Tungaloy Corporation has expanded its TungForce-Rec series of high-efficiency, high-precision shoulder milling cutters with new imperial-size cutter bodies for Sizes 12 and 18, targeting the North American market. The expansion comes amid growing demand for machining solutions for smaller and more complex components across automotive, die and mould, industrial machinery, aerospace and power generation applications.
In North America, particularly the United States, machining operations are seeing increased demand for a wider range of cutting tools in the medium-diameter segment around 2 inches (50.8 mm).
Tungaloy said machining challenges such as chatter and poor surface finish can become more pronounced when operations involve long tool overhangs, complex-shaped workpieces, unstable clamping conditions or low-rigidity machine tools. The expanded TungForce-Rec lineup is designed to address these requirements while supporting high-efficiency and high-precision shoulder milling.
The TungForce-Rec series is a high-efficiency, high-precision square shoulder milling cutter that uses uniquely shaped inserts with two cutting edges. The series is available in the metric version, as well as imperial sizes for North American machinists. The metric version offers four insert sizes: 04, 06, 12, and 18, covering maximum cutting depths from 4.0 to 16.5 mm and cutter body diameters from ø6.0 to ø160 mm. The imperial version offers three insert sizes: 06, 12, and 18, covering maximum depths of cut from 0.236″ to 0.650″ and cutter body diameters from ø0.313″ to ø6″.
Featuring a unique V-shaped bottom insert geometry, TungForce-Rec is designed to prevent inserts from moving during machining while rigidly retaining them in the pockets, allowing for high-efficiency machining even with small-diameter cutters as small as ø10 mm. The series also supports slotting, pocketing, and other milling operations with excellent accuracy and productivity. For Sizes 12 and 18, new imperial-size cutter bodies with reduced insert density have been added, primarily for the North American market, for applications that require improved chatter resistance and better surface finish under unstable machining conditions.
Benefits and Features
Feature 1: High-rigidity insert clamping and versatile tooling support for a wide range of shoulder milling applications
– Four metric insert sizes — 04, 06, 12, and 18 — cover maximum cutting depths from 4 to 16.5 mm, while three imperial insert sizes — 06, 12, and 18 — cover maximum depths of cut from 0.236″ to 0.650″.
– The unique V-shaped bottom geometry allows the inserts to be securely retained on the cutter body with a single screw, providing high cutting-edge rigidity.
– The cutter bodies are available in cylindrical-shank, shell-mill, and modular-head styles. Combined with the TungFlex holder system, the modular head provides the optimum tool overhang for each machining application.
Feature 2: Expanded imperial-size cutter body variations for Sizes 12 and 18
– Size 12:
The TPAV12 shell mill cutter series for ø2″ (ø50.8 mm) cutters now includes an 8-insert configuration. Positioned between the existing 5-insert and 12-insert configurations, the series balances high-efficiency machining and chatter resistance.
– Size 18:
The TPAV18 shell mill cutter series for ø2″ (ø50.8 mm) cutters now includes a 5-insert configuration. Its coarse-pitch design uses fewer inserts than the existing 7-insert configuration, reducing the number of cutting edges engaged simultaneously and improving chatter resistance.
A new 8-insert body for ø2.5″ (ø63.5 mm) cutters has also been added for a wider range of machining conditions.