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Application Report

High-gloss milling with the EPDBEH tools reduces polishing costs by 30%

Without tools from MOLDINO, the project would not have been feasible.

The core competence of RSD Polytec GmbH in Bad Saeckingen includes tools for light optics. The company has recently started using the new EPDBEH ball end mills from MOLDINO for fine finishing. Now, only one tool is needed to mill even a large reflective surface with virtually no wear.

Precision machining has a long tradition in the tool and mold-making of today's RSD Polytec GmbH. Founded in 1964 by Karl Klausmann in Schwoerstadt, South Baden, the mold and tool-making company has been at home at its current location on the High Rhine in Bad Saeckingen, not far away, for about four years. Over the decades, the company has developed into a high-tech manufacturer of high-precision injection molds of small and medium sizes and stamping and bending tools. Since 2014, the tool shop has been part of the RSD Group. For them, the cooperation or takeover of a renowned mold and tool-making company was the next natural step to grow further in the field of injection molding technology and to strengthen this area with the high competence of the company Karl Klausmann GmbH.

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Managing Director Jürgen Klausmann (left), machine operator Raphael Thoma, CAM programmer Stefan Hribar, Head of Toolmaking Frank Albiez and process optimizer Johannes Zimmermann from MOLDINO (right).

Eroding was no longer accurate enough

A good five years ago, the Baden-based company began to switch to HSC milling and, in particular, hard machining on solid carbide tools from the Japanese manufacturer MOLDINO (then MMC HITACHI Tool) to make the switch. "We then used these high-precision milling cutters for more and more cavity areas that we had previously only eroded vertically," describes toolmaking manager Frank Albiez the development. "Only light optics were initially left to EDM polishing," he points out. The HSC machines from earlier years were not accurate enough. The breakthrough came two years ago with the purchase of the new 5-axis Exeron HSC MP11/5, which can fully demonstrate its precision and dynamics in the hall, which is temperature- controlled to within +/- 2 °C. "The impetus for this investment came from the customer," says Managing Director Jürgen Klausmann, looking back.

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Reflective surface of a surface light guide after machining with solid carbide ball end mills from the EPDBEH series from MOLDINO.

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Tested and found to be good: Today, all reflective surfaces of tools for light optics are machined produced at RSD Polytec with the EPDBEH milling cutter series from MOLDINO.

"Very high accuracy was required for the light optics, which could not be achieved by the previous EDM polishing of the light optics." So milling had to be done here as well. It was now possible with the highprecision MP11/5. "To mill reflective surfaces, it is necessary to work with the highest possible speeds and high dynamics of the machine during final finishing," explains Production Manager Albiez.

At the latest, for large surfaces, it was previously unavoidable to work with sister tools because the tool life of the milling cutters was insufficient. "When changing tools, however, there is a minimal offset because the milling cutter no longer cuts the material properly at the end of its tool life." This transition had to be homogenized manually, and then the entire surface was polished to a high gloss. Thanks to the longer tool life of the milling cutters, large areas can now be milled with one tool, thus reducing the cost of time-consuming manual polishing. Nevertheless, it is always necessary to weigh up between very long machine running times and manual polishing work: Small areas are milled entirely to a high gloss, while large areas are minimally repolished in favor of shorter machine running times.

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Shine makers: Two cutting edges, each with a two-stage clearance angle, as well as the innovative TH3 nanocoating are features of these solid carbide ball nose end mills EPDBEH from MOLDINO.

The reason: TH3 is a nanolayer with an extremely fine grain size of less than 10 nm. Therefore, there is much less abrasion of the coating particles than a conventional coating. The EPDBEH series covers a wide diameter range from 0.1 to 12 mm, with effective lengths up to a maximum of 20 x D. Also crucial for the machining result and process reliability are excellent concentricity of the milling cutters and extremely low manufacturing tolerances between 3-5 μm.

Test object: multi-cavity mold

A multi-cavity mold was used to test whether the new ball milling cutters lived up to their promise in practice. The mold is used for injection molding of a transparent plate for an automotive component. This involved a cavity measuring approximately 120 mm x 100 mm and 30 mm deep, with a tolerance of +/- 0.01 mm and a reflective surface. The material used was 1.2344 with 52 HRC.

