New benchmark Titanium Machining: Tool Life Increase From 240 to 360 Minutes

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Machining titanium has its challenges, even for experienced manufacturing companies. 

Leuka GmbH, an established system supplier for the aerospace and defence industry, aimed to take its titanium machining to a new level—and, together with the machining specialists from Ceratizit, found a solution that not only exceeded expectations but also redefined the existing benchmark. The result was a high-performance milling cutter for trochoidal titanium machining.

"We have developed over our 40-year company history from a small workshop into a certified system supplier," explains Berthold Zinth, managing partner of Leuka GmbH. Today, with around 140 employees, the company supplies customers across Europe in the aerospace, defence, and semiconductor machinery sectors. The demands in these industries are extremely high: "Our customers expect consistently top quality and maximum availability—while maintaining stable and reliable conditions."

Titanium machining is long-standing routine business for Leuka

While titanium machining has long become routine for Leuka, new challenges continue to arise. This is especially true as the order volume has increased significantly in recent years, greatly multiplying machining hours. "To keep up in terms of efficiency, we had to further stabilise our automated processes and significantly extend tool life at the same time," says Berthold Zinth.

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Safety-critical titanium components

Thus, a solution was required for manufacturing safety-critical titanium components for aircraft that could meet the high demands. Leuka brought its extensive manufacturing expertise directly into the development process. Through close collaboration between Leuka, product management and sales, and Ceratizit's R&D team, a new solid carbide milling cutter was developed—specifically designed for trochoidal machining of titanium and other ISO-S materials. The result: a high-performance tool that not only meets the requirements but significantly exceeds them.

Cutter with variable helix angle and unequal pitch

To match and even surpass the performance of already established tools, a high degree of experience, material expertise, and tooling competence is required. Here, Leuka was able to fully rely on the expertise and necessary refinements of Ceratizit: The milling cutter was equipped with a variable helix angle, enabling higher cutting speeds and improved surface finishes. Unevenly divided cutting edges reduce vibrations and extend tool life.

Polished flutes, special coating

Polished chip spaces ensure optimised chip removal and reduced heat generation. A specially developed DPX22S-Dragonskin coating provides the tool with high thermal stability and extreme wear resistance due to its unique layer structure. The CTS24Z carbide substrate ensures maximum toughness—ideal for machining challenging materials.

"Furthermore, we optimised the tool on the face side, polished the chip flutes, and adjusted the chamfers," explains Baris Dogan, Technical Sales Engineer at Ceratizit. "Even during the design phase, we considered good regrindability—one of the requirements Leuka set for us and the milling cutter. To ensure consistent quality, the regrinding is performed on the same machine as the new cutter."

Impressive results in practice

The numbers speak for themselves: Instead of the required 240 minutes of runtime, the new cutter achieves 360 minutes with absolute process reliability. This represents a 50 percent increase in tool life compared to the previous benchmark. "Especially with high machining volumes, which are common in aerospace, this is a tremendous advancement," emphasises Michael Mangold (Production Manager at Leuka).

The trochoidal machining strategy also played a crucial role. It reduces vibrations, extends tool life, and ensures consistently high quality. For components requiring 100 percent reproducibility, it is an absolute must.

Successful optimisation through joint development

The success is no coincidence but the result of close collaboration. Customers often approach Leuka when they face new challenges with issues that cannot be quickly solved in the market. This requires being flexible and responding quickly.

"Even we need reliable partners who possess this quality," says Berthold Zinth. "In such cases, we often call Ceratizit's technical sales team. They are with us in no time and help us find the right solution to quickly bring the part into series production."

Overall equipment effectiveness: crucial factor for success

"Increasing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is a crucial factor for the company's success," explains Michael Mangold. "Downtime directly impacts our productivity—that's why we integrated the 'Tool-O-Mat' from Ceratizit, a system that ensures continuous tool availability. Through automatic refilling and minimum inventory monitoring, we prevent shortages and maintain stable processes."

Another step towards optimal supply: The cutter has been available in stock since September 2025 under the name "MonsterMill ISO-S" in the Ceratizit standard portfolio—a clear sign of its success and assurance of the tool's quick availability.

The introduction of the new solid carbide cutter at Leuka impressively demonstrates how well-thought-out tool development and collaborative partnerships can lead to genuine competitive advantages.

(böh)