Exotic Metals and How They Relate to Machining

Exotic metals are those rare metals earth gives up for special purposes. Titanium, beryllium, vanadium, chromium, molybdenum and tungsten fall into this category. Inconel and hastelloy are classified as super alloys.

These metals are typically used for the space industry and aeronautics. They are very heat resistant and hard, making them unique for machining and tooling. Machine processes performed on these metals can include grinding, drilling, cutting, forming, shaping, milling, tuning, honing, lapping and polishing. Since these metals are so hard, it requires a material harder than the exotics to accomplish the desired process. There are only a few that qualify. These include high speed steel, tungsten carbide, ceramics, Borazon, and diamond. There are numerous companies that can perform these operations. There are too many to list. However, the ThomasNet.com directory can guide you to the right source. There are also minority owned and women owned companies if that is a preference.

There are several types of machines that will perform these operations. The most advanced machine is the HurcoVM10U VMC. The benefit of this unique machine is what is known as five-axis. It reduces the amount of operations and set-ups. Doing something in three steps versus nine steps reduces the cumulative tolerance errors. Because there is less need to set up, clamp and handle parts, there is less damage. Scrap rates improve dramatically. Another benefit is the reduction of burrs that occur from machining. This all reduces labor costs as well. This machine makes working with exotics so much easier, faster and at a higher tolerance.