IMCO Carbide Tool
Encyclopedia
IMCO Carbide Tool is an American
manufacturing company that researches, designs and manufactures high-performance cutting tools for a variety of applications in the in the aerospace
, automotive, medical, petrochemical
, and manufacturing industries. Founded in 1977 by Lawrence R. Osburn and headquartered in Perrysburg
, Ohio
, IMCO serves a diverse customer base of small job shops to large production operations around the world. The company is ISO 9001:2000
registered.
1984 - Perry Osburn named president.
1985 - Purchased A.C. Carbide Company of Rochester, Michigan to enter manufacturing business.
1998 - IMCO launches STREAKERS M20 end mills for machining in aluminum.
2000 - IMCO purchases Menlo Tool Company of Warren, Michigan to expand export business.
2000 - IMCO Launches M7 Omega-6 end mills with 6 flutes for high-grade finishing.
2002 - enDURO launch.
2005 - IMCO introduces POW-R-FEED M9 high-performance multipurpose end mills.
2011 - IMCO introduces second-generation of enDURO M525 end mill line for machining in stainless steels and titanium.
Perry succeeded his father as President in 1984, with Matthew continuing as Vice President in charge of factory set-up, production processes, hiring, training, inventory management, supplier relations and quality oversight. As the machining industry was challenged by engineered materials with difficult-to-machine characteristics and more demanding specifications and tolerances, the brothers turned their focus on developing tools to meet those challenges.
IMCO began to research and develop end mills, working with customers to create tools capable of much higher performance with new and emerging high-speed machining technologies. Versatile tools dubbed STREAKERS M20 end mills were introduced in 1988 . STREAKERS were designed especially for working in aluminum. A notoriously "soft" metal, aluminum tends to meld in the intense heat of the cutting zone before the chips can be evacuated. This causes the chips to congeal in the cutting zone, requiring downtime to clear the blockage and, often, replace the tool. Tests with customer shops showed that STREAKERS end mills' two- and three-flute design eliminate this clogging problem.
IMCO's M7 Omega-6 end mills, introduced in 2000, were designed to resolve problems in achieving high surface finishes, especially in hard-to-machine materials. With these materials, from cast iron to titanium, the more balanced and frequent the contact between the cutting edges and the material, the smoother the finish. IMCO developed geometries that maximize contact while maintaining exceptional balance (breaking up harmonics). A heat-resistant coating helps deflect the intense heat generated by cutting tough metals with six ultra-hard carbide flutes. Customers use Omega-6 end mills for a wide range of machining applications, describing "performance they didn't think was possible."
Soon thereafter, IMCO launched another new product called enDURO M50 end mills, developed especially for working in and finishing aerospace alloys (titanium, stainless steels) and high-silicon aluminum. This line includes three- and five-flute designs to accommodate varying needs for chipload, chip evacuation and finish quality. Advances in coating formulations add to the tools' productivity and extended life.
By 2004, the demand for titanium and stainless steel increased; the medical instruments/equipment industry expanded and many planes in commercial and military fleets were "aging-out" of service. By 2005, IMCO had introduced the POW-R-FEED M90 series, a group of high-performance end mills effective in milling, pocketing, slotting and finishing in titanium and stainless steel and other very hard metals.
This demand for machining in engineered metals also prompted a return to the M50 enDURO M50 end mill for redesign. In 2011, the second generation enDURO series was launched with refined geometries for even stronger, more chip-resistant cutting edges and higher metal removal rates. Repeated testing showed enDURO tools were effective in titanium and other hard metals even using low-horsepower machining centers. This not only enabled smaller job shops to share in the titanium work, it also allowed shops of all sizes to keep its older/low horsepower equipment running if higher horsepower centers were needed for another project, maximizing capacity and resources.
and stainless steel
, tool steels, titanium
, cast iron
, high-temperature alloys, copper
and magnesium alloys, brass
, bronze
, composites, plastics, and graphite
. IMCO tool categories include high-performance and general-purpose end mills
, burs
, drills, countersinks
, rougher/finishers, reamers, routers, die trimmers and custom-made, special purpose precision tools for industrial applications. The company also performs custom modifications to off-the-shelf cutting tools.
