ToolWolf Blog
Education on Bits, Blades, Inserts and more!
We hope everyone had a great holiday season and New Year. Here’s a list of our product line as we move into 2014:
– Carbide tipped metric boring bits: dowel, brad point, thru bore, v-tip, hinge bits and more – High speed corrugated steel: M2 grade moulder knives as seen here: https://www.toolwolf.com/product/product-category/corrugated-moulder-steel/ – Solid carbide router bits: up, down or compression (1+1, 2+2 and mortise tip) – Carbide tipped panel saw blades: Altendorf, Holzma, Holzher, Striebig, Giben, Schelling, Selco, Gabbiani and more – Carbide insert cutters: 2-sided and 4-sided carbide insert knives
We’d like to thank all of our customers who have purchased these wonderful industrial woodworking tools so far for a great 2013 and we hope to bring more people to ToolWolf in 2014!
A high-quality panel saw blade is made with a good blend of old-world craftsmanship and new-age technology. The folks at Schaffer Precision Tools in Germany know this all too well and this is why we carry their brand of panel saw blades exclusively.
Their blades have the following attributes:
– A special grade of carbide for cutting melamine board – Large European style tips – Pin-holes where required (for all major panel saw makes and models – Made with solid plates and have copper rivot expansion slots
In addition to their stellar cutting performance and long life, the blades are unique in that they are made by a relatively small, family-owned business in a rural German location. Care and attention is paid to every blade coming off of the production line. We have known the family for years and they always do what is right for their customers.
We hope that you will one day try the Schaffer panel saw blades on your machine and see what a difference quality can make. Check out our full selection here: https://www.toolwolf.com/product/product-category/panel-saw-blades/
Similar to many other types of solid carbide cutting tools for the woodworking industry, carbide insert knives are available in a wide array of carbide compositions depending on your specific application. But first, let’s define what we mean by a “carbide insert knife.” Generally speaking, a solid carbide insert is a replaceable cutting tool that can be attached to either a router bit, moulder head or other shaper cutter to provide a high-speed, application-specific cutting edge. These inserts come in a variety of shapes and material compositions.
Let’s first deal with shape. The most common cutting applications call for either a 2-sided or 4-sided (meaning 2 or 4 cutting edges), but there are also other options. Here’s a short list:
– Straight inserts: These inserts typically have either 2 or 4 straight cutting edges and will be either rectangular or square depending on their dimensions. Check out our inventory here of straight knives: https://www.toolwolf.com/product/product-category/carbide-insert-knives/
– Radius inserts: Used for creating a rounded edge in a woodworking application, these carbide inserts will have unique shape (depending on the cutting radius) and will either have a “tongue” or come in a set consisting of a “right and left-hand” knife.
– Face or back groove inserts: These knives are similar in shape and style to the straight inserts described above, except they will be held in place by a “groove” – either along the cutting “face” or “back” of the insert” – as opposed to a standard mounting hole like the typical knife.
Next, one has to decide which grade of carbide will be best for the particular industrial woodworking application. There are several options:
– Standard grade: Good for most man-made materials and common woodworking applications, inserts will be sold in this grade unless specified otherwise.
– 50SM: Used for hardwood applications.
– 01: Used for problematic man-made applications.
– LIT: Used for problem hardwood applications.
Tool Wolf has years of experience helping customers decide which insert style and grade is best for their woodworking needs. We stock a large inventory of solid carbide cutting tools to meet any need. Let us know if we can help outfit your operation!
We hope that everyone who attended the recent industrial woodworking trade show in Las Vegas (http://awfsfair.org/) had a great time. Gauging by the amount of parties we heard about, I think it’s safe to assume that everyone enjoyed themselves.
The team at Tool Wolf got to see some old friends, meet some new ones and get a look at some of the advances in cutting tools and machinery. The SCM Group (http://www.scmgroupna.com/us/sectors_wood) certainly had a good showing with a wide array of new, innovative CNC routers and saws that always had a large group of attendees watching their demonstrations. Tool Wolf’s product line is a great fit with their line of machinery and our tools have been outfitted on their machines in many facilities throughout the country.
Another hot topic in the world of solid carbide router bits was the subject of advanced coatings. We spoke with a number of OEMs and end users to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of buying solid carbide router bits with a special coating:
Advantages – Some said that they could get 7-10 times as many cuts with a coated bit – Overall tooling costs can be reduced and production rates can increase
Disadvantages – Once the bits are sharpened, the coating along the cutting edge is effectively gone – Coating materials are different from every provider and can lead to a lot of variability in performance – The up-front cost differential can be substantial
ToolWolf has partnered with a few different vendors to provide solid carbide router bits with a special coating. While they are not listed for sale on the website, please give us a call or send an email for more information. They are a great compliment to our standard line of solid carbide compression and directional bits. As always, thanks for visiting the ToolWolf blog!
If you work in the industrial woodworking community, I’m sure that you are packing your bags for Las Vegas. As a supplier of high-quality carbide cutting tools, we’ll certainly be there as well. A snippet from the AWFS Trade Show website describes the event as:
“Every two years, thousands of serious woodworking professionals gather at AWFS®Fair to keep their businesses productive, competitive and on the cutting edge. Gain unparalleled access to the entire home and commercial furnishings industry, including manufacturers and distributors of machinery, hardware, lumber, construction materials and other suppliers to the furniture, cabinet manufacturers and custom woodworkers.”
