Among the features of Phantom end-mills are a carbide substrate designed to withstand high cutting forces, matched with coating technology and edge geometry that facilitate optimised chip flow and reduced wear resistance.
Applications include rough machining operations such as slotting, pocket milling and contouring, as well as plunging and helical ramping. Machine shops can also deploy Phantom end mills to perform pocketing with high length-over-diameter ratios. Thanks to their neck relieved shanks, the cutters are suitable for extended reach applications in deep cavities, providing an alternative to using standard small diameter, long and extra-long series mills that are prone to vibration, chatter and breakage.
The end-mills can be used on materials that include stainless steel, Inconel, titanium, tool steel, cast iron and hardened steel. Both the Phantom and Phantom Ice are available as 10, 12, 14, 16, 20 and 25 mm diameter end-mills. The cutters come in various overall lengths, as well as bespoke versions to suit individual applications.
To give a performance example, the company says that 12 mm diameter Phantom end mills are capable of cutting at speeds up to 200 m/min (0.7 mm depth of cut) and feed per tooth up to 0.6 when machining materials with hardness values up to 30 HRc, such as carbon steels and cast iron. Materials up to 50 HRc, like tool steels and titanium, can be processed at cutting speeds up to 180 m/min and 0.4 feed per tooth.
Selecting the Phantom Ice cutter with through-coolant capability, means that depth-of-cut can typically be increased to 0.9 mm, depending on the application.
