ACT introduces Nine9 I-Centre indexable insert centre drills
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Advanced Carbide Tooling (ACT) has introduced the Nine9 Series I-Center indexable insert centre drills. The I-Center concept eliminates re-setting and re-sharpening, and therefore replaces tool change with simple insert changeover. This benefit is enhanced by an insert clamping system that employs two locating pins and a clamping screw to give a positioning repeatability of 0.02 mm in the radial direction with an axial positional accuracy of 0.05 mm.
Nine9's I-Center concept can also perform at extremely high feed and speed rates due to the specially ground insert geometry and robust and rigid clamping system. ACT says it is capable of drilling alloy steel at 6,000 rpm with a feedrate of 600 mm/min with ease.
Coolant is supplied directly through the toolholder to the cutting edge. Furthermore, the insert geometries, grades and coatings have all been developed specifically for the preparation of holes.
The Nine9 toolholder for the I-Center range is high alloy steel with the shank ground to a H6 tolerance. Shank diameters include 10, 16, 20 and 25 mm and lengths are 30 48, 50 and 56 mm. Imperial size toolholders and inserts as well as the metric versions are available.
The K20F carbide grade developed for the I-Center two-cutting-edge inserts is TiAlN coated for the centre drilling of carbon steel, alloy steel, high alloy steels, cast iron, aluminium and aluminium alloys. Inserts have either a radius or chamfer form. Both offer a 120º point angle, while entry diameters start at 1, 1.25, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 3.15, 4, 5, 6.3, 8 and 10 mm.
I-Center products offers cutting speeds comparable to solid carbide end mills, says ACT, but their geometries and through coolant facility enable higher feedrates. In tests, the I-Center proved capable of processing over 7,000 holes in steel before an insert change.
