Seco Hosts Training Courses
The company recently added courses to its STEP training schedule.

Seco Relocates Custom Tooling Division
The unit will be moved to the company’s North American headquarters.

“Making Manufacturing a Priority” Held in January
Over 100 manufacturing professionals attended.

Drill Designed for Oil and Gas Holemaking
The Crownloc Plus drill from Seco Tools provides large-diameter holemaking capabilities in tough-to-machine materials used in oil and gas components.

A Preview of Houstex 2013
This slideshow provides a sneak peek at some of the technologies that will be on display at Houstex 2013.

My Own Kind of Networking
Seco Tools recently hosted a gathering at its Troy, Michigan facility to promote and strengthen manufacturing in southeast Michigan. Creating opportunities for “networking” was one of the goals of this event, called “Making Manufacturing a Priority.” I was there and did my own networking, too. It was a valuable experience.

Tooling, Technical Support Boost Machining Capacity
Technology and application support from cutting tool supplier Seco Tools has played a key role in various process improvements at this manufacturer of transmission and torque converter components.

Drink Up Tooling Expertise at the Knowledge Bar
Seco cutting tool experts to meet with attendees in a forum-based setting to share their knowledge and present on a variety of metalworking topics.

Mold and Die as Key Indicator Brings Forth New Cutting Tool Technology
As a single industry, mold and die serves multiple industrial segments. And with a global footprint that yields a high-pressure environment demanding the most up-to-date technology, it’s firmly established as a strong indicator of the manufacturing base.

Breaking Through to Stable Large-Hole Drilling
A new drilling head from Seco Tools offers three points of contact to provide stability in applications involving deep, large-diameter through-holes.

Metalcutting Solutions for a Variety of Applications
Seco Tools TK1001 and TK2001 insert grades with Duratomic-coating are designed to increase turning performance by enabling faster cutting speeds and increased tool life.

Seco Disc Milling Cutter Designed for Large Cut Widths
Seco’s 335.25 disc milling cutter is designed for 1" (25 mm) widths of cut and features a coated and hardened cutter body for increased tool life, reliability and accuracy.

Seco Tools' Shoulder Milling Cutters Increase Productivity
Seco Tools’ Square 6-04 shoulder milling cutters incorporate trigonal inserts with six cutting edges, designed to boost productivity and lower the cost per edge.

Replaceable-Tip Milling System Cuts Hard Materials
Seco’s Minimaster Plus replaceable-tip milling system features a variety of inserts and shanks suited for a variety of milling applications.

Solid Carbide End Mills for Micromachining Applications
Seco’s Jabro family of solid carbide end mills is available with a range of coatings and geometries.

Cutter Maximizes Square Shoulder Milling
Seco’s Turbo 10 cutting tool is designed for square shoulder milling applications.

Seco Offers Free Cast Iron Insert Samples
Cutting tool manufacturer Seco (Troy, Michigan) is offering free samples of its new TK Grade inserts for cast iron turning applications at tkpromo.secotools.com.   The grades feature the company’s Duratomic coating technology to enable faster, more aggressive cutting with longer tool life.

Chipbreaker Incorporates Strong Geometry for High Metal Removal
Seco’s M5 positive-lock chipbreaker insert is designed to increase productivity in turning and boring steel, stainless steel, cast iron and superalloys in applications ranging from semi-finishing to tough roughing operations in harsh environments.

Website Dedicated to Energy Manufacturers
Seco Tool has unveiled a website to support energy manufacturers at secotools.com/energy.

Big Part Machining: Overcoming the Forces of Nature
Successfully machining big parts means doing “whatever it takes.”

Replaceable-Tip Milling System Cuts Hard Metals
Designed for applications in steel, aluminum and difficult-to-machine materials, the Minimaster Plus replaceable-tip milling system features a variety of shanks along with square-shoulder and ballnose inserts that have through-tool coolant on all two- and three-flute designs.

Inserts Groove, Part, Profile Small Parts
With a cutting-edge width of 2 mm (0.078"), the two inserts in Seco’s MDT 2-mm line are designed for grooving, parting and profiling of small- and micro-sized parts.

Solid Carbide Drills Improve Chip Flow, Evacuation
Seco Tools’ Feedmax -N solid carbide drills are designed for high-performance drilling in aluminum and nonferrous materials.

Make Maximum Use of the Magazine
This shop streamlined its selection of cutting tools to machine a number of parts on a pallet system. Cutting down on cutters delivered other benefits as well.

Chamfer Mills Offer Increased Versatility
Seco Tools’ Super Turbo chamfer mills are designed to increase metal removal rates while reducing production costs.

Solid Carbide Deep-Hole Drill
Seco Tools’ Feedmax SD230A solid carbide, 30×D drill is designed for applications in the automotive, oil and gas, mold and die, medical and general engineering industries.

Sunlight and Spotlight Shine on Seco Tools
This global cutting tool manufacturer celebrated completion of its first solar photovoltaic (PV) system in east Tennessee.

Micromachining Powder Metal on a VMC
By refining its micromachining process for powder metal tool steels, this shop has reduced production costs, lead times and secondary bench work for complex tooling components.

