unlike cutting, cold forming does not produce any waste material. Furthermore a very good surface quality is achieved without having a finishing operation. The component’s tendency to notching is also considerably lower, no unstable transitions result, as would be the case with turning.”

What is essential in the manufacture of cold forming parts?

Marte: “Knowledge of the technology, the correct tool geometry, quality of the parts and the guarantee of customer benefit. The customer requests parts that are ready for mounting and free of faults“.

In cold forming also tools made of steel are applied. What is the proportion between tools made of steel and tools made of carbide?

Marte: “Carbide inserts are used a lot more frequently than tools made of steel, and the trend is increasing. Steel can be tempered, but above a certain level the properties of steel are no longer sufficient. Carbide tools show longer tool life and higher dimensional accuracy. Particularly in cold forming carbide is a very important material."

SFS Intec uses both blanks and finished tools from CERATIZIT. When do you buy blanks and when finished tools?
Marte: “We buy CERATIZIT blanks for making nibs and dies. Finished tools are bought when we don’t have the technology and the necessary know-how in our company. I’m referring to internal grinding and pre-sintering of complicated geometries. We also use semi-finished tools from CERATIZIT in order to accelerate our production cycle. For SFS the high quality of the carbide is decisive.”

Screw production – the production steps at SFS

The starting material for screws is supplied as a thick wire rolled up on coils. Before the deforming operation the material is uncoiled, aligned and sometimes drawn reducing it to the requested diameter (also a type of cold forming). Modern extrusion presses work on various levels so that such machines, depending on the screw, are able to produce more than 1000 pieces per minute.

Example of the production steps for a hexagonal screw:

1. Cropping the wire blank from the coil

2. Producing the top part of the screw and reduction

3. Pre-heading

4. Finish-heading of hexagon

5. Deburring
6. Producing the thread by means of the thread rolling machine