| HM materials | | |
| Carbide Materials (or Hard Materials) | | A sintered powder metallurgy substrate, consisting of a metallic carbide composite with binder metal. The most central raw material is tungsten carbide (WC). Tungsten carbide contributes to the hardness of the material. Tantalum carbide (TaC), titanium carbide (TiC) and niobium carbide (NbC) complements WC and adjusts the properties to what is desired. These three materials are called cubic carbides. Cobalt (Co) acts as a binder and keeps the material together. Carbide materials are often characterised by high compression strength, high hardness and therefore high wear resistance, but also by limited flexural strength and toughness. Carbide is used in taps, reamers, milling cutters, drills and thread milling cutters. |
| Surface Treatments | | |
| Bright (uncoated) | Bright | Bright finish (uncoated surface) improves chip flow in soft or non-ferrous materials and maintains sharp cutting edges in abrasive materials. |
| Polished Bright Surface Finish | Hi | Bright polished surface finish greatly improves chip flow in soft or gummy non-ferrous materials. Polishing facilitates chip evacuation and prevents material from sticking to cutting edges and in flutes. |
| Surface Coatings | | |
| Aluminium Chromium Nitride Coating (AlCrN) | | The Alcrona (AlCrN) family of coatings are aluminum chromium nitride coatings mostly used for milling cutters. The two unique properties of these coatings are high hot hardness and high oxidation resistance. When used on tools for machining applications involving heavy mechanical and thermal stresses, these properties translate into superior wear resistance. Multiple levels or specific versions of these coatings are available and specific for various tools and applications. |
| Titanium Silicon Nitride Coating (TiSiN) | | TiSiN is designed for extreme cutting conditions and high speed machining of hard materials. This multi-layered coating has a nano- composite outer layer with Si3N4nano-crystallites in a crystalline TiN matrix and is engineered to protect the cutting edge from heat transfer, oxidation and abrasion. TiSiN coatings can perform well at minimum to zero lubrication conditions. |
| Titanium Aluminium Nitride Coating (TiAlN) | | Titanium Aluminium Nitride is a multi layer ceramic coating applied by PVD coating technology, which exhibits high toughness and oxidation stability. These properties make it ideal for higher speeds and feeds, while at the same time improving tool life. TiAlN is used in drilling, tapping, and milling applications and can be suitable for use when machining without coolant. |
| Titanium Aluminium Nitride Coatings (X-CEED) | | X-CEED type TiAlN coating, also known as Futura-Nano coating is a nanolayered coating designed for higher hot hardness and higher stress applications. |
| Aluminium Titanium Nitride (AlTiN) | | Aluminium Titanium Nitride (AlTiN) is a nanolayered broad based coating technology which is an upgrade to the conventional TiAlN coatings and can offer superior toughness, high hot hardness and oxidation resistance. |
| Diamond Like Coating (DLC) | Diamond | Diamond Like Coating, also known as Diamond Like Carbon (DLC) provides the highest lubricity when used on carbide tools and avoids built up edge when machining graphite or soft non-ferrous materials. |