Cutting tools.

Circular Saw Blades

Guhdo offers its line of diamond-tipped Preziss saw blades. They are available for panel saws, sliding table, gang ripsaws and more. Depending on the application, the blades are designed with different tip sizes, diamond grades and body designs to provide optimum performance, Guhdo says.

The carbide-tipped Duraline HI-A/T circular saw blade from Forrest Mfg. Co. has been designed for low-pressure laminates and ply veneers. The company says the blades eliminate ragged, chipped-out bottom edges without the necessity of a scoring blade.

The low-noise T.C.T. circular saw blade from Leitz Tooling Systems features reported noise reduction of up to 50%, longer performance from the reduced vibration, improved quality of cut and sharpening that can be carried out on all well-known sharpeners, Leitz says.

The group of XLA4000 saw blades from FS Tool Corp. has been engineered for cutting solid surfaces such as DuPont's Corian, Avonite, Fountainhead and Formica's Surell. Sizes range from 8 in. to 18 in., and the blades have corrosion-resistant tips.

Double-miter saw blades from SystiMatic are used on production-style, double-miter machines in wood and nonferrous applications. The blades can be used for picture frames, windows and doors, or anywhere production-type miter machines are used. They can also be used on cross cuts and miter cuts on particleboard, solid wood, laminates or other materials.

Super Thin Saws Inc. has developed thin-kerf splitting saw blades for double-armor laminated flooring machinery. According to the company, the FL series can enhance yield without sacrificing sawing accuracy or cut quality. The blades are manufactured with high-quality materials holding tolerances required for double-arbor sawing.

Leuco Tool Corp. has extended its line of Proline saw blades to fit European and U.S. standard sizes. According to Leuco, the Proline series carbide-tipped saw blades do not require rework or adapter brushings, give longer edge life than conventional blades and reduce noise levels.

Cutterheads

Primark Tool Group's line of standard insert cutters utilizes a standard cutter body and precision-ground inserts designed to produce a wide variety of common patterns for stile and rail, door lip, tongue and groove, and raised panel applications on manual and automatic shaper machines.

Wisconsin Knife Works has introduced the latest version of its BAK PAK corrugated knife system. The new version features full corrugations and micrograin carbide for the ultimate performance when moulding MDF and other hard-to-cut materials, the company says. A catalog available from the company features drawings and specifications for the knife system.

The Great-Loc insert tooling systems from Great Lakes Carbide Tool Mfg. Inc. feature a gibless design and makes use of the Great-Loc safety groove for securing the insert. CNC-ground inserts are available in carbide or tantung for the same tool. The company says the gibless design allows for insert changes in seconds while the tool is mounted on the machine.

Amana Tools offers the Profile Pro line of insert shaper tooling. Cutterheads are available in lightweight aluminum or solid steel and feature more than 135 steel knife patterns using a single head. In addition, there are aluminum heads for special applications such as panel raising, stile and rail, and joinery that utilizes replaceable carbide knives.

Drilling & Router Bits

Freud says its 2 Plus 2 raised panel bits produce raised panels that are smooth, even on the cross grain, and never leave fine splinters at the top of the profile edge. Two large wings do the main cutting of the profile and have a positive sheer angle, and two smaller wings with a negative sheer angle cut the top part of the profile.

Bosch Power Tools has added 16 new bits to its line, which totals more than 360 different router bits and cutters. The new bits are carbide-tipped, which Bosch says last up to 10 times longer than its high-speed steel bits. They are designed for cutting through materials such as solid woods, glued boards and hard plastics.

Saber Diamond Tools introduces a serviceable helical diamond router bit that it says offers freer cutting, high compression and up-sheer, down-sheer plunge cutting. The company says the bits deliver faster feed speeds and provide a better finish cut.

Gladu Tools' staggered-tooth PCD router bits can be used to profile and edge composite materials such as particleboard and incorporate shear angles for high edge quality. The bits can be used with single- or multi-head and turret CNC machining centers, and are available in straight and profiled configurations.

A new family of solid carbide O flute tools for plastic materials is now available from Onsrud Cutter. The company offers O flute spirals in stock in both upcuts and downcuts, single- and double-edge, and in 1/4-in. to 1/2-in. diameters.

Charles G. G. Schmidt & Co. Inc.'s solid carbide router bits are precision ground to high tolerances to produce an excellent cutting edge for a longer-lasting tool life, according to the company. The bits are offered in upcut, downcut and compression style. Solid carbide bits for template-cutting machines are also available.

Grinding equipment

Lach Diamond Inc. has used spark erosion to process polycrystalline synthetic diamonds for 20 years. Its diamond tools have been used in the furniture, laminate and parquet flooring, and automobile industries, among others. A new generation of Lach Diamond automatic grinding machines, which can use graphite and/or copper as the respective ideal rotation electrode, was presented at Interbimall '98 and will also be shown at IWF '98.

The Foley-United says its model 746 profile grinder has features that make the machine capable of performing the most difficult profile grinding simply and accurately.

Equipment Ltd. offers the Saturn HKSC 600 router bit grinder. The machine comes standard with an OFS 25U indexing head for shafted tools with one, two, three, four, six or 12 teeth. C-5/W25 pointed collets are available for shafts up to 3/4 in. The grinding spindle turns at 7,000 rpm and accommodates 2-in. and 3-in. diamond and borazon wheels.

Vollmer of America Corp's CX 100 has been developed for grinding carbide-tipped circular saws up to 500mm in diameter. Four CNC axes control bevel grinding, the grinding wheel feed, the grinding stroke and the tooth feed. The machine features high precision on the ground tooth with very short grinding cycles, Vollmer says.

The UT.MA CNC Profiler, available from Colonial Saw, is a tool grinder for profiler moulder heads. Profile drawings are rendered by 2-D CAD software. Stored programs allow for repeatable accuracy of the profile. The system works with carbide and high-speed steel.

Miscellaneous

Vanguard Tool Corp. provides a regrind service for all HSS, carbide-tipped, carbide and diamond cutting tools. The tools are resharpened and returned in "like new" condition, providing maximum tool life at a fraction of the cost of new tools, the company says. Tools can also be resized to a new diameter or altered as desired.

The Cuttermaster carbide spiral bit sharpener, by MG Industrial Enterprises Inc., allows the user to regrind tools in-house with little or no experience, the company says. The machine works on CNC router bits, straight bits, up and down cuts, chip breakers and roughers, among others. The Cuttermaster also has a drill sharpener, which can regrind all standard and S-point drills from 1/15 in. to 1 1/4 in.

Jonalloy, a void-free, cast cobalt alloy used in Europe is now available domestically from Eagle International Carbide. Cast cobalt profile knives for insert tooling are now available. Eagle also offers corrugated back inlay knives, saw tips, blanks and solid ground rod for drill blanks and end mills made of Jonalloy.

Freeborn Tool Co. offers a variety of cutterheads and knives, as well as copies and patterns, including six-piece cabinet door sets, eight-piece double-sided sets, glass panel options and six-piece tongue-and-groove sets.