• Mapal India Private Limited

Milling Cutters For Lightweight Materials

MAPAL has expanded its Milling Cutter range for lightweight materials with the four models, OptiMill-Composite-UD, OptiMill-Honeycomb, OptiMill-Thermoplastic and OptiMill-Thermoplastic-FR. The trend towards lightweight construction is resulting in the constant development of new materials with a very wide range of properties, which create new demands also on the machining. Thermoplastics are widely used in the automotive sector, for example in the production of instrument panels. Due to its low melting temperature, the material requires special tool geometries in order to avoid melting. MAPAL has therefore developed the solid carbide OptiMill-Thermoplastic with very sharp cutting edges for the reliable machining of thermoplastics. Its special geometry not only ensures the optimum discharge of the chips, but also minimises the build-up of heat during milling. MAPAL also offers the OptiMill-Thermoplastic-FR for the machining of special fibre-reinforced thermoplastics, predominantly carbon fibres. As carbon fibres are very abrasive, the solid carbide milling cutter is diamond coated. Thanks to the arrangement of the cutting edges around the circumference, the fibres are cut off cleanly without burr formation. OptiMill-Composite-UD, was added to the milling cutter range for the milling of parts made from fibre composite materials such as CFRP that are either very thin or are difficult to machine. OptiMill-Honeycomb has been developed to meet the special demands of machining honeycombs. The eight-bladed solid carbide end milling cutter has extremely sharp cutting edges, a helix angle of 15 degrees and very fine serration. The new OptiMill-Honeycomb reliably machines even honeycombs with a wide variety of outer layers or with fillings.