Seco Tools Inc.

Designed for grooving operations in steel, nonferrous alloys and superalloys, the Grooving Sharp (GS) and Grooving Ground (GG) chipbreakers are the latest additions to Seco Tools’ Multi-Directional Turning (MDT) program.

The TP0500 turning grade is designed for a variety of steel machining operations with stable cutting conditions and where a lot of heat is generated.

Exchanging turning inserts for Seco’s Duratomic-coated grade TP2500 helped this manufacturer reduce per-part and perishable tooling costs by 20 and 70 percent, respectively.

Seco's Duratomic-grade inserts are said to run faster and longer than competitive models. Key to their performance is a unique texture achieved by manipulating the coating at the atomic level.

Seco Tools’ TP0500 turning grade features a wear-resistant Duratomic coating.

Seco Tools’ TP3500 grade offers improved edge toughness and wear resistance in demanding applications that require long and consistent tool life.

Seco Tools offers custom tooling to complement its standard high-performance Jetstream Tooling series, which delivers coolant directly at the insert cutting edge for increased productivity.

Seco Tools has announced a restructuring of its organization to better align itself with the Seco global strategy and to enhance its ability to engage and serve customers.

Although long-overhang tools can reach deep cavities and other difficult-to-access areas, such cutters can introduce vibration into the machining process. To address this issue, Seco Tools’ Steadyline vibration-damping shell mill holders feature a passive dynamic damping system that offers as much as 3× the rigidity of common solid holders.

Seco Tools has added its Duratomic process technology to two cutting grades designed for grooving and parting-off applications. During the Duratomic process, aluminum oxide is arranged at the atomic level to adjust the coating to fit specific applications and workpieces.

Seco Tools’ Jabro JHF180 MEGA-64 solid carbide end mill series is suited for machining hardened steels ranging from 48 to 62 HRC. The end mill features a rigid 0.

Just as there are a great many types of holes to be produced in today’s complex workpieces, there are a great many types of holemaking processes. Finding the right cutting tool for each holemaking application is a matter of asking the right questions and getting good answers from a cutting tool supplier.

Seco’s new Square 6 shoulder milling cutter uses trigonal inserts with six cutting edges to boost productivity and lower the cost per insert edge. The inserts are available with three insert geometries and three pitches to allow the tool to be used for a variety of general machining operations, such as face milling, contouring, plunging, slotting and shoulder milling in steels, cast irons and hard materials.

When shops experience insert wear, they often turn to their trusted cutting tool suppliers for a solution. In this case, however, Seco Tools not only supplied one customer with a new grade, but also conducted an extensive investigation into the shop’s processes to help it use that grade as effectively as possible.

Jetstream Tooling is a range of high performance tools designed to deliver coolant directly at the insert cutting edge for productivity gains. According to the company, this tooling controls chips and extends tool life. Cutting speed and feed rates are increased across virtually all coolant pressures (from 70 psi to 5,000 psi) and many material types—specifically titanium alloys, but also nickel-chromium, aluminum, steel alloys and stainless steels.

Seco Tools Inc. has launched a new online technical forum, lead by the Seco application support team, as a real-time solution to assist companies experiencing machining issues. The forum at www.

Seco Tools offers Jetstream Tooling, a line of high performance tools designed to deliver coolant directly at the insert cutting edge for better chip control and long tool life. The high cutting speed and feed rates are said to be maintained across coolant pressures ranging from 70 to 5,000 psi for materials including titanium alloys, nickel-chromium, aluminum and steel alloys, and stainless steel. Coolant is applied through the tooling nozzle at high pressure, close to the cutting edge, cooling the work area and producing smaller, hard, brittle chips.

This shop upgraded to through-spindle coolant as part of a lean manufacturing initiative but soon experienced tool life issues in drilling applications. With the Performax drill from Seco Tools, the shop not only addressed this problem, but also reduced costs and cycle time.

Seco Tools offers its MR6 chipbreaker optimized for peak performance in the medium-rough turning of steels. The chipbreaker’s main advantage is the open and highly positive design coupled with the company’s Duratomic coated grades, allowing for the use of higher cutting speeds when compared to traditionally designed chipbreakers, the company says. The chipbreaker generates low cutting forces within the main cutting area allowing high cutting speed, depth of cut and feed, which increase machine utilization and productivity for the customer.

The SecoMax CBN400C is a polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) grade from Seco Tools that is optimized for finishing grey iron components commonly found in automotive manufacturing. The PCBN grade has a grain size of 3 to 6 microns and CBN content of 90 percent. It is available in a range of insert styles com

One of this aerospace shop’s many specialties is producing ring-shaped parts that are thin-walled, complex, tightly toleranced and made of difficult-to-machine materials such as Inconel, titanium or high-temperature alloys. Turning jet engine parts doesn’t get much tougher than this.

Seco Tools announces developments to its Perfomax indexable insert drills, including a changed helix for improved productivity and chip evacuation; a refined core for improved strength and stability; and an improved drill point to increase tool life and achieve better tolerance. Also available are a coated lathe dr

 Seco Tools has announced that Tesco Technologies, which it acquired in 2005, has dropped the Tesco identity and wil carry the Seco name to better unite the resources of the company. Tesco was known for its Jabro brand tooling, which is designed for mold and die, medical and aerospace applications. Mike Parker, Sec

Manipulating the direction of aluminum oxide crystals produces a cutting tool coating that is harder, and also cuts cooler.

When people talk about car performance, they often neglect to consider the influence of tires. Yet tires can impact fuel efficiency by as much as 10 percent. As manufacturers strive to improve tire performance, tread patterns tend to become more complicated.

Milling with high axial depth of cut and low radial depth of cut can offer an effective way to achieve high metal-removal rates in difficult materials.

When producing a large number of complex, high-value-added parts, processes are continually examined and optimized, and this influences the style and numbers of cutting tools that are used each day. Avon Gear Company (Rochester Hills, Michigan) knows this first-hand.

Considering the "manufacturability" of a new product before the design is finalized can help avoid costly alterations. This requires communication and cooperation between the product designers and their manufacturing counterparts.

Designing hole-making tools is a game of compromises, says Goran Melin, drilling product manager at Seco Carboloy. 'Where you gain in one area, you must pay somewhere else,' he says. The trade-offs usually include tool life, accuracy and stability. Tool designers are constantly juggling these variables to find the best solution.

Reducing cutting fluid use offers the chance for considerable cost savings. Tool life may even improve.

The analytical and processing equipment that is manufactured at this OEM's North American headquarters is used to produce everything from soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, drugs, condiments, cheese, inks, paper coatings and paint to petroleum products.

In today's competitive climate, cutting tool manufacturers have to do more than just produce tools--they have to help customers use those tools effectively.

Who would have ever thought that such a small mill could so consistently and so reliably finish machine that hardened die steel.

This company was looking to achieve faster cycle times, reduced scrap and insert cost savings in the production of these swing frames. It decided to look at modular tools.

Thicker inserts and a wider variety of styles are allowing PCBN to be applied to a growing range of hard, ferrous applications.

This 20-year-old contract shop is focused on short-run machining of large structural cast iron and hotrolled steel components for special machine tools.