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Tool Coating

One PVD coating technique with certain advantages

08/05/2016
Author:
Evan Jones Thorne
Most PVD coaters use cathodic-arc evaporation, in which an electric arc vaporizes the coating material from a cathode. The vaporized material condenses on the tool, resulting in a wear-resistant coating imbued with whatever qualities the coater is looking to impart to the tool. But there’s another, less-common physical-vapor-deposition method called high-power impulse magnetron sputtering, or HIPIMS, that combines the advantages of high ionization from cathodic-arc techniques with the superior adhesion of magnetron sputtering.
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Drilling Ductile

Some coatings, such as TiAlN, enable dry machining when drill ductile cast iron, but coolant is desirable to help evacuate the material's small, curled chips. Flood coolant can be appropriate for holes less than 1.5 to 2 diameters deep, according to Bob Jennings, product manager for Ingersoll Cutting Tools, Rockford, Ill. Jennings noted that the toolmaker offers standard Qwik-Twist replaceable-point drills to drill up to 8 diameters deep.

Powdered metallurgy

Watch a video presentation from Seco Tools LLC about the tools and techniques suggested for machining powdered metallurgy. The company reports that inserts with Seco Tool’s Duratomic CVD aluminum-oxide coating can work well for P/M components. The Duratomic technology promotes growth of coating crystals in certain crystallographic directions to improve coating properties.

PVD Coating

Platit Inc. recently hosted an open house in Libertyville, Ill., where the Switzerland-based toolcoating company presented cutting-tool and wear-part coating machines based on plasma-generating physical vapor deposition technology. The animation here offers an "insider's" view of the company's coating equipment.