Barrel-Shaped End Mills Line Boosts Complex 3D Surfacing Operations

Tungaloy introduces eight new barrel-shaped, solid-carbide end mills to its SolidMeister series.

The SolidMeister series offers a range of high-performance, solid-carbide, square-shoulder end mills, ball-nose end mills and high-feed cutters to provide solutions for rough to finish machining in any type of material, with high productivity and extended tool life.

New SolidMeister barrel end mills are efficient tools for complex 3D-surfacing operations used in moldmaking, orthopedic implants and the machining of gas-turbine blades and other freeform surfaces in the aerospace and energy industries. The end mills incorporate a cutting edge that is actually the segment of a large-diameter arc. Since the shape of the cutting edge resembles a barrel profile, the tool became known as barrel end mills. The large arc segment can significantly increase the stepover distances without degradation of the surface finish parameters, which means that the number of passes and machining time can be reduced.

The barrel end mills come in three different cutting-edge profiles and features: the long-edge version features a large-radius cutting edge of 80 or 90 mm (3.150" or 3.543") and is suited for semi-rough to semi-finish machining; the short-edge version incorporates an even larger cutting edge radius of 250 mm (9.843") lending itself to machining high-precision, straight-walled pockets and curved surfaces; and the lens-shaped version has a barrel-shape cutting edge on its end surface that is useful for machining details perpendicular to the spindle, such as the narrow channels of a tire-mold surface.

The barrel end mills are available in AH710, a wear-resistant, PVD-coated grade that provide the tools with extended tool life and predictability in most material groups.