When working with tougher materials, selecting the correct cutting tools for the job might be difficult. Roughing out a cavity in a hard piece of hardened steel can take a long time and cause significant tool fatigue. While many machinists begin with a rough mill, there are other options for getting your milling project off to a great start like variable end mills. End mills with variable helix and variable flutes are a fantastic way to mill efficiently without sacrificing the lifespan of your tools.

What distinguishes these end mills from others? The twist of the flutes is referred to as the helix of your end mill. The helix angle of your end mill is calculated by measuring the angle between a tangent along the mill's cutting edge and the center tool line. You may make an end mill with variable cutting angles for each flute by altering the angle of the helix across each flute. Cutting at a variety of angles decreases vibration and improves tool performance along the mill's length.

This means that the angle of attack and resulting force from each cut is slightly different. This results in a variety of vibration patterns rather than uniform vibrations across the whole end mill when the tool is designed traditionally. Because of the irregularity of these vibrations, the mill is less likely to chatter owing to mechanical resonance.

The fact that these unique geometries reduce chatter means that the surface finish of your machined components will be unaffected. As a result, machinists can run these tools at higher rates without reducing the end mill's life. In comparison to a regular roughing mill, the flute design allows for a greater chip size while preserving the improved chip removal rate of a standard end mill.

The best variable end mills will be manufactured from solid carbide. This material is able to resist high temperatures and have incredible wear resistance. This makes them ideal for high-speed machining. One amazing American manufacturer of high performance solid carbide tools is Online Carbide. They offer a wide range of variable end mills in their online store.

The following diameters are available when looking at Online Carbide's variable end mills: 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 5/16", 3/8", 1/2", 5/8", and 3/4". A titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN) coating is applied to each of these variable end mills. TiAlN is good for end mills that have to cut at high temperatures because it creates a hard coating of aluminum oxide as it heats up. This coating has a low thermal conductivity, which insulates the mill's body while dissipating heat through the chips. This enables you to work at higher speeds while lessening the impact of heat fatigue, extending the life of your end mill.

If you've never used a variable flute end mill before, you should give it a try to see what a difference they can make. The speeds and feeds they can accomplish will astound you. If you have any questions about the tools available at www.onlinecarbide.com, their team is always happy to help. Just send an email to sales@onlinecarbide.com to reach on of their tool experts.

When you need to cut straight, tapered, or double-angle tapered threads on a cylindrical surface, such as a pipe thread, the best way to create them is by using a thread-cutting process. Threads are created by forming an involute curve with a precise profile of angles and included angles that engage each other to form the thread. Threads are never just straight cuts, even though they can appear to be so.

Thread mills made of tungsten carbide are used for many general machining operations because their sharp teeth don't wear out or chip readily. Thread mills can be used on a variety of metals and other materials and require minimal setup before they're put into operation.

How Are Threads Measured?
Threads are measured by the number of threads per inch, which is indicated in TPI (Threads Per Inch). Threads can be full form or single pitch. Threads with 15 to 40 TPI are most common for general machining operations. Thread mills come in different sizes, each of which is designed to mill a specific thread per inch (TPI).

Thread engagement is the axial distance that the thread flank contacts the thread root in one complete revolution of the thread.

Thread Rolling And Thread Forming
Thread Rolling is when threading is performed on a rotating or stationary workpiece, resulting in cylindrical thread forms in the shape of an Archimedes screw thread. Thread Rolling creates threads with less sharp thread flanks than thread milling by rolling the thread over a shape at least twice its size.

Thread forming is when thread milling operations are performed on workpieces that have an Archimedes screw thread or external thread profile to create cylindrical thread forms that have exact thread profiles and thread features. Thread forming produces threads with sharp thread flanks, while thread rolling does not.

What Are Thread Roots And Pitch?
The thread root is the bottom of a thread profile where it connects to its mating thread follower. The thread external diameter is the diameter of the thread root circle or torus at its widest point in relation to the borehole or mating thread that it fits into. The root radial face angle measures how far from perpendicular a plane containing the tool axis intersects a plane containing a segment of a helix on an external screw thread profile.

The term "thread pitch" refers to the distance between the peaks of two adjacent threads. The threads on a fastener that connect two components together are known collectively as threaded fasteners or threaded studs.

As you can see, the art of creating threads requires a lot more knowledge than average machining operations if you expect to create watertight seals. Tooling greatly affects the quality of the work and the final product; it is easy to tell carbide thread mill pipe threads from other finishes as they tend to be sharper and more defined. They also prevent material compaction typical of tapers and blind holes. Make sure you use the best carbide tools by buying directly from reputable manufacturers. Visit Online Carbide and get high-performance carbide thread mills today.

The first time we try carbide tools is different for everyone. Not everybody starts with the same tools or jumps into a composite for the same reasons. Some of us hear carbide is better for hardwoods and we want to put that to the test. Others want to switch from high-speed steel because they want to see how hard their machines can go. And there are some, like me, who just want to increase their shop´s efficiency and increase the stack of finished parts at the end of the day.

Regardless of your reason, you need to start somewhere. Maybe you heard of a certain tool that is good for a very specific task, say a carbide spotter or a chamfer mill. However, going for a single mill or bit will only give you a small taste of what these amazing tools can make. Even if the bulk of your projects require you only drive holes, you will want to try out a carbide end mill set that allows you to do some countersinking with various angles.

