VIDEO: TOOLING UP – Perfecting Multi-Material End Milling

Narrator: This video is brought to you by Sandvik. Shaping the Future Together. If you're looking for real world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hello and thank you for joining us on Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary, and I'm so glad that you're here with us on the MSC Channel. If you're new here, make sure to click that subscribe button so you don't miss any upcoming episodes. I'm so excited for our conversation today with Corey Schwenke. Corey is the product manager of Solid Round Tools at Sandvik Coromant.

Corey, thank you so much for joining us today.

COREY SCHWENKE: Thanks for having me, Toni.

TONI NEARY: Awesome. Well, one of the things that I always love to ask, and your background is a little different than most. I think you might be the first horticulture major that we've had on the show. So tell me a little bit about the journey from a horticulture major in college into being a product manager with Sandvik Coromant.

COREY SCHWENKE: Yeah, it has been a bit of a journey. So I majored in horticulture at the University of Tennessee and after a few years and in the green industry I decided that might not necessarily be for me. The red, red hair and the fair skin doesn't fare too well in the sun. But no, I went back to school for 3D modeling and CAD design and got in originally with the company Precor, and then as Coromant purchased them and acquired them, I switched sides into the Sandvik Coromant world.

TONI NEARY: I love that. And trust me, I get the fair hair and light skin does not fare well in the outside warm weather and elements. But it sounds like you like exploring new things, problem solving and kind of pivoting to help customer solutions. Do you just love challenges?

COREY SCHWENKE: I like to say yes to opportunities, so I have had a lot of opportunities, starting with Precor. I was a lead tool designer for about a year and a half, jumped into manufacturing, second shift supervisor for a year and a half with R&D for about two years and then did 3D modeling and design for the background of our Tailor Made system here at Coromant.

TONI NEARY: Well, Corey, based on your background, it's no wonder that you're such a great fit within the solid round tool market. And I know that you've had all of these different various roles and you've worn a bunch of different hats, and this seems like such a full solution product line. Because you're a team lead, you've got the most knowledge and expertise in this market.

Can you tell us a little bit about the CoroMill® Dura line and how that came to be a part of this offering?

COREY SCHWENKE: Yeah, CoroMill Dura was actually part of a company called DuraMill up in upstate New York. So Sandvik Coromant actually acquired them, I believe, back in 2018 or 2019, and we really felt like we needed a great inch size assortment when it came to multi-material end milling. That was something we had lacked here, especially in the US. So our DuraMill inch offer is actually a regional offer here specifically in the US at the moment. And it was really bought to go to market at a great market position with great performance and to fulfill that inch size offer that we really needed here.

TONI NEARY: Well, and providing the marketplace with exactly what they need is, is the reason that this came about. So tell us a little bit more about how this product works, the versatility from start to finish, from roughing to a finished product for customers.

COREY SCHWENKE: So when I say we have a complete offer for multi-material end milling, we really do with this CoroMill Dura. So we have anything from three flutes up to seven flutes. So anything roughing three, four, five flutes up to six and seven flutes for finishing getting really nice surface finish. So we actually have a three flute offer specifically for aluminum as well.

Our six flutes are designed to be really good in titanium and HRSA materials, so when it's a complete offer, it's a complete offer.

TONI NEARY: All right. So let's talk a little bit about some secret sauce. And I feel weird saying this out loud, like I should be whispering it, but Whisperkut Technology which is going to effectively break up harmful harmonics making stable milling easier than ever. Tell us a little bit about this technology.

COREY SCHWENKE: Yeah, so, CoroMill Dura does come with Whisperkut™ Technology. So what that is, it plays into the geometry, right? So each tooth or each flute is going to have a different helix angle as well as unequal indexing of the flutes. So if you look at the end of the tool, you're not going to have 90 degrees between each one of the flutes.

It's going to be unequally indexed and it's really going to help with stability, cut down on harmful harmonics. It's going to create better surface finish and it's going to create longer tool life for your tools.

TONI NEARY: All right Corey. So one of the things that we love to do on Tooling Up is actually talk about application of the product. So can you tell us a little bit, maybe like a success story of one of your shops that's gone ahead and moved forward with this CoroMill Dura line?

COREY SCHWENKE: Yeah, so we've had some really good successes with CoroMill Dura over the past few years. We've actually had several customers within the Midwest that have actually gone in and replaced the incumbent end mill across all of their machines in their shop with CoroMill Dura. So having that type of success just kind of shows the versatility and the performance of this offer.

TONI NEARY: Absolutely. And I think it's important to note if there's an organization that wants to look at making this change, you have a team of experts at Sandvik correct?

COREY SCHWENKE: Sure. And that's what really sets Sandvik Coromant apart in my belief. We have people in the field that are there. They're technical people. They know applications, they know how to run our tools and they're going to be your biggest benefit when switching to Sandvik Coromant.

TONI NEARY: All right, Corey, so you talked about increasing productivity, which I think everybody is looking to do. Talk a little bit about new technology and how you optimize that at Sandvik Coromant.

COREY SCHWENKE: Yeah. So we're all about innovation here, right? So putting more and more resources into R&D, developing new tools. We actually have new tool releases twice a year. So when it comes to productivity and always improving, that's one of our main goals here. So we have the Dura, the CoroMill Dura offer. We also have CoroMill Plura when it comes to end milling.

So, if you're looking for that optimization, if you have long runs of the same part or of the same material, CoroMill Plura is going to be your best bet for optimization. If you're running short batches of different materials or different parts, things of that nature, CoroMill Dura is going to be the way to go. It's going to have that versatility to perform in any type of application while giving close to optimized results.

TONI NEARY: And I think this just speaks to the Sandvik and the MSC relationship and this partnership that you've got an amazing team that can help you find the right solution for your shop.

COREY SCHWENKE: Yeah, for sure.

TONI NEARY: Corey, thank you so much for joining us today. This has been awesome. I've learned a ton and I hope you've had some fun with us too.

COREY SCHWENKE: I had a great time. Thanks for having me, Toni.

TONI NEARY: I'm so glad that we had the chance to meet with Corey today from a horticulture major in college to a design engineer and now a key player in Sandvik Coromant’s solid round tools. If you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did, please make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any upcoming episodes. You can also find out more about Sandvik Coromant and their innovative products, including the CoroMill Dura lines at www.mscdirect.com/sandvik. Thanks and we'll see you next time on Tooling Up.

Narrator: Want more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the MSC Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level and subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.