Kennametal Inc., a specialty metals manufacturing firm headquartered in Latrobe, Pa., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Allegheny Technology Inc.’s (ATI) Tungsten Materials Business for $605 million. ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business is a producer of tungsten metallurgical powders, as well as tooling technologies and components. The business has approximately 1,175 employees across 14 operating facilities globally and consists of two divisions: ATI Firth Sterling and ATI Stellram. The transaction has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors and is expected to close before the end of the calendar year, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. ATI is based in Pittsburgh.

“ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business brings vital strategic assets that are an excellent complement to Kennametal, especially given our common focus on operational excellence and industry-leading material science,” says Carolos Cardoso, Kennametal’s chairman, president and CEO. “The addition of the expanded material and tooling technologies of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business will enable us to offer more to our customers around the world.  We look forward to building on our respective strengths to accelerate growth while generating even greater value for our business and ultimately our shareholders.”

This acquisition is aligned with Kennametal’s growth strategy and positions the company to further diversify its portfolio. The company expects to capitalize on the material technology capabilities, engineered components and world-class tooling products of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business to expand its presence in the aerospace and energy markets. 

According to a Kennametal press release, the acquisition will advance the company’s core strategy of diversifying the company’s tungsten sourcing to balance supplies, costs and access to raw materials, including those produced from recycled products. The ability of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business to produce critical materials from recovered tooling and scrap will enhance Kennametal's material sourcing and development capabilities to support its growth initiatives.

The company also notes that the acquisition will accelerate its previously announced plans to expand capacity and develop an advanced tungsten carbide recycling facility in the United States to serve global markets. The company also estimates that this will reduce planned capital expenditures by $30 million to 35 million and expects to achieve economy of scale six to eight years earlier than prior projections.

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Vortex has been developed by the company specifically to gain the maximum benefit from solid carbide tooling, in particular those designs that can give deeper cuts by using the full flute length as the cutting surface.

It can be used for two- and three-axis roughing, three-plus-two-axis area clearance and for rest machining based on stock models or reference toolpaths.

Unlike other high-speed roughing techniques that aim to maintain a constant theoretical metal-removal rate, the Vortex system produces toolpaths with a controlled engagement angle for the complete operation. According to the company, this maintains the optimum cutting conditions for the entire toolpath that would normally be possible only for the straight-line moves.

Vortex roughing gives a constant pitch, which shows that the tool is operating under consistent conditions. Furthermore, it is claimed that users will be able to see the difference in the regular size and thickness of the chips produced, providing further evidence of the consistency of the cut.

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The money – available in Europe, Canada, the US, and South Africa – is a gift through the Gene Haas Foundation.

Haas Automation Europe has announced the availability of a $1 million (€745,000) scholarship fund for machining and manufacturing education created by Gene Haas, the company’s founder and CEO.

The company noted that the money was provided to continue the machine tool magnate’s mission of ensuring a continuous supply of highly qualified students for manufacturing-based jobs, especially in industries where precision machining is crucial.

The founder explained his motivation. “By reducing the financial burden for students, we expect them to better focus on high academic achievement. Our goal is to help increase the quality and retention of students in manufacturing training programs across Europe. This is especially important at a time when young people appear to be losing interest in manufacturing-based careers.”

Applications for the scholarships are available online and managed by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation. It said it expects to award up to 1,000 scholarships this year. Scholarships of €500 to €2,000 are available, depending on the cost of the program of study, Hass Automation explained.

Foundation CEO Bart Aslin said, “Applications are made by the school, to which funds are sent directly.” A scholarship committee will review applications as they are submitted to ensure the minimum eligibility requirements are met. All applicants meeting the requirements will be awarded a scholarship, as long as funding is available.

“As we work to dispel the myth that people with a Bachelor’s degree automatically make more money than those without, we recognize the importance of creating educational pathways that allow all students the chance to earn a good living,” Aslin added.

Schools can download the application form at smeef.org and e-mail it to haas@sme.org. The last day for applications is 1 November 2013, the company said.

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According to Iscar, the invention of Helimill in the 1990’s – said to be the first indexable sintered carbide insert with a helical cutting edge – elevated the company’s reputation as a producer of milling tools. The helical cutting edge, produced by the intersection of a helical relief surface and a rake face with a complex shape, ensures positive and constant rake angles along the whole edge.

This provided practical benefits, the company noted: smooth cutting action, advantageous chip formation, lower cutting forces and power consumption, better tool life and more. As a result, the helical cutting edge significantly increased productivity and improved tool performance. Almost every indexable milling tool, especially cutters intended for machining 90° shoulders, relies on the helical cutting edge as a basic design principle, it noted.

Two edges good, three edges better

Today, Helimill milling cutters feature a broad spectrum of insert geometries and sizes. Such a variety is said to ensure success of the original cutters in practically all shoulder milling operations. They machine all types of engineering materials and the accuracy of machined surface and its roughness have been good enough. But the company said it has improved the technology with the Heliqmill 390 line – a further development of inserts with helical cutting edges.

