Cobalt Steel End Mills

The deep cryogenic treatment of 8% cobalt end mills has made dramatic improvements in two important ways:

1. The number of milling cuts per re-sharpening was increased from 3 cuts before deep cryogenic processing to 78 cuts after processing, an increase of 26 TIMES the wear life.

2. Re-sharpening the end mills after deep cryogenic treatment required only 1/3 the amount of stock removal to restore the tool geometry.

An Industrial Contractor of Phoenix does sub-contract production for the aerospace industry and is constantly challenged by machining exotic Hi-Nickel alloys. This application required milling of Waspaloy AMS-5706. Each pass produced a flat 1 1/8’ by 1 1/4’. The end mills are M-42 Standard 8% Cobalt. A cost analysis shows the cost per part before and after deep cryogenic treatment.

COSTS BEFORE TREATMENT AFTER TREATMENT
Tool Replacement Cost $14.72 $4.91
Tool Re-sharpening Cost $28.00 $4.00
Lost Time Cost $12.00 $0.80
Cryogenic Treatment Cost $2.45
TOTAL TOOLING COST $54.72 $12.16
TOTAL SAVINGS PER PART $42.56