Tamworth-based Industrial Tooling Corporation Ltd (www.itc-ltd.co.uk) has added to its line-up with the arrival of the Widia Victory High-Speed Cutting (VHSC) series of milling cutters, which can be applied to the face milling, pocketing, ramping, circular interpolation, slotting and shoulder milling of aluminium workpieces.

Widia VHSC mills incorporate a proprietary pocket design that allows the installation of inserts with both large
and small corner radii (from 0.4 to 6.0mm), which reduces costs for the end user.

Furthermore, the inserts retain their axial positioning regardless of what insert corner nose radius is selected.

The cutters are capable of machining at speeds up to 3,000m/min.

Cylindrical end mills, ‘cutting monoblocks’ and shell mills are available in diameter ranges from 25 to 32mm, 25 to 50mm and 40 to 80mm respectively.

Thanks to the design of its cutter body, the VHSC series permits heavy feeding and ramping.

Indeed, ITC says that the mills are capable of material removal rates up to 8,600cm³/min when using XDET-ALP inserts.

The positive ALP insert is manufactured from wear-resistant micro-grain carbide that has a polished rake face to reduce built-up edge.

Inserts are offered in two ALP geometry variants: the FR-ALP with an ultra-sharp cutting edge for rough- and finish-machining on lower-powered machine tools; and ER-ALP inserts, which have a honed cutting edge and high-strength
geometry for rough-machining and the processing of cast components and other challenging aluminium applications.

With regard to tool bodies, the Widia VHSC has an end-mill offering that includes a two-insert 25mm-diameter cutter and a three-insert 32mm-diameter cutter.

The larger monoblocks are available with diameters of 25, 32, 40 and 50mm, plus the option of two, three or four insert seats (depending on the chosen diameter).

For higher material removal rates on larger surfaces, the shell mills have diameters of 40, 50, 63 and 80mm, along with three-, four- and five-insert pocket options.