Samurai Endmills Slash Machining Times

The Samurai Series of end milling cutters from Union Tool SA has now been extended by Rainford Precision. Previously available as two or four fluted end mills for machining a range of materials, the new additions to the range include a line of four fluted tools with a corner radius and also a series of two, three or four fluted cutters with a ball nose.

The range of coated end mills were initially introduced to enable economical and highly productive machining of materials from aluminium through to carbon and stainless steel, titanium alloys and difficult to machine materials up to 55HRC. However, Union Tool SA has introduced the corner radius range to improve upon the already groundbreaking tool life and performance characteristics whereas the ball nosed tools have been developed for conducting 5-axis and cavity machining with impeccable tool life.

Initially consisting of 34 variants, the range has now been extended to 59 tool types from 1 to 12mm diameter. This expansion makes the Samurai range, the tool of choice for the mould & die, aerospace, automotive, medical and general subcontract industries. The Samurai end mills have five series available, the GB ballnose with two, three or four flutes, the four flute GCR Series of corner radius cutters and the four flute GS Series of square end cutters.

The two flute ball nosed GB Series that offers 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mm diameter cutters with a length of cut ranging from 2.5 to 18mm has been extended to introduce a three and four-fluted tool range with diameters of 2, 3, 4 and 6 mm. With the specialist Samurai coating, the solid tungsten carbide cutter can comfortably conduct roughing and finish machining at high speed and feed rates. However, the arrival of the three and four -flute series allows the customer to machine at even higher feeds and faster speeds on small components.

For extremely rapid material removal and high feed machining, the extended range of the Samurai GCR Series of four flute corner radius cutters includes more radii options for each tool diameter. The GCR Series has a 45 degree high helix angle to improve swarf removal when machining at high surface speeds. This dissipates heat from the cutting edge and when combined with the optimum geometry design of the radius, the cutters dramatically improve tool life. The solid carbide range is available from 3mm to 12mm diameter with 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12mm diameters. Both GB and GCR Series with corner radius deliver tool life and consistent performance longevity beyond competitor products.

All endmills in the Samurai Series have precision ground shanks to within a tolerance of 0.005mm and are manufactured from high grade tungsten carbide. Rainford Precision recommends that all cutters in the Samurai Series work in conjunction with rigid and robust machine tools to obtain the optimum surface finish and tool life. This is advised due to the high operating feed and speed capabilities of the series.