Exchangeable Head Tooling Solutions

Exchangeable, modular, and replaceable describe tooling solutions that are game changers in the industry.

These tools have become synonymous with profitable machining practices.

Cutting tools have evolved from a brazed tool to a mechanically clamped indexable tool and now a replaceable tool. Tungaloy is at the forefront of evaluating new concepts and ideas for more productive tools and developing these solutions for overall improvements for our customers. Through this article, we share Tungaloy’s unique exchangeable head solutions for milling, drilling, and reaming operations.

The modular concept is not new. In fact, childhood games such as the jigsaw puzzle follow this concept to bring a preconceived idea into shape. 

And, building blocks are actually an exchangeable block type toy which began an engineering aptitude for many. Tungaloy’s exchangeable head tooling solutions are an adaptation of this idea and help in building multiple useful tool assemblies. With just about 50 odd blocks, we created hundreds of logical shapes. We built cars, trucks, buses – Automotive, we built airplanes, and other flying objects – Aerospace, Trains – Railway, houses, bridges – Infrastructure, simple machinery – Equipment and general engineering

Tungaloy has emerged as a leading metal cutting solution provider, with exchangeable head tools, for building stronger Automotive, Aerospace, Equipment and general engineering, infrastructure, and railway industries.

What makes an exchangeable or modular head tool a better option for our customers?

An exchangeable head tool is designed as a cutting head and a holder with a precise connection between the two. This offers multiple advantages to customers.

• Flexibility: The tool body is made from high-quality steel, which is more flexible compared to solid carbide. Hence, it can be used at optimum parameters, even under adverse conditions and unusual applications such as uneven entry & exits or not-so-rigid fixture setups. A solid carbide tool would tend to chip or break in adverse conditions or when applied at high productive parameters.
• Reduced non-productive time – An exchangeable head equals ease of indexing. With a conventional end mill, reamer, or drill the tool must be taken out of the machine, replaced with a reground or new tool, and then put back in the machine. This process adds to a lot of non-productive time or simply put – wasted time. With an exchangeable head tool, it is indexed right on the machine saving time, and increasing productivity.
• Best R.O.I – The cost of a solid carbide tool is very expensive compared to an exchangeable head solid carbide tool. Every single recondition of the tool costs about 1/10th of the original tool cost but does not guarantee original tool performance. In addition, it also requires a time-consuming overhang setup. Head exchangeable tools are not regrindable and have a constant overhang. Hence, exchangeable head tools, offer the best ROI.

Excellent process control – With no regrinding and no frequent offset input, exchangeable head tools offer excellent process control as it uses a fresh cutting edge every time. Due to the manual intervention of a reground tool, there is always the possibility of error.

• Safety – With no manual intervention, there is the least chance of an accident related to the tools.
• Lower inventory – When using Solid carbide tools, customers must keep a minimum of 3-4 tools to run the production cycle, without the risk of running out of tools. With exchangeable head tools, a minimum inventory of heads is required.

Tungaloy takes care of safety stock for customers thus lowering the customer’s expenses.

With our DrillMeister line, one exchangeable head can be used on drill bodies of different lengths

• Build tools to need – Just like building blocks, we can create a tool assembly in the required diameter and length with modular tooling systems well within the principles of tool design.

TungModular blade system enables customers to build different tool assemblies for different grooving applications – shallow grooving, deep grooving, face grooving, groove turn system, etc.

The first row of Tungaloy’s deep shoulder mill (TungTri TLA) is an exchangeable ring that enables customers to build longer tool assemblies based on their requirements.

• Reliable performance – No regrinding means no faulty angles on the tool. Hence, performance repeats every time the customer uses Tungaloy’s exchangeable head tool with 100% reliability.
• Helping Go Green – Every exchangeable head tool requires less tool material, the rest of it being tool steel body. Therefore, it leaves a lower carbon footprint than a full solid carbide tool. Increased usage of Tungaloy’s exchangeable head tools, leads to lower energy consumption and help ensure a greener planet for our future.

Exchangeable head tooling solutions from Tungaloy:

Tungaloy’s DrillMeister, offering a unique self-clamping drilling head, TungMeister with threaded connection and ReamMeister with tapered screw expansion clamping, have introduced revolutionary changes in exchangeable tooling solutions.

One of the greatest advantages of exchangeable heads is that they can be offered in a wide range of grades, unlike the solid carbide tools, which are normally produced from a K10F grade. Tungaloy offers AH715 / AH725 / AH735 and AH750 grades in its TungMeister range and with just one shank, customers can perform roughing, finishing, high feed, ball finish, or even trochoidal operations, using various types of heads. Selection of head would be based on the machine condition and the machining process, thus defined – low depth, high feeds, low width of cuts, and high depth of cuts, etc. Over 13,000 tool combinations are possible with TungMeister.

Wide range of geometries

45 kinds of are available. The head indexing is easy and highly accurate with precision thread

Three kinds of shank material

Steel: for general purpose

Carbide: for highly accurate machining due to excellent rigidity

Tungsten: reduced chattering due to high vibration damping capacity

Similarly, DrillMeister offers 50 drilling possibilities per drill body. The clamping of the drill head is so unique, it offers the most reliable clamping, retaining the elasticity of the body and offering extended tool body life.

• DMP geometry for general drilling
• DMC for long overhang drilling
• DMF for flat-bottom drilling
• DMH for heavy-duty drilling
• DMN for aluminum alloy drilling.

Over and above this, special heads are also available for improved performance.

ReamMeister offers an innovative clamping mechanism to control runout and improve repeatability while maintaining IT7 hole accuracy and superior surface finish in parallel to high productivity.

The body accommodates a wide range of diameters with two types of heads – one for through holes (BL type) and the other for blind holes (AS type), so that it can effectively evacuate chips during the reaming process.

Once again, it is proven that Tungaloy always builds tooling solutions that help deliver better machine utilization.