For those of us who have been there, and to the Atlanta show, numerous times, we know it’s a great opportunity to connect with old friends and meet some new ones. Anything you want to see, touch or experience will be there. While Tool Wolf won’t be exhibiting, we’ll be there checking out all the products and meeting with some of our strategic partners.
Specifically, we’ll be looking for what’s new in the machinery world so that we keep our carbide cutting tools product line up-to-date. Some of the main manufacturers we’ll be visiting: – Hafele – Grass America – Weinig – Holzher – Giben – SCM – Biesse – Tigra – Salice – Stiles Machinery
We hope to add some new products to our line of high-quality carbide cutting tools and high speed steel cutting tools. Check back after the show to see what we’ve found and for a possible post-Vegas sale!
Folks who have been grinding custom profile moulder knives have seen a number of different options hit the market in the last decade. What once seemed like a simple order, “give me ten bars of 5/16 x 2 x 25 steel” has gotten a little more confusing as advances in technology have brought a few different grades of steel to the market. Not only are there now different types of corrugated moulder steel, but there are also different coating options as well.
Here is a high-level summary of some common variations on the traditional M2-grade moulder knives, which can be found on our site at https://www.toolwolf.com/product/product-category/corrugated-moulder-steel/:
– D2-grade steel:Typically consisting of carbon and chrome, it is good for shorter production runs, is easy to grind and is usually the cheapest option available because of its make-up and softness compared with other grades.
– V2-grade steel: This is a new twist on the D2 grade that has a different chemical component (Vanadium) and claims to offer the same run life as M2 at a cheaper cost.
– M2-grade steel: The go-to bar steel for a long time, it has a solid useful life and is good for long production runs in both hard and softwoods.
– T1-grade steel: Lasts longer than M2 due to higher levels of Tungsten. It’s good for extra long runs and demonstrates solid performance when used on man-made materials.
– V3-grade steel: The hardest of all the aforementioned options, it lasts much longer due to its chemical composition and is great for long hardwood runs or problem woods. It’s tougher to grind, but can offer higher performance (and a higher price).
90% of ToolWolf’s customers go with the tried and true M2-grade steel, but we’ve got a few who like to experiment or have unique applications that call for something different.
ToolWolf stocks a full line of M2-grade steel from Europe that provides excellent life at a very low total cost. Check out our website today to view the full line of corrugated back moulder steel.
We’re all familiar with the traditional hinge, brad point and thru-bore style boring bits. They exist on every line boring and CNC machine in the woodworking industry. But there are a lot of specialty boring bits as well that serve a variety of applications, some highly specialized and some more general in nature.
Let’s start with the countersink application. To create a countersink, you’ll need one of the following: – A “shank” or “twist” style attachment that fits over a traditional boring bit – A customized one-piece, two-step bit that has either a thru bore or brad point main point and a countersink second step – A one-piece specialty bit, similar to what would be used for the Confirmat or RTA system
Another possibility occurs when you need to create a flat-bottomed secondary hole. This would entail the use of a counter-bore application. The options are less numerous in this situation, but a customized one-piece, two-step bit with a brad point or thru bore main point and counter-bore second step is available. If you don’t go this route, you’ll usually have to make a first pass with a traditional bit and then a second pass with a hinge bit.
There are other types of specialty multi-step bits as well. Those used for the Grass America or Hafele systems are quite common and it’s easiest to just buy them already made from a company like Tool Wolf who keeps them in stock.
No matter what the specialty boring application, Tool Wolf has seen it before and typically stocks, or can custom manufacture, these special boring bits. Check out our catalog here.
Thanks for checking out Tool Wolf!
Tungsten carbide tipped metric boring bits have been used in the woodworking industry for a long time. They’re highly effective in line boring or CNC machines for drilling all the way through certain types of materials, or creating flat bottomed holes. However, in our constant search to bring our customers innovative products, Tool Wolf has discovered that a solid carbide version of these bits can work better in certain instances.
Before we discuss the best application of these tools, let’s give a brief description. In contrast to standard TCT bits, the entire cutting length is made of solid carbide. See a picture here (note that we’re discussing bits with a 10mm shank and not the jobber style bits): https://www.toolwolf.com/product/product-category/solid-carbide-boring-bit/. Also, the spiral of the bit has a different profile than that of a standard boring bit which can work better to clear material in certain applications.
There are primarily two different reasons why our customers choose the solid carbide boring bits over their TCT counterparts:
– For a cleaner cut in man-made materials with a delicate paper coating on the top or bottom – For overall longer life in boring applications so that bits aren’t being changed out as frequently
As already mentioned, the different spiral design of these tools makes these bits a little different. It also allows for cleaner entry and exit in materials that have a paper (or other delicate) coating so that there is no tearing or flaking around the holes.
The other feature of these bits is that they last between 7 and 10 times longer than traditional TCT bits. Because their entire cutting length is carbide, they can be sharpened more times and go longer between sharpenings.
So our recommendation? Give them a try! If you’re skeptical, order a few the next time you replace your set of bits and compare them with your standard TCT versions. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
The application for boring bits often seems straight forward: we’re either going to drill all the way through the material or we’re going to create a flat bottomed hole in our product for dowels. But when it comes to creating a large hole in a material, the choice of which drill to use becomes less obvious. A few things to consider:
Most people don’t realize how many different variables there are to consider when purchasing a panel saw blade. Even seasoned veterans can miss a critical, but easy to overlook detail when buying new blades for their machine or woodworking application.
