Look For a Partner, Not Just a Supplier

The ever-increasing pace of technological innovation across the world makes this an exciting time for consumers – and creates endless new challenges for manufacturers. Advanced materials, complex part shapes and demanding customer schedules mean that arriving at the optimal solution can be incredibly time consuming. And with the industry changing more and more every day, simply keeping up with the news of advances in manufacturing technology can be a full-time job, much less integrating that technology into your shop.

What we can’t do alone, however, we can often accomplish together. That’s why many manufacturers develop close partnerships with suppliers – and at Seco, we pride ourselves on working directly with our customers to overcome any and all part-production challenges. From the initial design and R&D phases to the final runoff that proves the process, our team has the expertise necessary to help manufacturers find and deploy the cutting-edge technology necessary for exceptional productivity.

In many cases, this process can be as easy as picking up the phone and talking to a distributor or using the Suggest tool on secotools.com. Our comprehensive range of solutions covers virtually all metalcutting applications, operations and materials, with new products released every year to help meet the needs of the rapidly evolving manufacturing sector. Whether it’s new tool geometries specifically engineered to save hours on aerospace holemaking or reengineered high-feed milling cutters that improve productivity and control a new process’ literally deafening noise, Seco has tools designed to meet nearly every need.

Our trusted manufacturing partners aren’t just customers, however – they often provide crucial assistance in tooling development. Many of our customers are pioneers in their respective fields, and when they begin creating the processes of the future, we collaborate on the required solutions. With our closest partners, Seco often begins participating in the R&D process as early as possible, and the resulting tools often find their way into our catalog. 

Of course, not every new process has the wide applicability that results in new standard products. Our Custom Products and Engineered Solutions teams can create completely custom solutions for unique metalcutting applications, all designed to meet your specifications. Tools often involve trade-offs like hardness vs. toughness, but with custom tools, that balance can be precisely tuned to your application to create a truly optimal process.

Contact your local Seco distributor today at secolocator.com to learn more about how we can work together to solve your biggest manufacturing challenges.

Three Tips for Threading Success

Often the last step in part production, threading operations can’t be redone or repaired – if it fails, the part is scrapped. To avoid these losses and realize the highest level of threading productivity, you have the make the right decisions about every aspect of the operation. Here are three tips to guide you toward correct choices and profitable threading:

#1: Tool selection and use are critical.

The process of threading begins with making a thread form on a spiral, which usually involves spirals that get smaller and tighter as parts become smaller in diameter – on larger diameters, the spirals get larger or even vertical. To make a proper thread, the tool insert must track the spiral correctly throughout a bore. Start with the proper anvil or helix angle in the toolholder, and if necessary, insert a shim seat underneath the insert to improve tracking, eliminate tool chatter and produce better gauging that creates a better thread.

When it comes to superalloys and other extremely hard materials like carbide or CBN, however, new techniques have been developed to help manufacturers thread workpieces in a hardened state, which eliminates time-consuming thread grinding and the need for potentially thread-distorting heat treatment following machining. To maintain cost-effective tool life, highly precise internal coolant, such as that available from Seco Tools’ Jetstream Tooling®, can control chips, improve surface finishes and stabilize threading without the need for external hoses, fittings and spare parts that diminish productivity and raise costs.

#2: Chip control can make or break threading operations.

Long, stringy chips that wrap around a toolholder can damage the tool's inserts and reduce their functional lifespan. Of course, re-indexing one or more inserts can correct the chipping problem and enable the threading process to resume, but needless re-indexing also wastes tool life. And if chips damage the thread itself, they can doom a part to the scrap pile. Additionally, when a chip becomes stuck inside a part during internal threading, an operator can sustain an injury attempting to fish out the chip and rescue the part, while a part loader or other robot can easily be stopped dead in its tracks after getting tangled up in chips.

Naturally, Jetstream Tooling® serves as an ideal general-purpose solution for chip control in threading operations, but in some materials, including stainless and other challenging steels, advanced coating chemistry and tool geometry can be vital to keeping chips flowing. For example, Seco’s TTP2050 grade offers alternating nano-laminate PVD layers of wear-resistant titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) and titanium silicon nitride (TiSiN), while the -A geometry is optimized specifically for effective chip control.

#3: Machine tool defaults may not be ideal for your task.

Machine tools ship with default modes preset on their CNC controllers, some of which produce more threading passes than a job may require. Machines also typically make radial in-feed their default cutting mode, which causes high cutting forces – and the resulting chatter and vibration – due to the insertion of the tool straight into the material. To avoid poor chip control and marred surface finishes, it's important to choose a cutting mode that uses only as much cutting force as the job requires.

Seco has committed itself to helping you resolve threading questions, match tools with specific workpiece materials – especially challenging options such as high-temperature alloys – and troubleshoot causes of chatter and vibration. For the easiest route to threading success, the Suggest tool, part of the Seco website’s My Pages digital portal, produces customized recommendations for threading tasks. And for personalized help, be sure to reach out to your Seco representative or visit SECOTOOLS.com.