IMCO Carbide Tool products begin with "blanks," or rods
of micrograin carbide
or ultra-fine micrograin carbide
, because of its extreme hardness and favorable heat resistance.
IMCO specializes in high-performance end mills designed with variable fluting. Varying flute geometries break up the harmonics
, or multiple mechanical frequencies
that develop as tools spin and can cause tool instability and failure. Variable fluting breaks up harmonics and keeps the tool balanced as it turns for optimum tool stability. This, in turn, enables the tool to cut with greater precision.
IMCO high-performance tools frequently include an engineered coating that deflects heat away from the tool. Typical coatings in the industry include titanium nitride
(TiN), aluminum titanium nitride (AlTiN) and titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN), although IMCO, like many tool makers, fine-tunes these engineered coatings for better heat protection and longer tool use.
Because extreme temperatures are generated in the cutting zone, where the cutting edges shear through the material at very high speeds, coatings are added to deflect the heat away from the tool. Coatings offer varying degrees of heat protection, or hot hardness, as well as other unique performance characteristics, depending on their formulation. Tools coated with each formulation will work well in some materials and poorly in others. Coatings also provide a degree of lubricity
that helps evacuate metal cuttings or chips
, from the cutting zone. This prevents clogs and removes chips before they can melt and bond with the tool's cutting edges, which ruins the tool.
Tool geometries, or cutting and fluting angles, are essential to the tool's performance. A minute change in angle or cutting radius can make a significant difference in the tool's balance, chiploads and other performance characteristics. IMCO and other tool manufacturers conduct extensive research to fine-tune these geometries, especially for use in heat-treated alloy steels, Inconel
, Hastelloy
and other engineered metals. Through research and testing, IMCO has developed a range of "unique combinations using multiple coating formulas and substrates."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
manufacturing company that researches, designs and manufactures high-performance cutting tools for a variety of applications in the in the aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
, automotive, medical, petrochemical
Petrochemical
Petrochemicals are chemical products derived from petroleum. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sources such as corn or sugar cane....
, and manufacturing industries. Founded in 1977 by Lawrence R. Osburn and headquartered in Perrysburg
Perrysburg, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,945 people, 6,592 households, and 4,561 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,899.2 people per square mile . There were 6,964 housing units at an average density of 780.5 per square mile...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, IMCO serves a diverse customer base of small job shops to large production operations around the world. The company is ISO 9001:2000
ISO 9000
The ISO 9000 family of standards relates to quality management systems and is designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders . The standards are published by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, and available through National...
registered.
Timeline
1977 - Company founded by Lawrence R. Osburn, as a tool wholesaling company.1984 - Perry Osburn named president.
1985 - Purchased A.C. Carbide Company of Rochester, Michigan to enter manufacturing business.
1998 - IMCO launches STREAKERS M20 end mills for machining in aluminum.
2000 - IMCO purchases Menlo Tool Company of Warren, Michigan to expand export business.
2000 - IMCO Launches M7 Omega-6 end mills with 6 flutes for high-grade finishing.
2002 - enDURO launch.
2005 - IMCO introduces POW-R-FEED M9 high-performance multipurpose end mills.
2011 - IMCO introduces second-generation of enDURO M525 end mill line for machining in stainless steels and titanium.
History
IMCO Carbide Tool is a family -owned and -operated company founded in 1977 by Lawrence R. Osburn. With his wife and two sons, Perry and Matthew, Osburn built his business in general-purpose end mills, burs, routers and drills for the automotive and manufacturing industries. The sons served as company vice presidents, learning the business from the ground up and across all disciplines.Perry succeeded his father as President in 1984, with Matthew continuing as Vice President in charge of factory set-up, production processes, hiring, training, inventory management, supplier relations and quality oversight. As the machining industry was challenged by engineered materials with difficult-to-machine characteristics and more demanding specifications and tolerances, the brothers turned their focus on developing tools to meet those challenges.
