Princes Risborough-based Sumitomo Electric Hardmetal Ltd (www.sumitomotool.com) has extended its range of WFX Wave Mill screw-locking shoulder mills.

The series ‘leverages’ the established economic advantages of four-corner inserts, which are used in WFXH high-feed-rate multi-purpose roughing bodies, and WFXC chamfering-type bodies.

By maintaining the use of existing inserts in the WFX series, tool management and insert stockholding become more economic, extending their use to a wider range of applications.

Moreover, the combination of existing inserts and new cutter bodies is said to create levels of axial run-out within 0.03mm on materials that include steel and exotic alloys, stainless and die steels, cast iron and non-ferrous materials.

WFX Wave Mill cutters were originally developed to provide optimised squareness up to 90deg shoulders.

For depths of cut up to 10mm, the four-corner insert with Sumitomo’s ACE-Coat Super ZX multi-layer PVD coating demonstrated that the in-cut life was some 1.5-times greater than ‘conventional’ inserts.

According to Sumitomo, this high productivity is also due to the precision-machined seating in the body, along with controlled insert manufacture that enables high orders of shoulder squareness on the milled component.

The extended Wave Mill cutter bodies are available in shell and end-mill versions, each using four-corner inserts.

For high-feed-rate applications and roughing cycles, WFXH inserts are set at 15deg cutting-edge angles, while the WFXC chamfer-type bodies have a 45deg cutting edge.

Sumitomo says that the optimised edge strength of WFX indexable inserts is achieved using a convex shape. A flat between insert corners minimises the marking of the machined part due to any differences in level when step cutting using sequential cutting depths.

In addition, a wiper insert with a 15deg cutting edge to its single corner is available to achieve even greater surface flatness and finer finishes.

A range of chip-breakers is offered: L for low cutting forces; G for general-purpose; H with a strong edge; and S with a sharp edge.

These can be specified to optimise the milling of specific materials and cutting operations, as well as the application of the latest Sumitomo multi-layer Super ZX coating.

Seven different insert grades are available for finishing, medium cutting and heavy-duty milling.