Modern Machine Shop
According to the company, its 11-mm profiling insert is designed to do the job of a bigger one, thus enabling finer-pitch cutters for smoother profiling and lower chip loads. On a 2" diameter cutter, for instance, six of the Helido H400 RNHU 1205 inserts can fit in a pitch circle that normally accommodates five standard, 12-mm inserts. The inserts are designed for die and mold applications and blade profiling for the aerospace and power generation industries.
The insert design isn’t quite round. Each face has four 0.236" radius cutting edges separated by a flat. The result is that the insert itself measures 0.433" across, and it performs like one 0.039" larger. The smaller the insert, the more that can fit into a given-size pitch circle. Depending on priorities, the user can translate this difference in diameter to higher table feeds, finer finish or longer edge life, the company says.
The inserts are double sided, with each edge providing a 120-degree active area. The adjacent flats prevent insert rotation in the cutter’s dovetail seat pocket. Despite the negative axial orientation needed to create a double-sided insert with its extra edges, the cutting presentation angle is 10-degrees positive, as in standard round profiling inserts.