Productivity Improvement in Tooling Manufacture through High Speed 5 Axis Machining

In the modern metalworking industry tools are becoming more complex to manufacture. Production moulds often have complex geometry, undercut regions, small corner radius areas, sharp edges, deep cavities or large cores. The conventional manufacturing process chains to machine these complex features are long winded and require multiple steps. Often special fixtures for work holding or expensive electrodes particularly to access certain features need to be manufactured. Long series cutting tools are needed to machine deep cavities. High demands on quality and lead time constrain the increase in efficiency of conventional production technologies. But substantial savings on operating time and costs can become possible only by shortening the process chain. This paper presents and discusses current results obtained through industry projects and experimental work. The focus is put on the efficient utilization of 5-axis machining along with high-end CAD/CAM-systems with the purpose of productivity and quality improvement. Special attention is given to cutting tools and tool holding systems that support the whole process. Based on the analysis of various case studies a comparison between 3-axis machining and 5-axis cutting as an alternative option has been drawn, demonstrating the big potential of this powerful but also very sophisticated technology. On this background the wider utilization of 5-axis simultaneous machining is illustrated far beyond the usual geometry consideration, looking at the process from the efficiency point of view as overall goal. In this way the targeted cost optimisation and lead time shortening can clearly be achieved.