Kennametal's Beyond inserts for holemaking applications

The DFS inserts are available in HP, FP and MD geometries, while DFS drill diameters range from 24 to 55 mm. Kennametal's DFS indexable drill platform offers the economy of a square insert, having four edges in the outside pocket, combined with the centering and high feed ability of a DFT trigon insert. The KCPK10 grade offers abrasion and crater-wear resistance for high-speed machining of steels and cast irons achieving up to 20 per cent or higher material removal rate (MRR) with the same tool life as standard inserts, The KCU25 grade is suited for high speeds and feeds, delivering up to 20 per cent or higher MMR and a 30 per cent extended tool life in steels, stainless steels, and cast irons. With a multi-layered PVD TiN-TiAlN coating and a tough substrate, the KCU40 grade delivers double the tool life at equivalent material removal rates as standard inserts. This grade withstands interruptions and provides high wear resistance for long tool life. Thilo Mueller, senior product manager, explains the benefits: "With four high-productivity cutting edges where they are needed, the DFS drills with new Beyond inserts enable higher speeds and, as there is simply more tool body material between these two inboard and outboard inserts, higher feed rates than competitive tooling based on squared inserts only. "It would have been very easy simply taking a squared insert outboard and inboard. By using a trigon-shaped insert inside, we simply have more material in between, and the tool does not get fragile like tooling with squared inserts only. This feed advantage plus chip flutes that enable much better chip evacuation gives users better hole quality at higher MRR – a real competitive advantage."