IMCO began to research and develop end mills, working with customers to create tools capable of much higher performance with new and emerging high-speed machining technologies. Versatile tools dubbed STREAKERS M20 end mills were introduced in 1988 . STREAKERS were designed especially for working in aluminum. A notoriously "soft" metal, aluminum tends to meld in the intense heat of the cutting zone before the chips can be evacuated. This causes the chips to congeal in the cutting zone, requiring downtime to clear the blockage and, often, replace the tool. Tests with customer shops showed that STREAKERS end mills' two- and three-flute design eliminate this clogging problem.
IMCO's M7 Omega-6 end mills, introduced in 2000, were designed to resolve problems in achieving high surface finishes, especially in hard-to-machine materials. With these materials, from cast iron to titanium, the more balanced and frequent the contact between the cutting edges and the material, the smoother the finish. IMCO developed geometries that maximize contact while maintaining exceptional balance (breaking up harmonics). A heat-resistant coating helps deflect the intense heat generated by cutting tough metals with six ultra-hard carbide flutes. Customers use Omega-6 end mills for a wide range of machining applications, describing "performance they didn't think was possible."
Soon thereafter, IMCO launched another new product called enDURO M50 end mills, developed especially for working in and finishing aerospace alloys (titanium, stainless steels) and high-silicon aluminum. This line includes three- and five-flute designs to accommodate varying needs for chipload, chip evacuation and finish quality. Advances in coating formulations add to the tools' productivity and extended life.
By 2004, the demand for titanium and stainless steel increased; the medical instruments/equipment industry expanded and many planes in commercial and military fleets were "aging-out" of service. By 2005, IMCO had introduced the POW-R-FEED M90 series, a group of high-performance end mills effective in milling, pocketing, slotting and finishing in titanium and stainless steel and other very hard metals.
This demand for machining in engineered metals also prompted a return to the M50 enDURO M50 end mill for redesign. In 2011, the second generation enDURO series was launched with refined geometries for even stronger, more chip-resistant cutting edges and higher metal removal rates. Repeated testing showed enDURO tools were effective in titanium and other hard metals even using low-horsepower machining centers. This not only enabled smaller job shops to share in the titanium work, it also allowed shops of all sizes to keep its older/low horsepower equipment running if higher horsepower centers were needed for another project, maximizing capacity and resources.
Products
IMCO tools are designed, tested, sourced and manufactured in the U.S. for machining in a wide range of materials, such as aluminum, carbonCarbon
Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds...
and stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
, tool steels, titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
, cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
, high-temperature alloys, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and magnesium alloys, brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
, bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
, composites, plastics, and graphite
Graphite
The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...
. IMCO tool categories include high-performance and general-purpose end mills
Endmill
An endmill is a type of milling cutter, a cutting tool used in industrial milling applications. It is distinguished from the drill bit, in its application, geometry, and manufacture...
, burs
Burr (cutter)
Burrs are small cutters used in die grinders, rotary tools or dentist's drills. The name may be considered appropriate when their small sized head is compared to that of a seed of the burr fruit or the teeth compared to a metal burr.To maintain the correct surface speed and cutting conditions...
, drills, countersinks
Countersink
A countersink is a conical hole cut into a manufactured object, or the cutter used to cut such a hole. A common usage is to allow the head of a countersunk bolt or screw, when placed in the hole, to sit flush with or below the surface of the surrounding material...
, rougher/finishers, reamers, routers, die trimmers and custom-made, special purpose precision tools for industrial applications. The company also performs custom modifications to off-the-shelf cutting tools.
IMCO Carbide Tool products begin with "blanks," or rods
Rod (geometry)
In geometry, a rod is a three-dimensional, solid cylinder....
of micrograin carbide
Carbide
In chemistry, a carbide is a compound composed of carbon and a less electronegative element. Carbides can be generally classified by chemical bonding type as follows: salt-like, covalent compounds, interstitial compounds, and "intermediate" transition metal carbides...
or ultra-fine micrograin carbide
Carbide
In chemistry, a carbide is a compound composed of carbon and a less electronegative element. Carbides can be generally classified by chemical bonding type as follows: salt-like, covalent compounds, interstitial compounds, and "intermediate" transition metal carbides...
