A Newsletter from Carmex Precision Tools LLC
“The brand
you can trust”
by Jeff Dei
President, Carmex USA
I
n business circles today, you hear a lot
of talk about “branding.” But, few people
can agree on its exact definition. I think
the best that I’ve ever heard came from an
author who said,“A brand is a promise.”
At tool shows and field visits, I frequently
talk with customers who come to
us after having tried numerous other
makes of inserts or thread mills. Having
bought one size or design by a particular
manufacturer for a specific application,
they were disappointed when another
size or design from the same manufacturer
did not perform up to their standard. As
a result, their tool cribs are filled with
a jumble of different types and sizes, each
of which is good for only one application.
It is clear that the amount of time — and
money — that they have spent
researching tooling capability has seriously
impacted the profitability and the
efficiency of their businesses.
Unlike other toolmakers that produce
a huge variety of tools for very diverse
applications, Carmex has concentrated
its strength on thread making. For over
25 years, our designers and engineers
have studied every aspect and every size,
as well as virtually every type, of thread
and designed and built the tools that
deliver the best results. Because of this,
Carmex possesses not only an extensive
variety of tooling but, within our thread
making family, a great amount of depth
in terms of sizes, thread type, and
machine compatibility. This means that
Continued on page 3 “Jeff’s Jottings”
Volume 2 No. 1
“BLU” all over
30-30 Challenge
has customers
feeling “BLU”
Carmex representative Mark Ely of Applied
Technical Products and one of his key customers
experienced first-hand the value of Carmex’s new
BLU inserts. According to Mark,“The customer
ran an independent thread test in 304 stainless,
12UN using three
separate inserts,
one of which was
our new BLU
product. Brand
“X” ran at 340
SFPM, Brand “Y”
at 400 SFPM, and BLU at 400 SFPM. All three
inserts made 10 passes on the work piece. The
production results were 123 parts for Brand “X”,
129 for Brand “Y”, and 203 for BLU, resulting in
30% more parts at 30% higher speed. My
customer, who used to feel that inserts were
pretty much a commodity product, is now as
enthusiastic a salesman for Carmex BLU as I am!”
Constructed of a sub-micron substrate with
infused coating, BLU delivers a 4200ºF thermal
barrier, resulting in high wear and heat resistance
and providing a significant advantage of longer
tool life at higher speeds.
As Mark says, “See what BLU can do
for YOU!” ■
New BLU mini mill
tooling for Acme
threads
The high production, superior finish and long life
advantages of Carmex’s new BLU sub-micron
grade carbide with advanced PVD triple coating
are now available for small-sized Acme threads in
the 5 to 16 range. The latest addition to the
Carmex mini mill-thread line covers 5, 6, 8, 10, 12,
14 and 16 Acme with shank sizes ranging from
1/4" to 5/8" and diameters from .170" to .625".
The superior strength of Acme threads has long
been appreciated for large-sized applications.
Now, designers of smaller scale complex parts are
specifying Acme threads in new and unique
applications. To answer that demand, Carmex
engineers developed an Acme internal threading
tool within the context of our mini mill-thread
Continued on page 3 “BLU” all over
In This Issue
Jeff’s Jottings.....................1, 3
Feature Story...................1, 3
A Carmex Case-in-Point...2
Carmex in Print..................3
New for You.........................4
Carmex Precision Tools LLC
2075 State Road 175
Richfield, WI 53076-9580
(262) 628-5030
sales@carmexusa.com
www.carmexusa.com
A Carmex Case-in-Point
“Live Long and Prosper”
Longer tool life boosts profits at Apex CNC
Left: Miscellaneous Apex parts
Top right: Chuck Fluharty, co-owner of Apex,
with Melissa
Bottom right: Alex at Apex CNC Swiss machine
T
he famous Vulcan greeting from Star Trek takes
on a whole new meaning when it comes to tool
life. This was recently proven at Apex CNC
Swiss, a machine shop specializing in high
precision complex parts machined from hard
materials and alloys. According to Chuck
Fluharty, co-owner of Apex,“We were machining
an electronics circuit board standoff in
303 stainless on a Star SR-20RIII machine. The
part required a 0.180" (4.6 mm) deep hole
threaded with a 0-80 thread. At the time, we
were working with tooling from a well-known
German maker that delivered 200 to 300 parts
before tool failure. We did not feel that this
was acceptable and, when we contacted the
manufacturer’s technical support, they advised
that that performance was ‘normal.’ We
immediately began to look for an alternative.”
When Chuck and his team tried the Carmex
mini mill-thread design, they saw production rise
to more than 2,000 parts. More than that, they
completed a further 500 parts in 17-4 stainless
prior to failure.
Chuck comments,“Longer tool life means more
than saving money buying replacement tools.
Carmex at Eastec
A
n important part of the Carmex USA marketing effort includes attendance at
leading trade shows. Carmex recently participated in Eastec 2013, answering
questions and securing leads from many valuable contacts in industries including
aerospace, defense and medical parts, among others. Carmex will be at
Westec October 15-17 at Los Angeles Convention Center and at imX on
November 18-20 in Las Vegas. ■
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When we realized what the Carmex tool could
do, it freed us up from monitoring the machine
and changing tools — and that resulted in
additional savings in time and man-hours.”
