According to Bromsgrove-based Walter GB Ltd (www.walter-tools.com), aerospace manufacturers that require special solid-carbide tooling for titanium workpieces will have to wait no longer than three weeks if they use the company’s newly introduced Xpress service.

An example of the cutter options available to aerospace component manufacturers is the Prototyp Ti38 Z6-10 solid-carbide milling cutter.

Featuring a newly developed substrate and PVD coating, this cutter can operate at cutting speeds up to 140m/min. In addition, multi-tooth solutions with up to 10 teeth allow the feed to be increased by up to 50%, says Walter, in turn providing an increase of up to 50% in metal removal rates compared with ‘conventional solutions’.

In one case, tool life when machining an aerospace window frame made of titanium with a tensile strength of 1,250N/mm2 has
been raised from 175min to 444min when semi-finishing and finishing using a Prototyp Ti40 cutter.

On the same component, using a Prototyp HDC Ti38L for finishing the outer contour, tool life was extended by 116%, while the cutting speed was increased by 25% and the machining volume by 23%.

Meanwhile, the use of Walter’s CVD coating technology for its WSM45X indexable insert, in conjunction with its Blaxx M3255 porcupine milling cutter, allows the full slotting and climb milling of titanium structural components at a cutting speed of 45m/min and a feed of 0.12mm.

Finish-milling can be carried out with PCD cutting edges, although appropriate coolant strategies must be used to keep the machining temperature at the cutting edge under 600°C.

Customers of the Xpress tool service can use the ‘my.Walter’ software to design the tool on-line. This will be followed by an e-mail quote for the purpose-made tool, along with a 2-D drawing and 3-D model — all within an hour.