, because of its extreme hardness and favorable heat resistance.
IMCO specializes in high-performance end mills designed with variable fluting. Varying flute geometries break up the harmonics
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
, or multiple mechanical frequencies
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
that develop as tools spin and can cause tool instability and failure. Variable fluting breaks up harmonics and keeps the tool balanced as it turns for optimum tool stability. This, in turn, enables the tool to cut with greater precision.
IMCO high-performance tools frequently include an engineered coating that deflects heat away from the tool. Typical coatings in the industry include titanium nitride
Titanium nitride
Titanium nitride is an extremely hard ceramic material, often used as a coating on titanium alloys, steel, carbide, and aluminium components to improve the substrate's surface properties....
(TiN), aluminum titanium nitride (AlTiN) and titanium aluminum nitride (TiAlN), although IMCO, like many tool makers, fine-tunes these engineered coatings for better heat protection and longer tool use.
Because extreme temperatures are generated in the cutting zone, where the cutting edges shear through the material at very high speeds, coatings are added to deflect the heat away from the tool. Coatings offer varying degrees of heat protection, or hot hardness, as well as other unique performance characteristics, depending on their formulation. Tools coated with each formulation will work well in some materials and poorly in others. Coatings also provide a degree of lubricity
Lubricity
Lubricity is the measure of the reduction in friction of a lubricant. The study of lubrication and mechanism wear is called tribology.-Measurement of lubricity:...
that helps evacuate metal cuttings or chips
Chip formation
Chip formation is part of the process of cutting materials by mechanical means, using tools such as saws, lathes and milling cutters.An understanding of the theory and engineering of this formation is an important part of the development of such machines and their cuttingtools.The formal study of...
, from the cutting zone. This prevents clogs and removes chips before they can melt and bond with the tool's cutting edges, which ruins the tool.
Tool geometries, or cutting and fluting angles, are essential to the tool's performance. A minute change in angle or cutting radius can make a significant difference in the tool's balance, chiploads and other performance characteristics. IMCO and other tool manufacturers conduct extensive research to fine-tune these geometries, especially for use in heat-treated alloy steels, Inconel
Inconel
Inconel is a registered trademark of Special Metals Corporation that refers to a family of austenitic nickel-chromium-based superalloys. Inconel alloys are typically used in high temperature applications. It is often referred to in English as "Inco"...
, Hastelloy
Hastelloy
Hastelloy is the registered trademark name of Haynes International, Inc. The trademark is applied as the prefix name of a range of twenty two different highly corrosion-resistant metal alloys loosely grouped by the metallurgical industry under the material term “superalloys” or “high-performance...
and other engineered metals. Through research and testing, IMCO has developed a range of "unique combinations using multiple coating formulas and substrates."
External links
- Cutting Tools: Carbide to the rescue (example of carbide tool in real application)
- Ohio Manufacturer Cuts Milling Time By 75 Percent (example of IMCO’s work with complex machining operations)
- Five-Flute End Mills cut titanium and stainless steel
- Perfecting the cutting edge (eample of carbide tool in real application)
- IMCO Introduces 5-Flute Tools Designed for Titanium and Stainless Steel (example of new products)
- Breaking through the profitability barrier (example of IMCO's work with complex materials)
- New IMCO M525 End Mill, High-Efficiency Machining Form Dynamic Duo in Titanium, Stainless Steel (example of IMCO's work with complex materials)
- IMCO's System Makes Leap Forward in Customer Service (example of new catalogs and videos)
- IMCO's System Makes Leap Forward in Customer-Friendly Product Information (example of new catalogs and videos)
- IMCO's System Makes Leap Forward in Customer Service (example of new catalogs and videos)
- IMCO Carbide's reputation builds out of the limelight (feature story on IMCO)