Running to the Top: Italian THREADING TOOLS
“Where there is a screw, there must also be a thread. Taps are crucial for creating the thread and therefore for joining metal parts to exclude welding or gluing.”
This is what Graziano Doglietto, President of UFS Srl – and great enthusiast of American motorcycles – says.
“Our website, www.ufs.it, well shows our reality. The services available to our customers, before and after the sale, are numerous and various.
The R&D and the technical department answer to all of the questions useful to identify the best product, based on the processing needs. Customer Service is also a very important interface to processes the commercial inquiries.
It is an online B2B service, which can be used by customers through a simple login with their credential. It allows you find the right product for your job and gives you an overview of the tool warehouse and the possibility to order online very easily- taking advantage of a quick order placement.
After the purchase, our after-sales technical department helps the customer, if necessary, to show him the correct use of the threading tools. UFS is very proud to provide support to the customer also is in the production phase. “
UFS is an Italian company specialized in the design and construction of threading tools; in particular of standard taps and special custom taps.
Founded in 1947 by the Doglietto family, today UFS has about one hundred units, including employees, collaborators and agents: a family that has gradually and proudly expanded over time.
UFS designs, tests, builds, strengthens and internally covers all instruments in three different operating locations: in Site number 1, together with the offices, there is the production of standard instruments and tools.
A well-equipped research and development laboratory is located in Site 2. Here we work on the controls of the metallographic processes and coatings for the entire product development cycle; both for the aspects of technological advancement and for the maintenance of technical and design parameters. And then, Site 3 is dedicated to the creation of special products, which require different times and customized production processes, and for hardening and coating furnaces.
Over time, the company has reached a very high level in terms of product quality, above all thanks to the intense work carried out in the Research and Development plant, where increasingly specific tools for threading in specific fields of application have evolved.
Experimentation for technological innovation has not only had the task of analyzing and solving internal production problems, but also is addressed to emerging scientific issues, with national and international research plans, in synergy with some universities and polytechnics.
The result of this continuous evolution, aimed at identifying the best product for each specific use, could not fail to consider the economic aspects.
Ways and times of use of a threading tool are fundamental components, together with quality and technical characteristics, to identify the most suitable product.
For this reason UFS has included in its range of proposals 3 product lines, with increasing functional and duration performances, to offer the customer the possibility to choose the best economic administration of their production according to specific needs.
The hardening of the tools is assisted internally and is certified. The surface treatments, from vaporization to painting with chromium nitride, titanium nitride, titanium carbonitride, titanium and aluminum nitride, are calibrated and customized in relation to the performance required by the product.
The UFS technical office takes care of identifying the best reference suitable for specific needs on a daily basis.
Some examples, among the most important in the entire UFS production.
In High Strength, designed to work materials up to 52 HRC, they are produced in PM sintered super rapid steel with high percentages of vanadium and cobalt and available with surface treatments that have a high resistance to wear and oxidation.
For stainless steel, ideal for hard-to-machine and long-chipping steels. The basic steels are of the HSSV3 type, with 3% vanadium, or in PM sintered steel with a high content of vanadium and cobalt. The cutting geometries and the TXC treatment prevent the formation of built-up edge.
For light aluminum alloys, long-chipping copper alloys and soft magnetic iron (Fe) and aluminum alloys with silicon. Available with AZ alternating thread that avoids the formation of the chip skein with a reduced number of cuts and large unloading compartments.
In cast iron, the items are made of super-rapid steel sintered in metallurgy powders with a low cutting angle and combined with an accentuated rake angle that render these types of taps suitable for working abrasive materials.
They have an increased tolerance of type 6HX and a TiAlN coating, combined with micro surface finishing processes. Also with short intake for tapping with a reduced- dimension or 25° helical discharge chamber for applications on steel cast iron (steel castings).
For titanium, products come in steel sintered in metallurgy powders bearing special cutting geometries. They bear a 15° left helix for through holes and 15° right helix for blind holes. They are also available in 4HX tolerance and with TiCN treatment for processing the most demanding alloys.
For nickel, the pieces have a reinforced body structure. They have a 10° left helix for through-holes and 10° right helix with chip breaker for application on blind holes and also come with a 4HX tolerance and 25° helical taps with rear tapering.
For synchronised rigid tapping, in quality powder-sintered steels, the taps are rebored with h6 shank tolerance to ensure maximum precision at high cutting speed. They can also be used with thermal coil spindles.
Full-thread carbide has straight cuts for machining very abrasive materials. Available with a central hole for the passage of lubricant and with TiCN surface coating.
Thread mould taps in steel sintered in metallurgy powders.
The coatings are combined with special surface preparation processes to minimise friction between the tool and material being worked. Available with and without ducts, also with 6HX and 6GX tolerances and an internal lubricant type FOR central hole or with radial FORY- type outputs.
“Our future projects? Our philosophy is to grow, as clearly emerges from the claim of our company, in one of the most delicate mechanical processes.
Our sales are currently divided for 50% on the Italian market and 50% on the foreign one. Seriousness is fundamental to our work, and is the basis on which we have continued the business started over 70 years ago. We intend to intensify our presence on very competitive markets, such as the American one, where product quality is fundamental UFS is a bit like a tailor’s shop: the creativity, typical of Made in Italy, in designing and building creates taps that perfectly meet the customer’s needs. There are many variables that affect the performance and duration of the tools and, in order for the customer to be truly satisfied, it is necessary not only for them to be customizable from a technical point of view but also to evaluate in advance the real application specifications.”
