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M.A. Ford Europe’s managing director, David Ward explains how the tooling specialist is adapting and developing its cutting tools to meet the needs of the ever-increasing composites manufacturing sector. Mike Richardson reports.

The desire to reduce component weight is a major driving factor in the development of new products and has led to the widespread adoption of lightweight materials, such carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) and combinations of CFRP and metal. Whilst all combine excellent mechanical characteristics, unfortunately they share fewer desirable characteristics in that they are all difficult to cut accurately and efficiently.

M.A. Ford Europe has been at the cutting edge of composites tooling design and manufacture for more than 20 years, during which time it has developed an enviable reputation for high performance precision tooling. The company operates an active tool development programme that constantly evaluates the performance of existing tooling, as well as identifying new products that can either fill a gap in the market or enable it to meet changing customer demands driven by new applications, materials or technologies.

“During 2021 we added 12 new products to our range that were introduced to deliver improved performance, extend the capabilities of a particular cutting tool family or provide a completely new solution that we didn’t previously offer,” begins M.A. Ford’s managing director, David Ward. “This excludes the hundreds of unique application specific tool designs that were produced by our Custom Tools Division. Key among these were three new end mills. The 5-flute Series 137V5, the 9-flute XT9 Series 380CB and the ball-nose TuffCut MFPB for profiling and 3D machining, all of which are already being used in aerospace manufacturing applications. For composites and CFRP machining, we extended our PCD-tipped solid carbide tooling range by adding new sizes to both the ball nose DEB and square profile DES end mills.” 

Ward adds that during 2022 and 2023 the company will invest more than £3.5million in new plant and equipment to expand its production capacity and facilities in Leeds and Derby.

“We’ve taken advantage of the government’s ‘super-deduction’ tax break, which has incentivised us to extend our investment and enable us to achieve our expansion goals and strategic development plans earlier. Within the investment programme, we’re installing new 5- and 6-axis grinders, new pre- and post-grinding machinery, as well as a new Zoller inspection and quality centre. Another key aspect of the investment is the installation of a centralised coolant system. The challenge is to integrate the system without disrupting our manufacturing operation, but everything is progressing well and we’re slightly ahead of plan so far.

“Investment in plant is one thing, but investment in people is equally important to ensure our level of technical support and customer service is maintained and enhanced wherever possible. Since March 2021 we've taken on three new technical sales managers, with the most recent joining us at the beginning of January this year. They have detailed experience of the aerospace industry, so are capable of understanding and meeting the specific manufacturing challenges this sector presents.”

Solutions and answers

In terms of customer demands placed on the company, Ward cites customer relationships as an important part of the company ethos, which is also true for businesses in a range of different sectors.

“Whether it's because of the way we operate, or an evolution in business culture in general, we're finding that manufacturers are relying on us more and more to deliver manufacturing solutions and answers to machining problems, rather than just supplying products. We became aware of this a number of years ago and subsequently introduced our Integrated Manufacturing Solutions (IMS) initiative. This combines several complementary technologies that enable us to provide optimised machining solutions that improve productivity while also achieving other key aims, such as extended tool life, improved surface finish and minimising machine dead-time.”

IMS includes M.A. Ford’s tooling products and technical support services, but also incorporates REGO-FIX precision toolholding and HSM toolpath optimisation, as well as ‘Spike’ cutting tool force mapping and its own TMS automated inventory and tool management system.

“The use of these mutually supportive technologies - as an integrated and versatile solution - coupled with the expertise of our technical team - has allowed IMS to be used as an integral part of several turnkey machining and manufacturing solutions we have already put in place, where the customers each had a problem that needed solving. It’s not just about customer relationships, but more about understanding manufacturing challenges and how technology, when combined, can achieve a better result. To reinforce this further, we launched a new interactive cutting data app for iOS mobile devices in July 2021. The app was designed to make tool cutting data calculations simpler and faster by using responsive 3D graphics.”

I'm interested to learn how much customer hand-holding is involved in M.A. Ford’s tools sales process. For example, overcoming a tool vibration problem that could be caused by range of different parameters.

