Not to brag, but one of our specialties is looking at a machining problem and coming up with ways to make your job a bit easier and more lucrative. Our Ti-Feed Series of high feed endmills is a great example of this. The series came about because popular multi-flute tools and iMachining tool paths are not practical when milling turbines for aerospace or automotive applications in a 5-axis machining environment. Z-level machining tool paths are needed to accommodate part shape and fixturing rigidity.

Traditional High Feed Mills Don’t Cut It

High feed mills and z-level processing are nothing new, Mold makers have been using this technology for years to machine hardened steels. The trouble is that the high feed mills they use are specifically designed for those materials. Neutral cutting geometry, combined with slow helix angles and ultra-hard nano coatings, are great for hardened D2 or H13, but not so much for Ti-6Al4V. So, at GWS, we have taken the principles of radial chip thinning and high feed mills and applied them to our new Ti-Feed Series for ultimate machining performance in titanium alloys.

Titanium Troubles

The problem is titanium has a tendency to generate excessive heat at the contact area during the machining process. With titanium’s low thermal conductivity characteristics, that heat gets transferred mainly to the cutting tool. This results in long continuous chips that can weld on to the tool edge, giving you a poor finish, or worse yet, out of tolerance parts. Sharper cutting geometries with fine precision honing and heat resistant coatings are needed to better attack the machineability challenges of titanium alloy and other gummy materials such as stainless steel successfully.

How We Did It

The cutting geometry of the Ti-Feed Series is designed specifically for titanium machining. It features a high positive cutting geometry with precision ground hone and 30-degree helix to ensure a high degree of shear action during cutting. A non-center cutting design increases core strength (and consequently rigidity) during machining. Flute count ranges from 5 to 7 flutes, based on diameter, to provide the maximum number of cutting edges for optimum MRR and thermal management. Longer overall lengths, combined with longer tapered neck bolster reach and rigidity and make the tool ideal for long-reach z-level machining operations. Lastly, our multi-layered HX coating provides heat and wear resistance for longer tool life when machining high-temperature alloys, while our optional coolant-through series provides maximum performance for those with coolant-fed spindles.

Depending on your need, tools in the Ti-Feed Series are available from stock in solid (2052 Series) & coolant- through (2053 Series) versions.

Special Promotion

To make your decision even easier, from May 15 to June 30 if you buy three of our Ti-Feed Series high feed endmills, we’lll give you another one absolutely FREE. That’s right: four titanium chomping endmills for the price of three! Use Promo Code: TIFEED20.