Wilhelm Schauerte GmbH & Co. KG in Lennestadt manufactures turned parts for the automotive industry, general machinery and apparatus construction, as well as sanitary technology with 140 skilled workers. This includes incorporating conical Whitworth pipe threads Rp ½” (14 threads per inch) over approximately 15 mm thread length in components made of corrosion-resistant, highly alloyed steel X2CrNiMo17-12-2 (material no. 1.4404). Circular automatic machines produce these components in large series. For manufacturing their threads, the contract manufacturers in Lennestadt previously used thread milling cutters from various tool manufacturers. However, the tool lives or operating times proved to be insufficient. After just about 12,000 threads, the tools were worn out and had to be replaced. This caused frequent downtimes of the highly productive circular automatic machines.
Optimized cutting geometry
The contract manufacturers in Lennestadt now process significantly better and more economically with thread milling cutters GFM Shark (D16x41xG14 IK) from JBO (Johs. Boss GmbH & Co. KG). The tools are held in hydro-expansion clamping systems TENDO Turn (Schunk). During the milling of the threads, oil is used for cooling and lubrication.
Hard, corrosion-resistant steel alloys and carefully coordinated cutting geometries of the GFM Shark thread milling cutters now provide significantly larger tool lives or longer operating times. The thread milling cutters operate at a cutting speed of Vc=100 m/min and a feed per tooth fz=0.08 mm up to the wear limit, processing about 30,000 threads. Thus, they achieve almost three times the tool life. On the other hand, they shorten the possible cycle time, as they operate more productively than the previously used thread tools.
Multiple use
A special feature of the thread milling cutters from JBO ensures that the tools additionally optimize the economy when milling the threads in components made of highly alloyed steels. They have a total usable cutting length of 41 mm. When milling threads over 15 mm in length, they are only partially utilized. Therefore, they can be shortened (halved) by about 20 mm after reaching the wear limit on the utilized part of the cutting edges. With the remaining part of the usable cutting edges, they then process another 30,000 threads until reaching the wear limit.
Thus, the manufacturing technicians at the contract manufacturer Schauerte can use thread milling cutters GFM Shark from JBO for a total of 60,000, sometimes even up to 80,000 threads on their circular automatic machines. As specialists at Schauerte confirm, this is achieved reliably and safely. With these sixfold tool lives – compared to previously common thread milling cutters – the GFM Shark thread milling cutters from JBO demonstrate that they manufacture significantly more economically with high process reliability. The contract manufacturer in Lennestadt can now reduce its demand and procurement for thread milling cutters to about one third or even to just one sixth of the previously required quantities.
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