Seco Offers Aerospace Materials Seminar
Seco Tools’ (Troy, Michigan) upcoming seminar, “Solutions for Machining Materials Common to the Aerospace Industry,” will focus on difficult-to-machine materials, including high-temperature superalloys, titanium-based alloys, stainless steel and composites.

Website Supports Aerospace Manufacturers
Seco Tools has launched a website dedicated to supporting aerospace manufacturers.

PCBN Grades Facilitate Complete Process Revamp
Faced with a difficult thread-machining operation in extremely hard material, this pump manufacturer turned to its cutting tool supplier for help. A new combination of PCBN insert grade and geometry improved part quality, reduced cycle time and eliminated the need for annealing, pre-machining and heat treating.

Mini Range of Milling Cutters
Seco Tools’ Mini range of milling cutters is designed to machine extremely small features.

Drill Features Large, Deep Hole Capability
Seco Tools’ Perfomax indexable insert drill family includes the SD600 modular drill system, which is designed for large and deep hole drilling applications, such as those found in the oil and gas and power generation sectors.

Seco Offers Carbide Recycling Program
As part of its global environmental policy, Seco Tools (Troy, Michigan) has established a new recycling initiative that offers customers the option of selling used cemented carbide back to the company.

Turning Grade for Finishing Hardened Steels
Seco Tools says its CBN60K grade is designed for finishing operations in case-hardened steels (58 to 63 HRc) in which precision and reliability are more important than high speed.

Seco Purchases PCD Cutting Tool Manufacturer
Seco Tools AB (Fagersta, Sweden) has acquired AOB, a French manufacturer of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) cutting tools.

Carbide Milling Cutters for High-Productivity Metal Removal
Seco’s Jabro-Solid2 (solid square) carbide milling cutter is available in sizes ranging from 1/8" to 1". The versatile, square-shoulder mill is designed for both wet and dry general-machining applications in a variety of materials, including carbon steels, gray cast iron, stainless and super alloys.

Seco Adds Grooving Chipbreakers to MDT System
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.

Turning Grade Designed for High-Temperature Turning Applications
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.

Insert Coating Makes the Grade in Progress Initiative
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.

Atomic-Level Coating Manipulation Adds Durability
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.

Wear-Resistant Grade for High-Temp Applications
Seco Tools’ TP0500 turning grade features a wear-resistant Duratomic coating.

Steel Turning Grade Increases Tool Life
Seco Tools’ TP3500 grade offers improved edge toughness and wear resistance in demanding applications that require long and consistent tool life.

Tool Delivers Coolant To Cutting Edge
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 Reorganizes To Better Serve Market
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.

Milling Toolholders Reduce Vibrations
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.

Grades For Grooving and Parting-Off
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.

End Mills Increases Metal Removal Rates, Tool Life
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.

Be Strategic With Your Holemaking Options
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.

Milling Cutter Provides Multiple Cutting Edges
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.

Insert Grade Reduces Tool Wear In Demanding Cut
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.

High Velocity Coolant Delivered To Cutting Edge
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.

Technical Help Forum
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.

High-Performance Coolant-Through Tooling
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.

Drill Drives Tool Life, Cycle Time Improvements
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.

Chipbreaker For Steel Turning
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.

PCBN Grade For Cast Iron Milling
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

Turning The Tough Stuff
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.

Indexable Drill Inserts Provide 90-Degree Corner
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

Coated Insert Grade For High Speed Steel Turning

Cutting Tools Designed For Cast Iron Machining

Seco Absorbs Tesco Brand Identity
 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

Turning Grades Offer Increased Tool Life And Productivity

End Mills For Micro-Machining Applications

Atomic-Level Engineering For Greater Tool Life
Manipulating the direction of aluminum oxide crystals produces a cutting tool coating that is harder, and also cuts cooler.

The Right Mix Of Tooling And Machines Streamlines Process
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.

The Appeal Of Peel Milling
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.

Round Inserts Designed For Stability

Gear Manufacturer Gains Efficiency With Tool Management System
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.

Coating Process Provides Wear Resistance And Toughness

More Indexable Insert Disc Mills

Presetters Now Incorporate Digital Imaging Features

Various Inserts For Milling Applications

Cutting Tools Expedite Product Processing
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.

Program Targets Cutting Tool Users

Inside The Mind Of The Drill Designer
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.

Small Application Cutters

Speed Up Steel Turning Operations

Machining Dry Is Worth A Try
Reducing cutting fluid use offers the chance for considerable cost savings. Tool life may even improve.

Tooling Helps Company Slash Cycle Times
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.

Manufacturer Learns How To Use Cutting Tools More Effectively
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.

Small Milling Tool Accounts For Big Productivity Gain In Machining Forging Dies
Who would have ever thought that such a small mill could so consistently and so reliably finish machine that hardened die steel.

High-Performance Tooling Maximizes Output For North Carolina Supplier
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.

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

Multi-Directional Turning System Quadruples Output Rate
Here's a look at a production machining contractor utilizing state-of-the-art CNC machine tools to produce components for suppliers and OEMs in the automotive, transportation equipment, and machine tool industries.

Latest Core Inserts Meet Near-Net-Shape Turning Needs
Cutting-tool makers now know more than ever about making general inserts for specific metalcutting applications. Here is some of what they've learned.

Shop Standardizes On Cutter For All Of Its Face Milling In Steel
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.