“The ‘Spike’ system allows us to cover some of this by identifying and isolating the primary sources. But the modifications needed to address them are often not just a simple process of changing the speed and feed or using a different tool. Altering one parameter can have a detrimental effect on the system as a whole and just displace the issue elsewhere.

“To provide a more effective solution, particularly where tooling is being used on a new component or with a different machining regime, we regularly run in-house testing for customers. This allows us to replicate the customer’s machining conditions and then establish the best combination of parameters for optimising performance. This way, we can prove the application in advance of it being used in a production environment.”

The composite conundrum

It’s clear that specialised cutting tools are needed for composites as opposed to using traditional metalcutting tools, but what elements of composite drilling need to be considered and how do they differ to metallic drilling?

“Even between metals, tool designs are tailored to suit the characteristics of the material being machined,” he explains. “A high-performance end mill used to cut aluminium will be designed differently to one used to machine Inconel or super-alloys. The same principle applies with composites. Not only are they non-metallic, but the nature of the materials used to manufacture them, fibres and resins, typically means that they are particularly abrasive, which renders most standard tooling unsuitable due to the resulting very short tool life.   

“M.A. Ford’s tooling for composites is predominantly based on PCD technology, where a solid carbide substrate, incorporating flutes, has a PCD tip. This approach provides good tool life and surface finish while enabling the necessarily high speeds and feeds to be maintained.

“Our Series 239 diamond grind composites router uses specially designed rake angles and flute structures to reduce cutting forces, increase the routing rates and remove the risk of delamination or flaking. It’s also authorised under licence to Boeing US Patent 7,090,442, as M.A. Ford has an agreement that includes licence rights to use its patents and proprietary data.”

“For those used to machining metals, cutting composites is largely incomparable. Most machining is conducted dry, spindle speeds and feeds are considerably higher and the tooling is typically more expensive, due to the use of PCD tips. However, some of the difficulties associated with machining FRP and CFRP materials, such as delamination, cracking and heat are well known and are already being combated through good tool design. PCD tipped tooling is widely used due to its inherent resistance to abrasion and ability to a achieve a good finish, while compression cutters can help where the material is prone to delamination, tearing or fibre breakout.”

Right tool, right job

So, would empiric cutting data make it easier to assess the right tool for the job? Furthermore, if M.A. Ford manufactured cutting tools that lasted forever, would it soon go out of business?

“That's a nice idea to add to our wish list,” states Ward. “Our view is that it's our job to know how our tools can be used most effectively as the relationship between the material, application and machine tool is subject to a range of influences that can affect the performance and end results. Ultimately, it’s our customers that drive tooling development and application. Often, being able to machine a component to a higher standard, faster or more cost effectively than a competitor is what creates competitive advantage and stimulates innovation. Our role in many cases is purely to act as an expert enabler, or in some cases as a catalyst for innovation, by using our experience to help customers achieve their aims. If every company machined the same components with the same tooling at the same speed, all that would disappear.

“If we discovered everlasting tools, it’s likely that everyone would want one, so we’d have the market to ourselves. The other element to bear in mind is that there would need to be a range of different sizes, so it’s likely we’d sell more than one to each customer. Then there’s the question of pricing. If one tool would last forever, logically, it would need to be priced high to reflect this unique ability and offset potential future losses. The downside is that if it’s too expensive no-one would change from their existing traditional solutions. By pricing it low, this would remove all competitors from the market very quickly as the take up would be more rapid. But your own revenues would also be lower as the market becomes saturated with low-cost everlasting tools.”

Ward concludes by stating that financial strength and being responsive to market changes has helped M.A. Ford get through the pandemic. Employing good sales and technical people has allowed it to take greater control of the market by listening to customers and meeting their needs.

“The pandemic created a challenging set of circumstances for individuals as well as many businesses,” he ends. “It’s difficult to make generalisations about how businesses responded, but many will have just been concerned about how they could survive such a difficult situation. Others, will have taken the opportunity to re-evaluate their businesses and re-plan positively, while some just viewed it as an excuse to release staff and cut costs, irrespective of how good the individual was. Clearly, growth and development are the goals of all businesses, including ours. We have an excellent customer base and great working relationships, so our aim is to build more of these relationships by continuing to deliver excellent products and technical support.”

www.mafordeurope.com