Manufacturers usually produce threads with a milling cutter or a turning tool. However, there is a less commonly used but significantly faster method: thread turning. With specially designed PENTACUT special tools from ISCAR, AVS Römer now cuts its threads twice as fast – process-safe, economically, and with high tool life.
Founded in 1970 as an engineering office, AVS Römer today develops tailored and application-specific solutions for the areas of connecting, controlling, measuring, and conveying. The approximately 550 employees at the headquarters in Grafenau/Bavarian Forest, as well as in the branches in Langenberg/Erzgebirge and Aardorf/Switzerland, produce among other things plug bodies, valves, distributors, hoses, sensor technology, and pumps for international customers from the mechanical engineering and food industries.
AVS Römer manufactures batches of 500 to several 10,000 pieces and primarily processes brass, lead-free brass, and stainless steel, but also aluminum – and even plastics in its own injection molding facility. "Our business partners rely on our expertise, our quality, and our delivery reliability," says Markus Greipl, head of CNC mechanical manufacturing at AVS Römer. "They come to us with specific tasks, and we develop a suitable solution together."
In order to always offer customers the best technology, the department head and his team are constantly looking for new ideas and improvements to their processes. For this, they have had the right tool partner in ISCAR for many years, who not only provides the appropriate tools but also delivers important impulses. "During an online training, I became aware of thread turning and found the process very interesting," says Markus Greipl. "I definitely wanted to try this."
With the appropriate tool, cycle times can be reduced by up to 80 percent. The cutting edge requires only a short engagement time, and users achieve high tool lives. "Thread turning works through simultaneous radial and axial feed. The plate takes a diagonal path. This creates a thread within a second," explains ISCAR application technician Armin Zillner.
Optimization potential in the coffee machine
The department head also had a test object in mind – the external thread on a straight Schott screw fitting made of stainless steel for installation in coffee machines. AVS Römer regularly manufactures the component in different versions as batches of 30,000 from three-meter-long bars. Until now, the machinist milled the thread or produced it with a two-blade thread turning tool. "In both variants, we still had room for improvement," says Christian Wenig, deputy head of CNC mechanical manufacturing at AVS Römer. "Quality problems occurred repeatedly with turning, and milling was relatively expensive."
During the next visit from Hubert Fischer, consulting and sales at ISCAR, and ISCAR application technician Armin Zillner, the ISCAR experts discussed the topic of thread turning with Markus Greipl, offered it according to the required threads, and tested the process. "With the PENTACUT series, we have the right tool in our portfolio for this," says Hubert Fischer.
Five-blade specialist convinces
With the five-blade precision turning system PENTACUT, complex profiles and threads with widths of up to 20 millimeters and a depth of cut of ten millimeters can be produced with precision in just one movement in a few seconds. All parameters of the cutting insert, such as edge rounding, coating, and chip geometry, are tailored to the customer's requirements. The optimal interaction of edge preparation, coating, chip angle, and substrate is crucial for performance and flawless function. Cooling also plays a decisive role, as a lot of heat transfers into the tool during processing, which affects the cutting edge. Therefore, the holder has internal channels that transport the coolant directly into the cutting zone.
The tool specialists laid out a special plate based on the PENTACUT 34 for a thread with 1/8 inch and brought it on-site in Grafenau. With success: "It worked really well from the start on our various machines," says Markus Greipl. AVS Römer only needs to make a brief pass with the PENTACUT over the workpiece to produce the thread. "For longer threads, we simply turn twice," says the department head. The result: the process time immediately dropped from 23 to four seconds. "That corresponds to a saving of 60 percent. We didn't have to think long and immediately ordered cutting inserts in the other required sizes," says Christian Wenig.
Since the beginning of 2024, AVS Römer has been using the PENTACUT five-blade cutters for threads with 1/8, 3/8, and 1/4 inch in various products and is fully satisfied. "With the PENTACUT, we were able to not only reduce processing time by more than half, but also lower tool costs thanks to the five cutting edges and significantly increase tool life from 600 to 2,000 parts per edge," lists Markus Greipl. "We have also integrated another innovative process that sets us apart from other suppliers and opens up new possibilities for us."
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