The classical insert and its derivatives have two cutting edges. The new line offers a triangular insert with three cutting edges. Interestingly, the length of the cutting edge of an insert with three edges is the same as for an insert with two, the company explained, noting that the new inserts are available with 10 and 15 mm cutting edge lengths.

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Iscar: introduced the Multi-Master family of rotating cutting tools with interchangeable solid-carbide heads in 2000. These tools now have a strong presence in the manufacturing industry and are widely accepted by metalworking specialists. To explain the line’s capabilities, Iscar has prepared an informative question-and-answer session.

The Multi-Master design features a solid-carbide head connected with the tool body (shank) via a specially shaped thread. The thread connection, being successfully produced directly on a solid-carbide part, changed preexisting views regarding such an approach and motivated other cutting-tool producers to create similar systems.

In Multi-Master, one shank can carry heads of various cutting shapes. This maximizes the family’s versatility and functionality, significantly decreases the need for specially tailored tools, and enables users to reduce tool inventory. A few combinations of Multi-Master heads and shanks produce a great variety of cutting tools that meet exacting performance requirements and ensure reductions in production and logistical costs. Unlike with regular solid tools, regrinding is unnecessary, and tungsten carbide consumption is lessened.

The following Q&A presents questions new Multi-Master users typically ask, with answers that make clear the technological advantages this tool family offers.

How is a head mounted into a shank? A head has two surfaces: a short taper and a rear noncutting face that determines the head location in a shank. The taper ensures high concentricity, and the face a face contact. The thread is intended for securing the head. Therefore the rear (tail) part of the head has two areas: tapered and threaded.

During mounting, the head is initially rotated by hand and then tightened by means of a key. The head has flats for applying a key.

What are the advantages of the face contact? First, the face contact considerably increases both the stiffness of an assembled tool and its ability to withstand impact loading. This factor allows for stable cutting, minimizes vibrations and reduces power consumption.

Second, the face contact ensures high repeatability of the head overhang with respect to the shank. As a result, no additional adjustment is necessary after a head is replaced. An operator can change the head without removing the shank from a machine tool spindle.

What is meant by the “initial gap”? When tightening a head, an operator first rotates the head by hand. The head stops rotating at some point, and a small gap remains between the contact faces of the head and the shank. This important “initial” gap measures several tenths of a millimetre, the exact value depending on the thread size. Further head tightening is possible only with the use of the key. Tightening of the head causes elastic deformation, in a radial direction, of the contact area of the shank section.

Why is behind the Multi-Master thread’s special profile? Multi-Master heads are produced from tungsten carbide, an extremely hard heat-resistant material that exhibits lowered impact strength against certain workpiece materials, as, for example, high-speed steel (HSS). One of the main problems to be solved in designing a threaded tungsten carbide part thus is to minimize stress concentrators.

Additionally, the Multi-Master thread connection is relatively small, with nominal thread diameters generally between 5 and 15 mm. These sizes, along with the need to meet strength requirements for operational loads, can limit the height of the thread profile.

Therefore, using the standard threads would be problematic. A special thread shape that will comply with specifications of the connection was clearly necessary, and that is why Iscar designed the special-profile thread, which is called the T-thread.

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The taper and end clamping faces of the head and the holder are both solid carbide while the threaded part is steel. Other tools with a carbide head and carbide clamping section are usually constructed with a part carbide section brazed to a steel shank, creating an inherent weakness at the joint versus a solid carbide shank, the company said. The exchangeable nature of the series offers chances to reduce inventory and changeovers.

The mills target titanium alloys and heat-resistant alloys such as Inconel, along with stainless steels, carbon and alloy steels and hardened steels. Each head type has irregular helix flutes for vibration control and the four-flute corner radius type can incorporate coolant through-holes. The series incorporates the EP7020 “Smart Miracle” coated carbide grade for improved wear resistance, the company said.

Heads are supplied in five different geometries:

Four-flute corner radius with through coolant – Ø10 - Ø25, with irregular helix for vibration control
Four-flute corner radius – Ø10 - Ø25, with irregular helix for vibration control
Six, 10 and 12 flute – Ø10 - Ø25 for finishing, with irregular helix for vibration control
Four-flute and six-flute ball nose – Ø10 - Ø25, both with irregular helix for vibration control

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Specialty metals maker Allegheny Technologies Inc. ( ATI ) has entered into an agreement to sell its tungsten materials business to Latrobe, PA-based wear-resistant products company Kennametal Inc. ( KMT ) for $605 million.

Both companies' Board of Directors has approved the transaction. The deal is subject to necessary regulatory approvals and is expected to complete by the fourth quarter of 2013. Until the completion of the transaction, Allegheny will report the financial results of tungsten materials business under its discontinued operations.

Allegheny decided to divest its tungsten materials business so that it can focus more on its core businesses - High Performance Metals and Flat-Rolled Products.. The acquisition is also expected to increase Allegheny's financial flexibility and simplify its capital allocation and deployment.

