Rugby-based Mapal (www.mapal.com) has unveiled its new OptiMill-Composite-Speed-Plus milling cutter which the company says is the logical further development of the OptiMill-Composite-Speed in relation to tool life and fracture strength.

The diamond-coated solid carbide milling cutter with eight cutting edges is designed for the reliable machining of carbon fibre reinforced plastics. Due to a new high-performance substrate in combination with a reinforced core diameter, the fracture strength has been increased by 50%.

The optimised groove profile ensures fast, reliable removal of dust and process heat even with extremely high machining volumes. The cutting-edge geometry has been optimised for the requirements of brittle materials.

Overall the tool life of the OptiMill-Composite-Speed-Plus is 20% higher than for the previous model and the unique face geometry with double-point thinning also provides significantly improved plunging characteristics.

In particular, the significant increase in the fracture strength ensures a particularly high degree of process reliability during the machining of carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites.

As a result, the OptiMill-Composite-Speed-Plus is optimally suited to usage in the aerospace industry and thanks to the high-performance teeth, it is possible to rough or finish in one machining step. High feeds and cutting speeds ensure particularly cost-effective machining.