One Tool Turns Almost Everything

Cutting tool company Ceratizit has developed what it calls the High Dynamic Turning System (HDT), where the tool approach and point of contact in the machine can be varied as opposed to conventional turning.

For 100 years, new cutting materials, new chip breakers and a few new tooling systems have been invented to optimize turning. However, the actual basic turning process has remained unchanged, Ceratizit says. Even today, a contour is created with an indexable insert at a fixed angle to the workpiece. This has not changed even with the addition of controllable axes in modern turn-mill centers, machines which are intended to serve one purpose above all: to manufacture a component as completely as possible within a single machine.

In contrast to the classic, static position of the cutting tool insert in the toolholder, with High Dynamic Turning the milling spindle is used to produce the corresponding approach angle to the workpiece, Ceratizit explains. The use of the spindle drive, in conjunction with the slim, axial tool design of Ceratizit’s Free-Turn tools is said to create a degree of freedom of 360° without the risk of collision, thus providing unprecedented flexibility. Due to the rotation around its own tool axis, tool change can be performed without interrupting the cutting process.

Additionally, the angle of approach is freely variable at any time and can even be changed while cutting, the company says. This not only enables flexible machining of almost every workpiece contour, but also optimum chip breaking, higher feed rates and an increase in tool life. Depending on the machine capabilities, the technology can be used in all areas of turning operations, according to Ceratizit

In High Dynamic Turning, the static turning tools of the past will be replaced by dynamic ones. One such dynamic tooling solution is Free-Turn by Ceratizit. According to the company, the defining characteristic of Free-Turn tooling is its simple structure. The toolholder, together with its slim shank and axial concept, which optimizes the direction of the cutting forces into the spindle, form a stable unit.

The multi-sided insert, which consists of several cutting edges featuring different properties, is simply screwed in place. According to Ceratizit, this allows for different angle points, corner radii or chip breakers - even different coatings and cutting materials are conceivable. The tool can therefore be adapted to the machining requirements offering the advantage of replacing several tools, the company says. This in turn is said to lead to significant savings in tool change times, tool magazine loadouts, and tools themselves. Components with highly complex contours can be realizes with one Free-Turn tool, Ceratizit says.