SpeedCore hob cutters: Up to 50% higher cutting speeds

The current market situation is putting pressure on companies that rely on carbide tools: rising raw material costs, volatile supply chains and limited predictability are weighing on the industry. FETTE Werkzeugtechnik, a member of the LMT Tools family and a specialist in gear cutting tools, says it offers a high-performance and cost-effective alternative with its SpeedCore cutter. The gear hob cutter is made of a specially developed high-speed steel, enabling up to 50% higher cutting speeds compared with conventional PM-HSS tools, while maintaining high process reliability.

Carbide tools offer high performance but are heavily dependent on critical raw materials such as tungsten and cobalt. For users, this means that tool costs and availability are currently difficult to estimate due to the tight raw material and supply situation. This uncertainty can become an economic risk, particularly in series production. That’s why the focus is shifting to cutting material concepts that combine high productivity with greater cost and supply stability. One solution is the SpeedCore from FETTE Werkzeugtechnik.

The hob is made of a specially developed high-performance high-speed steel, bridging the gap between conventional PM-HSS (powder metallurgical high-speed steel) and carbide. Its unique properties result from precisely controlled intermetallic phases that enhance the cutting material’s heat resistance and thermal stability. As a result, SpeedCore withstands higher thermal loads and enables higher cutting speeds than conventional PM-HSS tools. At the same time, the cutting material offers the necessary toughness for reliable, process-safe use. Users can significantly increase productivity on existing equipment while simultaneously reducing unit costs without having to invest in new machines.

In addition to the material, process expertise also determines whether the SpeedCore fully realises its technical and economic potential. FETTE Werkzeugtechnik views machining as an integrated system comprising the tool, workpiece, machine, and machining strategy. The process parameters are individually tailored to the material, component geometry, machine kinematics and stability, as well as the thermal and mechanical boundary conditions.

“Unlike generic parameter recommendations, LMT Tools designs solutions that are material- and application-specific. The goal is to utilise the most economical process window in each case without compromising process reliability,” emphasises Raphael Lienau, Managing Director of FETTE Werkzeugtechnik GmbH & Co KG.

In an application for manufacturing a module 9 gear for a planetary gearbox in mining machinery, a SpeedCore milling cutter with a Nanosphere 2.0 coating was pitted against a TiN-coated tool made of EMo5Co5, a cobalt-alloyed high-speed steel (HSS-E). The result: machining time dropped from 50.9 to 26.2 minutes. This outcome corresponds to a reduction of approximately 50%. As such, SpeedCore is entering performance ranges that were previously reserved for multi-piece tools with carbide inserts. The single-piece design offers additional advantages in terms of accuracy, tool costs and effective teeth count.

SpeedCore is an alternative for applications where carbide is not always the optimal solution due to cost, availability or process considerations. At the same time, this gear hob cutter demonstrates how innovations in materials science and in-depth process expertise can help address current challenges such as cost pressures, dependence on raw materials and limited predictability in gear manufacturing.

“The key strength lies not only in the material itself, but in the ability to specifically adapt it to application-specific processes. It’s only through this integration that real added value is created for the user,” concludes Raphael.