Ultrafine nanocoating as the key to success

That was the status at the beginning of 2021. It is where Johannes Zimmermann from MOLDINO comes into play. As a process optimizer, as the application engineers at MOLDINO are called, he has been looking after RSD Polytec's tool shop for over eight years. Through his regular visits, he knew about the problem: His solution was the brand new EPDBEH series (Epoch Deep Ball Evolution Hard) ball end mills. These solid carbide tools feature two cutting edges, each with a two-stage clearance angle. This geometry is specially designed for hard and high-hardness steels up to 68 HRC. Here, the first clearance angle stops the progress of wear. The effect is called 'Double Face' by MOLDINO and improves contour accuracy on the one hand and minimizes wear on the other. Together with the TH3 nanocoating, which has also been newly developed, tool life is increased many times over: "The new TH3 coating allows us to run at significantly higher cutting speeds without significant tool wear. In this way, we achieve a significantly higher surface quality," emphasizes Johannes Zimmermann.

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With over 200 articles in the diameter range from 0.1 - 12 mm and a useful length of up to 20 x DC, a wide range of applications is covered. Thanks to the special TH3 coating, particularly suitable in hard steels up to 68 HRC.

Together with CAM programmer Stefan Hribar, Zimmermann then fine-tuned the machining steps, the cutting data, and the selection of tools. Programming (and design) is carried out in Bad Saeckingen using TopSolid 7 3D software from the French CAD-CAM specialist.

The tests took place on the Exeron HSC MP11/5 with minimum quantity lubrication, together with machine operator Raphael Thoma. "Previously, we were doing roughing, pre-finishing, and finishing, in other words, three operations," says Hribar, explaining the joint optimization work. "With the new cutters, a fourth was added, namely fine finishing."

As before, milling was carried out in 3+1 axes with a tilted B axis, and the Baden-based company chose a relatively small diameter with 0.4 mm ball mills. The finishing strategy in TopSolid 7 was retained, and the infeed was reduced somewhat in favor of surface quality, as was the feed rate. "On the other hand, we increased the cutting speed significantly to 51 m/min thanks to the TH3 coating." In addition, the tolerance setting on the Heidenhain CNC control was adjusted and coordinated with that in CAM.

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Think tank at his desk: CAM programmer Stefan Hribar at his workplace at RSD Polytec. In this case, the tool of an area light guide is open in TopSolid 7.

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Quantum leap: Machine operator Raphael Thoma at the 5-axis Exeron HSC MP11/5 machining center, which has taken HSC hard machining with MOLDINO cutters to a new level.

This is all the more remarkable as the material in question is 1.2343 ESU from the service provider Contura. This alloy is produced from a powdered starting material, including near-contour cooling channels using the SLS (selective laser melting) process. This material is known for being relatively difficult to machine. Frank Albiez sums up: "Without the new milling cutters, a project like this would not have been feasible at all, at least not in this quality."

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Precision injection molding with high complexity and visible surfaces places high demands on mold making. Efficiency improvements in the machining process can drastically reduce costs.

Project success thanks to new milling cutters

The result was then more than convincing. "After finishing with a single EPDBEH cutter, our polisher just went over it with the 3-μm and 1-μm paste - and we had the perfect, dimensionally accurate high gloss surface." After nearly two hours of milling, no wear was visible on the tool. Hribar is still impressed that everything worked as planned. Five polishing passes involving grinding with different grits were eliminated. Previously, the polisher needed three hours per cavity; now, one hour is enough. The cost analysis prepared for the polishing of this project showed savings of almost 30%. "Despite all the advantages of the EPDBEH milling cutters - without the good support from MOLDINO and the excellent supervision by Johannes Zimmermann, we would not have got to where we are currently so quickly," Frank Albiez is certain. "In the meantime, we mill all mirror surfaces with the EPDBEH series." The toolmaking manager points to a current project - a tool for an area light guide. "For this comparatively large mirror surface, we could even halve the polishing effort." The mirror surface of the cavity, which measures approximately 600 mm x 300 mm and is 60 mm deep, took the 4-mm ball end mill from the EPDBEH series seven hours to complete. Despite a 214 m/min cutting speed, the milling cutter showed no wear.

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No need for polishing: This high-gloss milled mold core is a typical workpiece for which RSD Polytec relies on MOLDINO cutters.

Cooperation as the key to success

RSD Polytec

RSD Polytec naturally also produces tools for the RSD Group. However, the production focuses on external customers, mainly from the automotive sector. Technical products, such as fastening elements and sophisticated design parts or light optics, are developed and manufactured together with the customers. High-precision injection molds for light optics are among RSD Polytec's core competencies. Here, the Badenbased company has earned an excellent reputation over the past ten years. "These molds are not particularly difficult in terms of mechanical structure. But the dimensional accuracy and the surface must be perfect," emphasizes Managing Director Jürgen Klausmann. "Our customers place the highest value on this and specifically approach us about it."

www.rsdpolytec.de

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