Boehlerit Magazin 2016-EN

Laser-Cutting saves 1 Year delivery time It takes a whole year to produce an indexable insert with a new geometry in the normal course of development. But the Austrian-based tool manufacturers of Boehlerit can now do it in just one week! Or better still ... in a mere four hours! “We have been laser-cutting carbide inserts for more than 10 years now, not only prototypes but also production-ready turning and milling inserts that can easily stand any comparison in terms of tool life”, says André Feiel, manager of the Boehlerit Technology Centre in Kapfenberg, confirming the outstanding quality of the “lasered inserts”. The scene is one of the biggest production facilities for carbide tools in Europe. Boehlerit, located in Kapfenberg, an Upper Styrian town not far from the Styrian capital of Graz, is one of the biggest suppliers of tool manufacturers in Germany and other European countries. Boehlerit has two powder towers and produces carbide tools and indexable inserts for machining companies and many big names in the toolmaking trade. Depending on customer demands, Boehlerit designs, engineers, produces and tests a wide portfolio from semi-finished products to ready-to-use tools. The variety is impressive: some 60 carbide sub- strates are available, 30 formulae for indexable inserts alone. “Superfast towards the ideal geometry” “We produce between 14 and 15 million inserts every year. The share of laser-cut inserts is still very small, but this is going to change significantly; especially in the development of indexable insert pro- totypes”, says Marketing Manager and tool expert Gerhard Melcher. When developed the conventional way, an indexable insert takes about one year to produce. The time is mainly used for coordinating, fine- tuning and optimising the geometry of the insert and the pressing tools. Boehlerit, on the other hand, is able to produce a ½“ insert (edge length about 12 mm, weight 10 g) in the incredibly shot period of only four hours using a standard Lasertec machining centre of DMG Mori. “If the user does not demand any special edge treatment or coating, he can use such an insert right away. This means that toolmakers are able to optimise their new insert geometries almost daily, to continue testing series nearly continuously and thus come close to the new, ideal geo- metry very quickly”, says Melcher, explaining the effects of this super- fast production method. André Feiel, manager of the Technology Centre at Boehlerit Kapfenberg, stresses that the know-how required for the André Feiel and operator Andreas Deutschmann have written more than 1,300 milling programs for indexable inserts: “Simply pushing a few com- puter keys is not enough. You need experience and have to adjust the machine with the right current and cutting depth to the various materials. The result can be seen in shining surfaces.” laser-cutting of indexable inserts is what lies behind the success: “We have been using lasers for some 10 years now. The Lasertec 40 is our second machine. It has been in operation for two years and made a huge leap in quality possible, because the laser no longer removes 3 μm per layer but can be set to 0.1 µm. The times when “steps” were- produced are a thing of the past and we are now able to produce per- fect surfaces.” According to Feiel, no more reworking is required after cutting. On the contrary: Boehlerit uses the laser even for defined edge preparation. “We do get some really crazy inquiries for laser-cut inserts”. Many customers, especially designers, ask to laser-cut something that will most probably not work – Feiel assumes that the reason behind queries of this kind is to obtain a relatively cheap but final confirmation from an expert about their ideas and concepts. No compromise on tool life “The service life of laser-cut inserts is impressive. Thanks to the perfect surface finish, their lifespan has been considerably lengthened. While in 010 BOEHLERIT MAGAZINE

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