Extend Tool Life with Tooling, Toolpath and CAM Developments

HPC tools like the CoroMill Plura increase metal removal rates by enabling higher feed rates while staying continuously engaged in the cut. Image courtesy of Sandvik.

New types of tooling and toolpath strategies, as well as new CAM features to take advantage of them, have enabled shops to run tools more aggressively for longer to produce higher-quality parts. These changes are visible to experts working on any of these technologies, and multiple conversations my colleagues and I have had with cutting tool experts have shed light on the kinds of developments job shops can use today.

What’s New in Tooling?

Chris Monroe, a mass production solution specialist at Sandvik, recently spoke with me about developments in high-performance cutting (HPC) and high-speed machining (HSM) tooling and how shops can use new generations of these tools to their greatest effect.

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He says HPC benefits from new optimizations in tooling geometry, especially unequal helixes and conical cores with tapers that extend toward the tool base. Unequal helixes use different pitch angles in different sections of the tool to reduce resonance. This improves tool stability, enabling shops to run the tools harder while maintaining high tool life. Conical cores increase tool rigidity and reduce vibrations, improvements which also extend tool life.

HSM tools, he says, see tool life improvements from coating optimizations, as high-speed tool paths generate lots of heat in the cut. These improvements don’t need to stem from new coating formulations, as Sandvik has extended its tools’ life by using new PVD coating techniques to layer proven coatings in ways that better adhere to tooling.

What’s New in Tool Paths?

John Giraldo, an aerospace engineering manager for Sandvik, walked my colleague Brent Donaldson through tool paths for blisk roughing late in 2025. Some of these tool paths match up with HPC techniques like high-feed side milling, which combines a small radial step-over with full flute engagement at high feeds to reduce cutting forces while improving efficiency.

Giraldo also spoke of curve slotting, which uses a disc-style cutter that follows the 3D profile between blisk blades while staying continuously engaged to reduce non-cutting time. In one test with a cutter made for this operation, Giraldo machined 17 Inconel slots in 13 minutes each, using a single edge of each of the cutter’s inserts. After some optimization to the program, he cut the cycle times in half.

What’s New in CAM Support?

These kinds of optimizations are why Monroe recommends keeping CAM software up to date. Advanced features in CAM can decrease part cycle times even while reducing programming time. He points to features that tackle tight corners as an example. These details require careful speed management to prevent the tool from slamming against the part while maintaining swift speeds. CAM software can perform the necessary calculations without bogging down your programming team.

Tom Funke, CAM and applications specialist at Sandvik for the aerospace, space exploration and defense markets, also spoke with me about new CAM features that help with productivity. He says the last fifteen years have seen widespread adoption of advanced CAM features like trochoidal turning, a method of turning pocket groove features where a round insert follows a zig-zag tool path and never leaves the material, maximizing both metal removal rate and tool life. Even in the last five years, he says five-axis dynamic milling has gone from a time-consuming programming project to one supported and streamlined by major CAM software providers.