Getting a full carbide end mill set will allow you to try different approaches to your project and discover how differently they behave when compared to the much slower High-Speed steel tools.

Drills or Mills?
Drills are mostly used to plunge into the material, especially for punching holes. End mills are traditionally used for horizontal cutting, deburring, beveling, chamfering, slotting, contouring, and reaming. However, it is not unusual to see carbide end mills being used for punching holes. This is because carbide is especially good at withstanding compressive stresses and rigid enough to provide increased accuracy and prevent walk-off movements caused by deflection. A pointed end mill produces a nicely angled countersunk hole that can later be followed by a drill of your choice without fear of driving a misaligned hole. So a carbide end mill set offers you a better start.

Which End Mills Should I Get?
Well, in this industry, “one of each” is never a good thing. That would be the best way to end up with a bunch of tools that will never see any use. That's why getting pre-packed carbide end mill sets from big stores is never a good idea. They tend to lump together fairly useful mills with low-demand mills so you get stuck with bits nobody wants. You should instead put your own set together so you are sure your money is not going into something that will end up in the back of the last drawer.

Your best bet is to directly contact a carbide tools manufacturer that can help you put a carbide end mill set together according to your current needs, but also offers manufacturer-direct prices. I have dealt with Online Carbide in the past and they always offer reliable guidance and incredible deals when I´m looking for something exotic. They are located here in the U.S. and offer free shipping for orders over $250, making them my go-to supplier for carbide tools. Contact them today and find out how their tools will change the way you machine.

Machining complex pieces that have interlocking components can be a real challenge. The most common way to do it is by cutting threads. However, these need to be extremely accurate if you want to produce a leak-resistant seal.

Now, there are many methods to create perfect threads no matter your chosen standard or pitch. Many use tapping tools, which is a more traditional method. Introduce your roll-tap into the perfectly matching hole and the tool will create the thread in a single pass. However, there are many problems with tapping pipe threads that make it an inefficient process.

First of all, taps must be of the exact size of the hole so it engages the material and creates a tight thread. This usually does not leave enough room for the chips to come out, which is a big problem when working on blind holes. Chips get trapped in the bottom of the hole and do not allow the tool to complete the pass.

A second problem is that, when working with hard materials such as titanium, you run the risk of having your tool break into the piece. This can cause a huge disruption in your production schedule and, believe me, you don't want to have to go fishing for that broken head which by now might already be an integral part of the piece.

To avoid these problems and get a perfect fit every time, you want to thread mill pipe threads. Carbide thread mills are usually thinner than the ID of the hole. So you can program your CNC to use a single pitch thread mill to create different pitches depending on the project without a problem. While they can be a bit slower, they have their advantages. You are not limited to a single thread pitch per tool. Instead, you can program your z-axis on your machine to achieve the desired pitch. You can even create threads with varied diameters inside the same hole, something impossible with tapping as you need a different size tap when you change hole sizes.

If a lot of your work focuses on specific pipe thread sizes or standards, you should get a full-form carbide thread mill of the appropriate size. These allow you to create complete threads in one pass, thread mill pipe threads have a better thread quality and a smoother surface when compared to tapped threads. Solid carbide tools also allow you to machine smaller threaded holes and can produce left and right-handed threads.

One big advantage thread mills bring to the table is that they can create both male and female pipe threads, without the need of changing tools.

If you are serious about thread mill pipe threading, you need the best quality tools for your shop. Visit Online Carbide and check their wide range of solid carbide single pitch and full form thread mills for those who want extremely precise results. Send an email to sales@onlinecarbide.com and find out more about their tools and incredible prices.

KnowIT provides many capabilities specifically targeted to integrated mills, mini-mills, and rolling mills.Knowit ERP provide erp for steel rolling mill. we provides many capabilities specifically targeted to integrated mills, mini-mills, and rolling mills. Some of these are: 

Hot Rolling

• Sales Order Management
• Tolerance Logic (+/- quantity)
• Truck Scheduling
• Multiple sales orders can be combined on a single job
• Customer & Product Sales Analysis
• Rolling Schedule
• Bar coded labels for scanning and identification purposes
• Print of all required Certificates at time of Shipping
• Yield and Scrap Controlling
• Real Time Production recording of all production process like Cutting,Reheating Furnace, Roughing Mill,Intermediate Mill,Finish Mill
• Material Tracking (Bundle ID, No of pieces, length, Grade )
• PO Change History
• Roll change Analysis
• Trace Work In Progress
• Quality Tracking & Control
• Break Down Analysis
• Unit of Measure Conversion

Cold Rolling

• Sales Order Management
• Stock Report on the basis of grade , thickness , width.
• Coil Query
• Tolerance Logic (+/- quantity)
• Orders appear with gauge tolerance, ID/OD maximum weights, etc.
• Yield and Scrap Control
• Test Certificate
• Break Down Analysis
• Real time production recording of all production process like HR Slitting,  Pickling , Cold Rolling , Annealing , Skin Pass ,CR slitting , Cut To length.
• Coil stock aging
• It handles conversion factors between steel coils (Kg or Ton).
• PO Change History
• Multiple order items from one or more customers can be grouped on single job.