News

ColdMetalFusion – Customer Utilis AG works with MIMplus and Headmade to co-develop revolutionary cutting tool holder with 185% performance increase

Utilis’ patent-pending multidec®-cut, gold-line, tool holder can be viewed at the Formnext 2022 in Frankfurt, Germany, in November. This multidec® tool holder was specially developed for efficient grooving and longitudinal turning on sliding headstock automatic lathes and can massively increase productivity in manufacturing. Thanks to the new integrated cooling system, customers now have the opportunity to double the service life of their cutting edges or increase their cutting values without experiencing higher wear. The integrated cooling system was only possible by utilizing the ColdMetalFusion standard (CMF) due to the extremely small diameter of the cooling channels that needed to be cleared of powder without breaking the green part.

Utilis AG teamed up with Headmade Materials and MIMplus Technologies to develop and additively manufacture the new type of tool holder with ColdMetalFusion. The tool holder will benefit from Headmade's newly developed M2 tool steel, which exhibits ultra-high wear resistance and hardness. The very narrow 3D cooling channels will result in a tool holder with ultra-high performance and a lifetime increase of up to 185%.

The partners set up two identical machines at both MIMplus and Headmade’s locations to jointly develop and quickly transfer or compare results across locations. This allowed for the very effective and straightforward parameter development and verification of the M2 tool steel for the tool holder across locations. Thanks to this close collaboration and an excellent team spirit, the three companies could reach a part density of 98% and untap the superior mechanical performance that the ColdMetalFusion standard is renowned for. Headmade Materials has launched the M2 tool steel with Utilis as its lead application. It is now available to the general public.

MIMplus, with its vast experience in classical industrial manufacturing and an annual volume of over 25 million parts, has set up a fully dedicated ColdMetalFusion production line at its headquarters in Ispringen in the northern black forest. With its new investment, MIMplus will be able to support customers with added surface treatment, milling, and plating processes to manufacture parts you would not believe in having come out of a 3D printer at the beginning of the CMF process chain.

The partners are exhibiting the multidec®-cut, gold-line cutting tool holder at the ColdMetalFusion Alliance booth D48 in hall 11.1 at this year’s Formnext tradeshow in Frankfurt, Germany on November 15th to 18th. It will be hard for visitors to tell that it was made using the 3D printing technology.

 

About Utilis

Utilis AG, Muellheim, Switzerland, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of precision tools for the metal working industry. Ever since the company was founded in 1915 it has been their declared goal to forge ahead in the production of high quality cutting tools for micromechanics that are valuable and beneficial for their customers. For Utilis, as a traditional, mid-sized, family-run Swiss business, it is only natural that they place the greatest value on precision, service and their customers. They consciously decided to produce their multidec® brand products in Switzerland. It is the only way that they can ensure the established and proven quality of UTILIS brand products that they currently sell in 57 countries around the world.

About Headmade Materials

Headmade Materials GmbH, Unterpleichfeld, Germany, develops materials and processes for powder metallurgy. The core technology is the self-developed and in-house manufactured binder systems, which enable customers to produce metal parts cost-effectively and in serial production. Apart of developing standard materials, the company runs bespoke material developments for its customers. Headmade Materials advises customers on application design and material processing. It also offers customers on-site use of their ColdMetalFusion line and other equipment for the production of first application prototypes and small series for ramp-up.