EXOPRO® WHR-Ni Tap Video

Tap heat resistant super alloys like Inconel 718 without the risk of breakage using OSG’s EXOPRO® WHR-Ni Taps. The unique rake angle combined with OSG’s powdered metal substrate improves cutting edge rigidity, while the addition of OSG’s proprietary HR coating offers superior wear resistance for significantly longer tool life.


 



An Industry Solution for Difficult-to-Machine Materials
Mike Harris, District Manager


In manufacturing, components that contribute to success often include quality, precision and fast production at minimum cost. This equation sounds simple, but can be difficult to achieve for some machine shops. In the medical industry, manufacturers often handle difficult-to-machine materials such as titanium and stainless steel. Tooling costs could skyrocket if the appropriate tool isn’t selected for ?the application.

Recently, I received a call from a national distributor that has an integrated supply contract with a large OEM medical account ?in Warsaw, Indiana. This customer is one of the world’s leading designers, manufacturers and suppliers of orthopedic implants. They offer devices and solutions for fixation and fusion, motion preservation, minimally? invasive spinal ?surgery and? biologics.

In producing the parts for one of these implants, the customer needed a better tapping solution than what they were currently using. They were specifically tapping 6-32 threads in Ti-6Al4V but were running through taps like water, getting between 20 to 50 holes per tap and using over 75 taps per month. Despite trying and testing a variety of different brands, none were successful in significantly lowering the number of holes per tap.

I sat down with them and reevaluated the process, hole size, hole quality, cutting speeds, depth of drill vs. depth of thread, tool holders, work piece holding and coolant. Everything looked good, so I knew the tap had to be the key to solving this issue and I knew just what product to recommend.

I suggested they try the EXOTAP® VC-10? TI Taps from OSG. These ultra-premium taps are made from a VC-10 Powered Metal High Speed Steel substrate, which offers longer tool life in Titanium and other hard materials. Plus the OSG V-coating provides increased hardness, lubricity and wear resistance, further prolonging tool life. I sent the customer a few sample taps and they said they would get them tested right away.


The following week I got in touch with them and they happily informed me that the tap was still running.  They ultimately went down from approximately two taps a day to two taps a week! This drastic reduction has saved them both money and down time on the shop floor.


The EXOTAP® VC-10 TI tap has proven to me that with the help of the right cutting tool, customers can reduce tool usage and drastically minimize tooling costs. When no other tap can do the job, work the VC-10 TI tap into the equation. It is the industry solution for those difficult materials and applications.



WDO Drill, XPF Tap, VGx End Mill - Total Solution Video
The versatility of the EXOCARB® WDO Drills, EXOPRO® XPF Taps and HY-PRO® VGx End Mills makes this dynamic trio an unstoppable force.

Whether drilling, tapping or milling, the unique design of these tools allows them the ability to machine a wide range of materials from cast aluminum and carbon steels to die steels and hardened materials, making them an ideal solution for job shops and manufacturers requiring flexible tooling options.




EXOPRO® XPF Tap Video

The EXOPRO® XPF Taps are a premium high performance form tap capable of tapping materials up to 40 HRC.

 

This fluteless tap provides increased durability due to the lack of chips it produces.  It also generates 40-50% less torque than the competition, offering an extended tool life at much higher speeds.

 

With coolant and non-coolant through options available, the EXOPRO® XPF Tap is ideal for Aluminum Alloy, Cast Aluminum, Carbon Steels, Alloy Steel, Die Steel, Stainless Steel and Hardened Steel up to 40 HRC.





OSG Interviewed for Cutting Tool Engineering


Our very own Tim Holmer, Application Engineer for OSG, was interviewed for an article on tapered-pipe tapping in this month’s issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine. In the article, Tim explains the difference between NPT and NPTF taps and how thread engagement effects the seal of the thread. 


Read the full article here*.


*This article originally appeared in the August 2014 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering. It is reproduced here with permission from the publisher.





AERO-F for Automotive

By: Ronald Portwine, District Manager

With the introduction of the HY-PRO® AERO-F Tap, I have attacked many different applications and have found it to be a great tap for unique materials that are not listed in the work material application guide. With its cutting geometries and TiN coating, OSG’s AERO-F Tap has won over several accounts, from fastener manufacturers to job shops.

 

One of these accounts is a OE manufacturer for Ford, Honda, GM and Toyota, making automotive timing gears and sprockets, as well as aftermarket gears for most automotive manufacturers. The end user has two facilities in Arkansas, one of which makes camshaft drive gears for the GM V6 and V8 engines. These engines have dual overhead camshafts that are used in most light trucks and cars. They had recently signed a new contract to produce over 3 million gears for GM, so I decided to pay them a visit.

 

At the facility, the Machining Engineer, Keith Hann, and I discussed the GM camshaft gear they had in production. Running on a four-head Brothers CNC machine with a rotating table loaded by a robot and set up on a conveyor system, the camshafts were being manufactured from a powdered metal at around 24 – 28 HRC, after heat treatment. The hole they were tapping was 5 mm in diameter with a tolerance of +/- 0.12 mm for the M6x1 D5 thread.

 

Keith informed me that they were using a competitor tap and were getting 12,000 holes per tap on average. He did not believe there could be any improvement made on the current hole-count, but I was not swayed by his disbelief. I asked him for an opportunity to put the HY-PRO® AERO-F Tap on the spindle to prove otherwise.



Knowing they were running four tapping heads, I ordered four AERO-F taps (EDP number 1111500705, M6 x 1 D5) for testing. We loaded the four taps and zeroed the counter. After verifying that the thread gage was good, the finish was correct and the machine was functioning properly, we watched the taps produce about 1,000 holes, and then left the rest to the operators.


I contacted Keith after a couple of days to check on the performance of the AERO-F taps. He informed me that the hole-count was 30,000 plus…and still going! He was truly impressed and ready to make the switch, but his amazement didn’t end there.

 

Upon receiving a quote from his distributor, Keith questioned the cost. He thought maybe he was not given the correct price because each AERO-F Tap was only a couple dollars more than the competitor’s tap. I assured him that it was correct. Keith acknowledged that it was well worth the cost, and could easily justify a switch to the HY-PRO® AERO-F Tap.

 

When all was said and done with the test, it turns out the AERO-F taps actually got close to 40,000 holes anwere only pulled because one of the four taps failed. With over double the tool life, Keith’s team was able to dramatically increase production and reduce down time.


The HY-PRO® AERO-F tap has become my favorite go-to tap because it has proven to be a low cost, high hole-count performer for my end users. Once the AERO-F tap has been placed on the spindle, it proves itself as the best tap for the job time and time again.