Derek Korn Visits Paul Horn GmbH for Technology Days 2025

Given that “Korn” is my surname, some make the assumption that I’m of German heritage. (It’s true. My father is 100% German; I’m 50%.)

So, it always feels right to travel to Germany as I did in May as a guest of Horn USA to attend the ninth edition of Paul Horn Technology Days at the cutting tool manufacturer’s headquarters in Tübingen.

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Last May, 3,300 visitors from 33 countries attended Horn Technology Days at the company’s headquarters in Tübingen, Germany, many being owners and managers of machine shops around the world. Source (all photos): PM

But beyond that, it makes even more sense for me to visit this event (a mini trade show in and of itself) because much of the company’s cutting tool technology is very much in Production Machining’s wheelhouse.

In fact, this was my second time attending Technology Days, the first being two years ago as I reported about here. This year, 3,300 visitors from 33 countries attended, many being owners and managers of machine shops. I again felt honored to be the sole U.S. manufacturing editor to be invited on the trip.

So, what did my visit look like? Much of my first day there was spent taking in various technology presentations from representatives from Horn USA and the UK’s Horn Cutting Tools Ltd. Examples of those presentations included:

Live cutting demonstrations are a hallmark of Horn Technology Days events. 

-Turn-milling. A CNC lathe having a B-axis milling spindle combined with the proper tooling can result in improved machining efficiencies. Using a spinning milling cutter rather than a static tool is often used to machine eccentric forms which might be challenging (or impossible) to create with a typical turning operation using a static tool. Turn-milling operations are often performed at a low working speed, so it can be helpful for large parts even though this might extend processing time. It is said to be a very repeatable process and can eliminate the creation of long, stringy chips that can wrap around a tool and/or workpiece which could reduce tool life and possibly mar the part.

A variety of turn-milling operations were performed on this intricate part during live cutting demonstrations at the event.

This presentation was followed by a live demonstration on the company’s production floor performed on a Mazak i-100H S Integrex. Which is a nice part of this program because many other presentations were complemented by subsequent live cutting demonstrations.

-Internal machining. Perhaps the newest advancement in terms of internal machining is the sintered chip-breaking geometry for the Supermini type 105 which was recently introduced to the North American market. The Supermini tool system can be adapted for various machining operations including boring, profile turning, internal grooving, threading, chamfering, face grooving, drilling and slot broaching. The solid carbide inserts are used for boring from a diameter of 0.2 mm to approximately 10 mm.

Attendees could take in multiple presentations about new cutting tool technology and machining processes such as this one about turn-milling presented by Horn USA’s Todd Schneider.

The tool is designed with chip control in mind to offer high process reliability. The geometry extends far into the corner radius of the insert, which can enable chip control even with small in-feed settings. The geometry can be used universally for different material groups and is suitable for internal, face, copy and back turning.

In addition to the new geometry, the company has optimized the carbide blanks of the inserts as a teardrop shape, aiming for greater rigidity and a stabler cutting edge area. This can enable large, precise contact surfaces in the tool holder, which can result in greater rigidity of the overall system. Furthermore, the teardrop shape prevents the insert from twisting, which can lead to consistently precise positioning of the center height of the tool. With long tool overhangs, it is able to reduce deflection and minimize vibration during turning. Depending on the application and the diameter to be machined, Horn offers the inserts in three different sizes (types 105, 109 and 110) and different blank types. All types enable internal coolant supply directly to the cutting zone. The Horn tool portfolio contains around 2,500 different standard variants of the Supermini and additional customized solutions.

The Horn Tool Configurator concept, available to the North American market, enables custom carbide inserts to be designed and manufactured in a couple of days.

-Horn Tool Configurator. Many Paul Horn customers in Europe know about the company’s Greenline program. Established in 2008, Greenline has enabled custom carbide inserts to be designed, manufactured and delivered to customers in Europe in five days — four days for design/manufacturing of up to 50 inserts and one day for shipping (shipping time might be longer for customers outside of Europe). This has been done in large part by prioritizing those orders to expedite production and delivery.

However, the company has been working to speed this process with the goal of reducing turnaround time by half with HTC, which is also available to the North American market through Horn USA. The presentations about HTC at the event enabled attendees to provide basic information about the style and features of a carbide insert, and subsequently go to the machine chosen to grind it to see it being produced very soon afterward.

The idea was to devise a system digitally connecting the company’s sales, design and production teams resulting in an automated insert manufacturing process that can create custom inserts for customers in two days. Using a central software platform, HTC applies data collected by the sales team from a customer’s machining application to then automatically design the insert and communicate all data required to grind them — including grinding machine program and inspection information — then release the job to the production floor. This could be a big advantage for shops needing to receive custom tooling faster than they’ve been able to in the past to, in turn, deliver parts faster to their customers.

This Italian pasta machine was one of 60 examples on display at the event of equipment and parts machined using Horn tooling.

Day two included a press conference hosted by Managing Directors Markus Horn and Matthias Rommel followed by an official tour of the company’s two plants. Day three I considered to be me “roaming around” day.

Any questions attendees had about the journey from tungsten ore to finished carbide insert blanks could be answered at this exhibit area set aside for Horn Hartstoffe GmbH.

This was was nice because the event included 50 exhibiting partner companies, 60 examples of parts and products created using Horn tooling, a special exhibit from Horn Hartstoffe GmbH which described the full journey from powder to finished carbide insert blank and the company’s apprenticeship area (shown below).

Paul Horn has 70 apprenticeships on average with 20 new apprentices start their training each year. Its 1,200 m² training area is equipped with latest CNC machines for apprenticeships in mechanical engineering or as a machine tool operator, mechatronics technician, production engineer and technical product designer.

Ultimately, if you’re ever invited to attend an event like this from a cutting tool company, machine tool builder, etc., do it. It’s such a great way to get to know the company, its technology and its culture in a more intimate way.