Ball Lens Inserts are Engineered for Productivity, Surface Finish Gains

Millstar introduces the ABL series, providing a cutting tool solution that enables up to twice the stepover, reduces the need for multiple cutters and meets other moldmaking demands.

Edited by Grace Nehls

Senior Managing Editor, MoldMaking Technology

Millstar, a part of Cole Tooling Systems Inc., manufactures insert and solid carbide tooling for conventional profile machining, high-speed milling and hard milling. The company highlights its ABL series inserts, which use an innovative hybrid ball lens design to provide a large end face radius — typically equal to the diameter. This enables up to twice the stepover during machining operations, decreasing cycle time without sacrificing surface finish.

ABL tooling is well suited to three- and five-axis milling. Even on specialty machines with smaller spindles, ABL’s features have been shown to significantly increase productivity. With its distinct blend of versatility and precision, ABL can also improve efficiency by reducing or eliminating the need for multiple cutters.

Millstar’s ABL is capable of achieving optimal surface quality in almost any material, and improving cutting performance in hard-to-reach areas of a complex workpiece. This makes the ABL series an ideal option for a wide variety of circumstances, including mold and die applications.

ABL is available in HSN or HNC grades to meet application demands, even when working with very tough mold and die steels. Both grades are effective with heat treated materials up to 72 HRC.