Basically speaking, LMT's developers need to combine three design factors for every cutter: the type of carbide or high-speed steel, the tool geometry and the coating. In each case, the result must be cutting tools whose dimensional accuracy, reliability, process reliability, productivity and surface quality are optimized. Coating provides an example of the speed at which tool research is proceeding: whereas just about ten coating systems were on the market at the end of the 1990s, this number has well and truly exploded. Users nowadays can choose between more than 70 different coating systems – and the number continues to rise. The trend is unmistakably moving towards coatings that are specifically matched to each application.
