The portfolio of ISO tools for milling operations from Rugby-based Mapal Ltd (www.mapal.com) has been extended with the addition of a range of insert grades for machining cast-iron materials such as GJL, GJV and GJS.

Mapal’s latest inserts are said to provide a significant increase in tool life, while also facilitating higher cutting speeds.

According to Mapal, the inserts are based on a completely new series of carbide substrates, the structures of which have been modelled to provide an optimum relationship between ductility and wear-resistance.

To maximise the scope of the grades, Mapal has engineered the inserts to correspond with existing 75deg face-milling cutters, as well as the company’s 90deg tangential shoulder-milling tools.

In addition, the inserts can also be used on 45 and 88deg shoulder-milling tools with alternately mounted tangential inserts.

The flexibility to work with the numerous tool-holder geometries is provided by the availability of sintered tangential inserts with four, six or eight cutting edges; these inserts are suitable for operations ranging from heavy-duty rough machining through to semi-finishing.

Included in the series are three PVD-coated carbides and two CVD-coated grades. The PVD coating consists of an optimised TiAlCrN material with very fine structuring of the layers, while the CVD coating is based on an MT-TiCN featuring an alpha-Al2O3 top coat.

This layer combination offers high wear-resistance and good thermal stability. A special post-treatment has been developed for both the PVD and CVD coatings to ensure an extremely smooth surface that improves chip flow and chip evacuation.