Cut costs and boost productivity with new thread forming tap

Cutting tool and tooling system specialist Sandvik Coromant has launched a new thread forming tap optimised for ISO P steel machining which is designed to boost productivity, particularly in the automotive industry. The CoroTap ® 400 achieves this by offering chip-free tapping as well as faster machining times and stronger threads through reduced torque and an optimised geometry.

The automotive industry has extremely high requirements when it comes to safeguarding quality and it has implemented robust and rigorous processes for this reason. The new tap has been created to meet those exacting demands by ensuring superior thread quality, improved process security and longer tool life, resulting in a combination of greater efficiency and reduced costs – in comparison tests, the CoroTap 400 delivered a significantly more secure and stable tap than its competitors while achieving cutting speeds up to 50 per cent faster.

Among the main features of the new tap is an optimised lobe profile designed specifically for ISO P applications. By increasing the number of lobes on the tap and giving it a shorter thread length, Sandvik Coromant has reduced torque at the machine tool spindle which facilitates increased cutting speeds and, in turn, improves productivity. As a result, the CoroTap 400 offers the customer such key benefits as greater process security, fewer machine stoppages, reduced cost per hole and improved tool life for better process planning.

Made with a new grade of substrate and coating, the new thread forming tap gives machine tool operators peace of mind through its high-level reliability and its adaptability for use with lower torque spindle machines. For senior managers in the automotive industry, the tap satisfies their green light machining demands while extremely high levels of repeatability and predictability afford them extra confidence in relation to maintaining the highest possible production standards.

Offering a more consistent and reliable threading process, the CoroTap 400 has been designed with a geometry that can reduce the force required for machining a steel component by up to 30 per cent. At the same time, the tap’s working life can be up to twice as long as similar thread forming tools.

Designed to be used on steels up to 330 HB in conjunction with such drills as Sandvik Coromant’s CoroDrill 860, the new tap is ideal for machining such automotive components as connecting rods, wheel hubs, crank shafts, axles, gears and transmissions. Not restricted to the automotive industry, however, the CoroTap 400 is also perfectly suited to rail or general engineering applications, where it can improve productivity and cut costs when forming threads in rail wheels, flanges, rivets, housings, boom cylinders, tubes and a wide range of other components.