🎧 ISCAR is about to change metal cutting… 

ISCAR believes it is set to revolutionise metal cutting once again with its latest product launch, the ‘LOGIQUICK’. This new brand signifies ISCAR’s new marketing theme and encompasses three keywords: ‘Logic’, ‘IQ’, and ‘Quick’. The previous campaigns by ISCAR have already highlighted the importance of intelligent cutting tools for advanced machining, providing logical solutions that meet the primary of modern production. With many of these tools becoming a market standard in numerous workshops worldwide, the addition of ‘Quick’ in the logo brings forth a sense of anticipation. What new challenges will the campaign products present? Is it simply a catchy brand name or a fundamental concept? Let’s explore the meaning of the logo and its implications. 

In the field of metal cutting, productivity is directly linked to the metal removal rates (MRR). To enhance machining rates, the metalworking industry strives for ‘fast metal removal’, which refers to processes that efficiently and swiftly remove material. These processes involve the utilisation of machines, strategies, techniques and cutting tools that enable faster and more effective machining. This reduces cutting time. However, in many cases, the primary obstacle to fully harnessing advanced, highly engineered machine tools and promising machining strategies lies in the cutting tool itself. The cutting tool often becomes the weakest link in the entire machining process, limiting potential gains in productivity and impeding the reduction of machining costs, and the growth of profitability.

ISCAR believes that the ultimate objective of a tool manufacturer is to supply cutting tools that ensure efficient metal removal. These tools should not only possess effective working characteristics to enable metal removal rates, but also exhibit qualities such as repeatability, versatility, user-friendliness, and a high utilisation factor. These attributes collectively represent the IQ of the tool, which is essential for leveraging the full potential of advanced machine-tool capabilities. This principle guides the development of cutting tools, harnessing the expertise of tool-design engineers, technologists, metallurgists, manufacturers, and all those involved in creating innovative tool solutions for intelligent machining in the metalworking industry.

ISCAR’s latest campaign unveils a range of groundbreaking cutting tools, including turning, parting, grooving, hole-making, and milling products. Let’s take a closer look at the LOGIQUICK portfolio to fully immerse ourselves in the campaign’s essence and delve into the details of these new developments.

Rotating tools

Steel construction beams play a crucial role in building structures and frameworks, requiring the drilling of numerous holes before assembly. However, the clamping mechanisms on machines often lack rigidity, posing a challenge for drilling. To address these limitations, it is essential for drilling tools to have an adaptive design that compensates for non-rigid conditions, and optimal drilling performance. Currently, finding an efficient drilling tool for beams is a top priority. ISCAR has developed a new solution (Fig. 1) based on the established SUMOCHAM concept of assembled tools with an exchangeable drilling head made from tungsten carbide. This solution incorporates three key elements – the cutting material, cutting geometry and body design.

The specially developed PVD-coated IC954 carbide grade offers exceptional resistance to deformation. The new IHP-BP exchangeable head features a dedicated-centring cutting edge, ensuring secure material penetration, while the sharp corners of the head effectively prevent the formation of burrs. Additionally, the reinforced drill body enhances dynamic rigidity. As a result, the new SUMOCHAM product provides an effective solution for drilling relatively thin beam sections under unstable conditions. 

Introducing another innovative rotating product, the modular SUMOCHAM drill head with MULTI-MASTER adaptation, which combines the strengths of two leading ISCAR product lines. This new drill head is designed to accommodate any of the SUMOCHAM exchangeable heads, providing the versatility of a modular tool assembly. It is specifically designed to be on a wide range of MULTI-MASTER shanks, allowing for easy customisation in terms of shape, overall length, and diameter. This not only reduces the tool inventory but also minimises the need for special drills. The combination of SUMOCHAM and MULTI-MASTER creates a promising synergy effect, offering tremendous potential.

Efficiently removing a large volume of material through milling is crucial in the production of critical duty-loaded parts, such as aircraft components made from titanium alloys. Extended flute indexable milling cutters, also known as ‘milling porcupines’ are highly effective for this type of machining, particularly when milling cavities, pockets and wide edges. The success of such tools depends on a combination of productivity, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. Introducing the QUICK-X-FLUTE (Fig.2), a new family of 90-degree extended flute shell mills with double-sided square inserts. These mills are designed with an optimised flute shape that strikes a balance between tool rigidity and effective chip flow, enabling high MRR with substantial radial engagement. The developed flute profile enhances vibration resistance, especially during workpiece entry and exit allowing for increased cutting data and improved productivity. The inner channels of the mill have replaceable nozzles and frontal outlets, facilitating direct high-pressure coolant supply (HPC) to the cutting zone. This improves cooling and lubrication, contributing to effective chip control. Additionally, the double-sided square insert offers 8 indexable cutting edges greatly increasing insert material utilisation.

Non-Rotating Tools

To achieve success in machining high-temperature superalloys (HTSA), the selection of the right cutting tool material is crucial. Introducing IC1017, a new tungsten carbide grade specifically designed for ISO-standardised inserts used in turning HTSA. This grade boasts a high-hardness submicron structure and is coated with PVD enabling higher cutting speeds for enhanced productivity.

The LOGIQ-6-TURN (Fig. 3) is a newly designed triangular insert that offers a cost-effective solution for semi-finish and finish turning with a focus on achieving high surface quality. This double-sided insert features a 55° corner angle and positive rake cutting geometry, providing 6 indexable cutting edges. It presents a significant alternative to the standard ISO-type rhombic insert of DCMT type, which only offers 2 cutting edges. One key advantage is the ease with which LOGIQ-6-TURN inserts can be mounted on turning tools designed for triangular TNMG inserts.

Maximising profitability through the efficient use of raw materials during the parting process is crucial. ISCAR’s highly regarded DO-GRIP parting and grooving family has recently grown with the addition of three new sizes of double-sided inserts. This has been specifically designed for narrow parting operations (Fig. 4). These inserts are primarily targeted for Swiss-type lathes, enabling optimal material savings when parting small-diameter bars, tubes, and thin-walled workpieces.

The new tools are just a few examples of the various products introduced by ISCAR as part of the LOGIQUICK campaign. The numerous other product releases have significant interest and will soon be tested by manufacturers. With the increasing demand for quick metal removal, the need for advanced cutting tools continues to grow. This drives the development of tool designs and shapes the logic behind intelligent tool development.