IMTS 2022 Conference: Additive Manufacturing Takes Tooling Performance to New Levels for Today’s Shops

Additive manufacturing and the digital aspect of Industry 4.0 have found their ways to the cutting tool industry sector, and the results add up to significant gains for today’s metalworking shops. As key to the digital future of machining, advanced monitoring and control systems continuously record signals from the machine tool that are generated during part production. Shops then use this data to monitor and adjust the machining/tooling parameters to achieve process optimization.

As it does for other industries, additive manufacturing/3D metal printing allows cutting tool OEMs to generate tool and cutter designs and geometries that up until now were impossible to produce using conventional manufacturing methods. In his presentation, Mr. Blosser shows how this newly acquired revolutionary design and build freedom has led to several innovations and improvements that enhance overall tool and cutter performance. Some of these include special internal cooling channels that boost cutting speeds while extending tool life and that promote minimum quantity lubrication for cost savings as well; advanced geometries for higher cutting parameters in today’s challenging materials; lighter weight cutter bodies that are easier on machine tool changers yet still provide the same maximum cutting strength; and many other such never-before-possible innovations.