With PCD tooling, yes it can. The diamond cutting edges demand a large number of flutes to realize their full effectiveness. Traditional methods for making cutter bodies limit the number of flutes, but 3D printing is delivering tools with higher flute density and other enhancements as well.
This shop doesn’t emphasize lights-out production so much as leveraging automation while the lights are still on. One key to this is a wage and compensation plan that rewards employees for maximizing automation’s impact.
General Tool adds a metalcutting machining center with the expectation that this machine is likely to perform a significant amount of machining of CFRP.
The robot needing no guarding on the shop floor offers an accessible way for a shop to expand its capacity by running unattended through nights and weekends.
The TV program “Titan” will become more directly focused on machining instruction as its creator incorporates his teaching in the prison into the show.
What machine tool features make sense for composites? A shop machining critical aircraft parts in both metal and composites describes the key features of the machine it bought with an eye toward CFRP.