Every machining process has latent potentials for boosting productivity. Significant potentials for improvement can be found even in seemingly secondary machining operations – as illustrated by the new generation of countersinks.
Countersinks are standard products. They are produced in large quantities and are used in practically every machining process, because as the saying goes: No bore without a countersink. The design of countersinks, however, has barely changed over the past decades, if at all. Equipped with three blades, the tools have an equal pitch between the cutting edges. Large axial forces cause vibrations of the tool and result in a poor surface finish. Furthermore, the tools do not achieve long service lives.
The unequal spacing (patent pending) reduces forces by more than 50%
But why shouldn't a secondary machining process also be optimised? MAPAL developed a completely new generation of countersinks with significantly reduced axial forces. The cutting edges of the new countersinks have a noticeably unequal spacing. With this spacing, the axial force is reduced by more than 50% compared with conventional countersinks. The forces acting perpendicularly to the tool axis are also reduced. Such optimised operating conditions create far less vibrations at the tool, allowing higher accuracies and better surface finishes to be achieved. The precision of the countersink leads to an immediately improved contact of bolted and riveted joints, eliminating settling of the joint under load after assembly. The reduced load on the machine also increases the service life of the tools. Thanks to the smooth and stable running, the tools can also be operated with higher cutting data, resulting in considerable savings in time. The new countersinks (patent pending) raise countersinking operations to a new technological level.
Illustration:
Ill 1: Thanks to its smooth running, the new countersink from MAPAL can be operated at far higher cutting rates.
Countersinks are standard products. They are produced in large quantities and are used in practically every machining process, because as the saying goes: No bore without a countersink. The design of countersinks, however, has barely changed over the past decades, if at all. Equipped with three blades, the tools have an equal pitch between the cutting edges. Large axial forces cause vibrations of the tool and result in a poor surface finish. Furthermore, the tools do not achieve long service lives.
The unequal spacing (patent pending) reduces forces by more than 50%
But why shouldn't a secondary machining process also be optimised? MAPAL developed a completely new generation of countersinks with significantly reduced axial forces. The cutting edges of the new countersinks have a noticeably unequal spacing. With this spacing, the axial force is reduced by more than 50% compared with conventional countersinks. The forces acting perpendicularly to the tool axis are also reduced. Such optimised operating conditions create far less vibrations at the tool, allowing higher accuracies and better surface finishes to be achieved. The precision of the countersink leads to an immediately improved contact of bolted and riveted joints, eliminating settling of the joint under load after assembly. The reduced load on the machine also increases the service life of the tools. Thanks to the smooth and stable running, the tools can also be operated with higher cutting data, resulting in considerable savings in time. The new countersinks (patent pending) raise countersinking operations to a new technological level.
Illustration:
Ill 1: Thanks to its smooth running, the new countersink from MAPAL can be operated at far higher cutting rates.
