b'Look-AheadThis month, Cutting Tool Engineering covers: New tool bodies and inserts for thread milling.A new cutting head package for abrasive waterjetting.STAYING ON THEcan cut essentially any pitch from 6same tool body, Pollock said.CUTTING EDGE to 18 tpi (1.5mm to 6mm). The new products are indepen-In addition, Walter has introduceddent of each other and cover dif-I ts been less than 2 years sincethree thread milling inserts. Theirferent-size thread pitches. Pollock Walter USA LLC launched its cut- smaller corner radii reportedly ex- pointed out, however, that the in-ter family for milling large threads,pand the systems versatility. As aserts have been standardized, pro-the T2711/T2712 system. Now,result, users can cut finer pitches.viding the advantage of using one with its release of new tool bodiesFurthermore, when row spacing issystem, even if multiple tool bodies and inserts, Walter significantly ex- an integral multiple of the pitch, theare required. Our goal, he said, is pands the system, combining themultiple-row bodies can cut multipleto produce as many different threads advantages of thread milling andpitches rather than just one or two. as possible with a single tool.tapping. For more information about Wal-When the T2711/T2712ter USA LLC, Waukesha, Wis., visit was introduced in 2016, itswww.walter-tools.com/usorcall biggest advantage was in- (800) 945-5554.sert design, according to Walter Product ManagerSUPERFINE-ABRASIVE Luke Pollock. By causingWATERJETTINGthe chip to curl inwards, away from the part, it is aWalter USA W ater Jet Sweden AB intro-very smooth-cutting tool,Walters T2711 (top) and T2712 combine the advantagesduced its Fine Abrasive Water keeping cutting forces toof thread milling and tapping. Jet (FAWJ) process a decade ago to a minimum. meet industrys need to make nar-Pollock said the design allowsPollock said there tends to berow, high-precision cuts in hard ma-threads to be cut in one pass, elimi- more tool bodies with the metricterials. The company developed nating the need for multiple passesprogram than with the inch one.the technique for a specially de-or running a spring pass to en- Metric tools generally are not assigned waterjet machine used to sure that the thread pitch is withinversatile because of the definitionproduce microparts.specification. of the thread pitch, which affectsRecently, Water Jet Sweden intro-The original system offered ninethe spacing of threads. Walter hasduced the FAWJ Micro Head pack-tool bodies for M and MF threaddesigned the tool bodies so thatage. It is for users of the companys styles, with metric-dimensionednot as many are needed with UNC/ standard machinesthe X-Series shanks. For UNC/UNF/UN threads,UNF/UN tools. and Premium lineswho want to there were three tool bodies withBy simply modifying the insertmake highly precise, narrow cuts metric shanks and three with inchdesign slightlyi.e., changing thebut dont need to meetextremely shanks. The original system offeredcornerradiusmultiplethreadtight tolerances, such as those often five different combinations of insertpitches can be machined with therequiredformanufacturingmi-size and corner radius, so a largecroscale components.number of thread sizes and pitchesTraditional abrasive waterjets typ- could be produced. Robert Weinsteinically produce a kerf of 0.8mm to The companys new products in- is a contributing1.0mm (0.031" to 0.039"). The Micro clude two new tool bodies for pro- editor for CTE.Headpackageletsusersmake Contact him at ducing M56 and M64 coarse-pitch(732) 583-7171 orcuts as narrow as 0.3mm (0.012"). threads. With these additions, [email protected]. continued on page 7576MARCH 2018 LookAhead.indd 76 2/15/18 3:30 PM'