High-Feed Tool, Deeper Cut?

What’s the proper cutting strategy for a high-feed insert cutter? From what I’ve gathered, most experienced machinists would recommend cutting light, fast and shallow. Solid advice, to be sure, but one shop recently found an exception. Reko Manufacturing Group, part of Reko International Group, often turns to Ingersoll’s Hi-QuadF for relatively heavy-duty roughing operations despite the cutter’s designation as a “high-feed” tool. That’s largely thanks to the thick inserts, which provide sufficient strength for lighter and heavier cuts alike.

Despite the advantages of this tool, the shop wasn’t looking to improve roughing when it first turned to Ingersoll. Rather, it sought to improve cavity semi-finishing and finishing operations on its brand new five-axis machining center by changing from standard, button-style tooling to Ingersoll’s Power-Feed+ Mini high-feed face mill. Here, too, the shop realized significant gains. Read this case study to learn more about both applications.