Allegheny's tungsten materials business operates through roughly 1,175 employees across 14 operating facilities globally and consists of two market-leading divisions - ATI Firth Sterling and ATI Stellram. It produces tungsten powder, tungsten heavy alloys, tungsten carbide materials and carbide cutting tools. The business unit generated $338.6 million of total net revenues and $37.2 million of operating profit for the year ended Dec 31, 2012.

Kennametal will pay for the acquisition partly by cash and partly by available borrowings under its existing revolving credit facility.


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Exploration and development firm Premier African Minerals plans to start low-cost production of tungsten mine at its flagship RHA project located along the Kamativi tin belt in Matabeleland North by the end of 2014.This follows a successful technical assessment of the viability of the site, envisaged to produce 192 000 tonnes of tungsten per annum over the six-year life of the mine.

Premier African Minerals has mineral projects located in Western and Southern Africa.Tungsten and its alloys are used to make filaments for electric lamps and television tubes, as electrical contacts, heating elements among other industrial applications.

Tungsten is a metallic chemical element classified among the transition metals of the periodic table of elements and is well known for its strength and durability.

Premier African Minerals said underground tungsten mine development would start once open-cast production had started.

"In line with this we are in discussions with potential funders for the project and possible off-take partners as one route to fast track RHA towards production in the near term with a target production of late 2014," it said.

"The company aims to commence open-pit production development in late 2014, with underground mining development to commence thereafter to fulfils the project's projected six-year life of mine."

Meanwhile, Premier chief executive Mr George Roach said the resource endowment at the project was enough to enable them to recoup their investment. Mr Roach said the latest assessment had further highlighted the attractiveness of the project.

"With a revised net present value of US$120 million (up from US$118 million previously estimated) and a significantly increased internal rate of return before tax of 378 percent now projected, coupled with the low-capex nature of the project with estimated costs of US$13,5 million, excellent infrastructure, low-strip ratio and a relatively simple processing route expected, we approach the next stages of development with confidence," he said.



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Kennametal Inc., a specialty metals manufacturing firm headquartered in Latrobe, Pa., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Allegheny Technology Inc.’s (ATI) Tungsten Materials Business for $605 million. ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business is a producer of tungsten metallurgical powders, as well as tooling technologies and components. The business has approximately 1,175 employees across 14 operating facilities globally and consists of two divisions: ATI Firth Sterling and ATI Stellram. The transaction has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors and is expected to close before the end of the calendar year, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions. ATI is based in Pittsburgh.

“ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business brings vital strategic assets that are an excellent complement to Kennametal, especially given our common focus on operational excellence and industry-leading material science,” says Carolos Cardoso, Kennametal’s chairman, president and CEO. “The addition of the expanded material and tooling technologies of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business will enable us to offer more to our customers around the world.  We look forward to building on our respective strengths to accelerate growth while generating even greater value for our business and ultimately our shareholders.”

This acquisition is aligned with Kennametal’s growth strategy and positions the company to further diversify its portfolio. The company expects to capitalize on the material technology capabilities, engineered components and world-class tooling products of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business to expand its presence in the aerospace and energy markets.  

According to a Kennametal press release, the acquisition will advance the company’s core strategy of diversifying the company’s tungsten sourcing to balance supplies, costs and access to raw materials, including those produced from recycled products. The ability of ATI’s Tungsten Materials Business to produce critical materials from recovered tooling and scrap will enhance Kennametal's material sourcing and development capabilities to support its growth initiatives.

The company also notes that the acquisition will accelerate its previously announced plans to expand capacity and develop an advanced tungsten carbide recycling facility in the United States to serve global markets. The company also estimates that this will reduce planned capital expenditures by $30 million to 35 million and expects to achieve economy of scale six to eight years earlier than prior projections.


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Hughes Pumps has recently supplied a custom designed, automatic high- pressure tank cleaning system to Sandvik Hard Materials for use at their Coventry Cemented Carbide production facility.

Rigorous control is necessary throughout the Cemented Carbide manufacturing process since the quality of the final product can be greatly affected by seemingly insignificant factors. During manufacture the carbide slurry is dried by spray drying to a powder form. Afterwards the spray dryer vessel must be thoroughly cleaned to remove any remaining deposits and prevent contamination between batches of different material grades. Initially production personnel carried out this function, being lowering into the vessel to use hand held cleaning lances, which proved to be both time consuming and potentially unsafe.

The Hughes turnkey system solution comprises a high pressure pumpset, high pressure stainless steel ring main, with an automatic three dimensional cleaning head that is raised and lowered into the vessel via a high pressure hose and pneumatic hose reel. The tank cleaning head rotates in two planes by the reaction of the water jets to bring about total cleaning coverage of the complete vessel in 30-60 minutes depending on the degree of deposits present.

The cleaning process, which is now totally automated, has proved to be very cost-effective. The complete surface of the vessel is cleaned during the cycle, which has eliminated the possibility of contamination between batches, greatly improving product quality.

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