Carmex performance at Apex CNC Swiss is
another example of how tooling engineered for
high performance and long life leads to greater
prosperity for the customer. “Live Long
and Prosper.” ■
Carmex in Print
Carmex in Print —
in Cyberspace
As acknowledged authorities on thread cutting, comments by Carmex
personnel are frequently sought by major trade publications.
Examples of articles and editorial:
• Manufacturing Engineering April 2013,Tech Front,“Tooling
Choices Lead to Thread Milling Solutions”
• Manufacturing News April 2013,“Rx for Medical Thread
Cutting Applications”
• Manufacturing News May 2013,“HARDCUT Thread Mills
for Hardened Material”
Carmex continues to inform our customers and support our distributors
with advertising and editorial information in:
• Cutting Tool Engineering
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Manufacturing News
• Today’s Energy Solutions,Today’s Medical Developments,
and Aerospace Manufacturing and Design.
Watch for upcoming issues!
For copies of our published pieces, you can access the magazines
online or contact us. ■
Continued from page 1 “BLU” all over
line. Manufactured using the new BLU carbide
with PVD triple coating, the result is a tool
capable of high performance and improved
surface finish, even in the hardest materials.
It offers the ideal combination of one of the
oldest thread designs with the newest in
cutting tool technology. ■
New Carmex BMK
Grade: “Tiny Tools”
line turns BLU
The recent introduction by Carmex Precision
Tools of BLU grade, engineered for high
Continued from page 1 “Jeff’s Jottings”
strength, heat resistance and superior cutting
performance is now available in the popular
“Tiny Tools” line. The new BMK (K10 - K20)
grade incorporates sub-micron grade with
advanced PVD triple coating.
Designed for normal machining operations,Tiny
Tools have set the new standard for thread
turning operations on both conventional and
Swiss-type machines.
The Tiny Tools line represents Carmex’s answer
to the challenge of small hole threading in both
conventional and hardened materials. The new
BLU grade, initially introduced in Carmex’s
line of inserts, has proven extremely popular
for its heat resistance and smooth cutting
operations. With the introduction of the new
BMK grade, customers involved in small parts
and Swiss-style machining can experience
its advantages. ■
when you call on us for any thread making
application, we can deliver the right tool or,
if the application is singular enough, we can
make it.
The knowledge that Carmex can meet any
thread making demand not only saves you
time involved in searching for the right tool
and the money involved investing in various
manufacturers’ products, it ensures you
that the tooling you need will be there and
will perform to your expectations. We like to
think that, when it comes to thread making,
Carmex is “the brand you can trust.”
Sincerely,
Jeff Dei
President, Carmex USA
sales@carmexusa.com
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New for You
HARDCUT thread mills from Carmex —
because “hard” jobs come in all sizes
C
armex has introduced two new lines of multi-functional thread mills specifically for
machining hardened materials up to 62 HRc. Both the MTSH type (designed for precision
work in small holes) and the MTH type (suitable for standard applications) provide
superior performance, improved cut, and excellent surface finish thanks to an ultra fine
sub-micron grade (MT9/MT11) with advanced PVD triple coating. Engineered to meet
threading challenges from ISO M1.4 x 0.3 and 0-80UN, HARDCUT thread mills deliver high
performance in hardened steels, high-temperature alloys, Titanium alloys and ultra-hard
formulations such as Hastelloy, Inconel, and nickel base alloys. Thanks to their short profile,
they are capable of working at high cutting speeds, thereby shortening cycle times.
The increased cutting diameter delivers better rigidity and stability, and the advanced
PVD triple coating results in high wear and heat resistance and longer tool life.
The use of hard and super-hard materials in industries such as moldmaking, aviation, energy
and medical implants and tools requires a new generation of thread mills capable of
standing up to hard materials while, at the same time, delivering increased productivity
through better performance and longer life. The Carmex HARDCUT line meets those
demands through an extensive size range that delivers the Carmex guarantee of
“X-TREME results.” ■
Tough, precise, and fast —
Carmex HBA carbide grade is available
today for tomorrow’s materials
A
s more applications require the use of super-hard alloys, manufacturers are demanding
tooling that can deliver precision threads and high production in less time. To meet these
challenges, Carmex Precision Tools Ltd. has engineered carbide grade HBA — an extra-fine,
submicron grade with high toughness for optimized performance on hardened steel and cast
iron up to 62 HRc, as well as Titanium and super alloys including Hastelloy, Inconel and
Nickel base alloys.
Available for internal and external threading in both 60° and 55° partial profile, as well
as ISO metric and UN, HBA delivers high wear and heat resistance and excellent edge
stability. The unique combination of carbide substrate, coating type and edge conditions
provide superior performance over extended tool life.
In a recent test involving an external right-hand thread: M32x1.5 and a length of 65 mm in
hardened steel D2: 53-56 HRc, a 16 ER 1.5 ISO grade HBA insert operated at 45 m/min at
28 passes produced 36 threads per corner.
Hard machining is increasingly becoming the rule rather than the exception in complex part
production. Carmex HBA was engineered to meet the challenges inherent in threading
hard materials while delivering high production and longer tool life. We invite our
customers and others to bring us their most challenging applications and discover the
benefits of engineered carbide performance. ■
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