How tool specialists respond to new challenges

Cutting tools From innovative to revolutionary: Tool highlights of AMB 2024

2024-08-30 From Victoria Sonnenberg | Translated by AI 19 min Reading Time

How tool specialists respond to new challenges such as materials or new trends will be demonstrated live in Stuttgart from September 10 to 14. We have compiled the most important highlights for you here.

The Quick-D-Mill combines two different cutting geometries on one indexable insert. Its flexibility makes it the Swiss Army knife of milling.(Image: Iscar) — The Quick-D-Mill combines two different cutting geometries on one indexable insert. Its flexibility makes it the Swiss Army knife of milling.
(Image: Iscar)

Müller Precision Tools in Hall 1, Booth 40

The special tool experts from Müller Precision Tools will showcase their tailored special tools and innovative processes that significantly reduce the CO₂ footprint of tools at AMB, including through recycling.

Tools that process modern, high-temperature-resistant materials such as titanium, Inconel, and various steels perform at a very high level. Despite high temperatures, drilling, milling, reaming, and countersinking must be highly precise, offer long service lives, and high cutting speeds—and ideally be sustainable. To ensure this, Müller Precision Tools offers a broad portfolio of services and solutions.

Gallery

The Picco 3 Cut features three cutting edges for high-precision and efficient internal machining of miniature components on Swiss-type lathes.(Image: Iscar)

Thanks to the new F3B flat drill head design, the Logiq 3 Cham can now also ream existing holes, even if they are eccentrically positioned.(Image: Iscar)

The carbide rod of the new solid carbide end mill Garant Green Plus is made of 99 percent recycled materials and is produced using electricity exclusively from renewable energy sources.(Image: Hoffmann Group)

Gallery with 9 images

Specific solutions even in small quantities

Smaller and medium-sized companies often do not require as large tool batches as, for example, international automobile manufacturers. For them, it can be challenging to find a supplier that also delivers custom tools in small quantities. At K.-H. Müller Precision Tools GmbH, there are no minimum quantities. Customers receive full service even for small quantities. This means that Müller's experts precisely analyze how each material should be processed. Based on this analysis, the appropriate tool is selected with the specific coating and tool geometry to achieve optimal performance.

No chance for stringy chips

Müller does not shy away from special challenges either. For example, their experts have developed a special tool geometry that also optimizes the tool life for machining delicate materials—including C10, a cold extrusion steel prone to producing stringy chips, particularly used in the production of components for e-mobility. In the machining process, these stringy chips are difficult to break and create friction between the workpiece and the tool. This leads to smearing and built-up edge formation. Not only the accuracy and surface quality of the drilling suffer from this, but the drills used also wear out faster. In the worst case, this can affect process reliability, for example, if accumulations of stringy chips block moving parts or coolant channels. In the long term, this can lead to increased maintenance needs and downtime.

To prevent this, Müller has developed a drill that, thanks to its special geometry and coating, facilitates precise machining of the material C10 with shorter chips. In practice, this has not only increased the tool life from 500 to 3,000 parts per tool use, but also increased the tool life distance by a factor of 6 to 105 meters.

AI in machining

Müller is also at the forefront of using artificial intelligence in machining. Since 2021, Müller has been part of the AI research project "Mastery of Machining Processes through Transferable Artificial Intelligence— Foundation for Process Improvements and New Business Models" funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The project involves five renowned companies and two professorships from German universities working together to make Machine Learning (ML) applicable and transferable for decisions regarding tool changes. This knowledge is urgently needed as cost pressure in machining processes continues to rise.

The first speakers have been announced!

Jan Lucas Brause and Erik Krumme from TU Dortmund present the results of current projects of the working group "Machining of Innovative Steel Materials" during their lecture. In close cooperation, the participating research institutes collaborate with manufacturing companies and tool and steel manufacturers to address challenges in the machining of steel materials. Specifically, during the biannual meetings of the working group, current challenges are identified, then experimentally investigated in application tests, and solutions are collaboratively developed with the involved partners. [Further information and registration](https://www.wissensforum-zerspanung.de/)

In the project, ML models for predicting wear on drilling and milling tools are trained with data that comes directly from the control systems or from retrofit sensors. The goal is to compute reliable predictions about the remaining useful life of tools and to detect anomalies at an early stage. A special focus for the project partners is also on the transferability of the calculations to different materials and machining processes using AI. This presents a particular challenge due to the variety of tools, geometries, and coatings used. The first phase of the project has already been completed and has yielded promising results. Furthermore, Müller is also exploring new avenues in new industries. To showcase the versatility of Müller's solutions, Müller is displaying its new dental milling cutters for medical technology at its trade show booth.

This article was first published on our sister website "www.MaschinenMarkt.de" (German Language), Vogel Communications Group

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