UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 3, 2016. Their own carbide mills are now being tested at Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant in Nizhniy Tagil. The mills were developed by the corporation’s own designers and made by employees from the Tool-Making Department. This is all part of the company’s import substitution program, the company press service reports.

‘This is a project we are working on in cooperation with our long-standing partner Kirovgrad Carbide Plant. Four batches of ten mills each, with the diameters of 10, 16, 18, and 20 mm have been made so far. These mills will be used for high-precision treatment of parts with the help of numerically controlled machines at the railcar and mechanical assembly departments,’ the press service says.

The mills were ground from carbide alloys, which was a less labor-intensive and more precise process than the previously necessary milling, filing, and sharpening.

The new mills get tested at three of the head plant’s departments. The operators check how long it takes before the thing needs re-sharpening, how many parts can be made over a given period, and how good the surface quality of the product is.