Two cutting edges at the front of the parting off insert can be great for your economy and the environment.
One insert. With two cutting edges. Which both work towards the same goal: to save time and to consume less material. The WhizCut parting off system combines economy and environmental thinking in a great way, leading to less waste of material, reduced energy consumption and lower manufacturing costs.
WhizTwin optimizes material consumption through less used material in parting off operations. WhizCut has developed a double-edged insert with a unique design, where the cutting edges are directed forward and at the same time support each other. The WhizTwin system has significantly shorter overhang than conventional parting off tools on the market today. WhizTwin stands out, with the same diameter as conventional systems but with a smaller cutting width. Users of WhizTwin can increase their profitability in many different ways, with the same tool.
Overhang
Conventional two-edge inserts have the problem that the non-engaging cutting edge sits inside the holder and takes up space, lengthening the overhang. WhizTwin is a double-edged insert with both cutting edges directed towards the workpiece. This means that the overhang for the process can be reduced by more than 30 percent, while the bending stiffness of the insert increases by more than 50 percent. A reduced overhang and increased bending stiffness allow the insert to be used in tougher environments with higher cutting speed and feed for increased productivity or replace conventional systems with a narrower insert. The narrower cut from WhizTwin reduces the consumer’s material consumption, which leads to benefits for both the consumer and the environment.
Deflection
The unique design, with two cutting edges aimed in the same direction makes it possible to reduce deflection and also the vibrations that make the parting off operation unstable. Thanks to the parting off operation becoming more stable, the cutting width can be reduced, which leads to reduced material consumption.
The challenge with parting off
The same parting off insert is often used for different diameters, depending on the machine’s maximum processing diameter — for example, if the machine can work with a bar diameter of 20 mm, a parting off operation for that diameter is used even if the material is changed to 10 mm. This leads to parting of small diameters where the width of the parting insert is unnecessarily large, as the width and depth of cut often go hand in hand: a deeper parting off often requires a wider insert. This results in a larger amount of material having to be discarded.
More stability with extra carbide
Thanks to the WhizTwin concept having two forward pointing edges, it is possible to produce inserts with more carbide under the cutting edge (see figure 1). Directly below the cutting edge, clearance is needed so that the workpiece does not damage the insert, the clearance is made in a radius to achieve optimal release just after the cutting edge but then gradually make the insert stronger further from the cutting edge. Both edges are ground at the same time, which means that the carbide that acts as a release for one edge becomes support for the other. The extra carbide ends up not only in the cross-section of the fracture surface, but also further under the edge — and this mass provides support for the cutting edge that is operative.
Productivity
WhizTwin can increase productivity in machine shops where there is little opportunity to make major changes to programs. It may also happen that a producer wants to use the same width on all machines to facilitate operations.
- With WhizTwin, the operator can use the same cutting width but increase the cutting data for the parting off operation. Cycle time for the parting off operation is reduced and more details are produced per day.
- Alternatively, the same cutting data can be retained if the essential is to increase the lifetime of the cutting edge. This is again profitable for the user as time is also saved through fewer tool changes and other maintenance.
“A 0.5 millimeter difference in cutting width means half a millimeter of saved material per detail. Which quickly becomes kilometers of material in a year.”
Material consumption
Even though the measurement is millimeters, this is where the environmental benefits, the lower degree of energy consumption and the time efficiency, occur. A 0.5 millimeter difference in cutting width means half a millimeter of saved material per detail. Which quickly becomes kilometers of material in a year. Reduced material consumption is often requested when exclusive materials are processed. Gold, titanium, inconel, platinum and even many stainless steels can be expensive in relation to the final cost of the part. When producing large quantities, the reduced material consumption becomes noticeable.
For example, 50 running meters of a material can be saved if the cutting width is reduced from 2.0 to 1.5 mm when producing 100,000 parts. In swiss turning, 100,000 parts are not uncommon, and in many cases the parts produced in large quantities are very small — giving even more reason to reduce material consumption. If the part is 10 mm long and 0.5 mm can be saved at each cut, the material consumption is reduced by approximately 4.2 percent, which can result in large sums, depending on the material. It is also common for parts produced in a cnc swiss lathe to be significantly shorter than 10 mm.