Cutting-tool and tooling system specialist Sandvik Coromant has introduced its lightweight CoroMill 390, which features a cutter body produced using additive manufacturing (AM).

The light overall weight of the tool helps to minimise vibration and improve security during machining with long overhangs, allowing productivity to be increased.

Sandvik says AM offers a superior way of producing complex structures with high precision and without joints, allowing components to be “lighter, stronger and more flexible than ever before”.

With regard to tool bodies, AM allows the production of shapes and features not possible with metal cutting. Moreover, virtually any material can be ‘printed’ — a titanium alloy in the case of this tooling. 

Thomas Wikgren, a product application manager at Sandvik Coromant, said: “When designing our new lightweight CoroMill 390, material has been ‘tactically removed’ to create the optimal cutter design for minimising mass.

"This is called topological optimisation, and it makes the cutter more compact and significantly lighter than a conventional version, thus helping machine shops to boost the productivity of their long-overhang milling operations.

"Moreover, a shorter distance between the damper in the adaptor and the cutting edge improves machining performance and process security.

"The latter is paramount in a number of metal-cutting applications, not least when milling with long overhangs, which is a common requirement in components used by the aerospace and oil and gas sectors.

"Here, the machining of features such as deep cavities can be compromised by vibration, leading to slower production, shorter tool life and poor surface finish.”

The new lightweight CoroMill 390, combined with Silent Tools milling adaptors, ‘subdues’ vibration to help maximise productivity and process security in demanding applications.

"In addition, CoroMill 390 offers a light cutting action for “a smooth cutting performance.”

CoroMill 390 can perform long-reach face milling, deep-shoulder and side milling, cavity milling and slot milling.

The tool is available with diameters of 40mm (arbor 16 coupling) and 50mm (arbor 22 coupling).

Three or four inserts (size 11) can be specified to suit the application. Differential pitch and internal coolant are provided on all cutters.

More details can be found at the Web site (www.sandvik.coromant.com/en-gb/products/coromill_390).