Carbide Tool Services, Inc., Indexable Tool Repair, Indexable Cutting Tools.

Before and after photos of a tool modification.

The sophistication of the metalworking business has required the use of many special indexable cutting tools. These special tool holders demand tight tolerances to complete high-quality applications. Carbide Tool Services, Inc. (CTS) excels at repairing these special indexable cutting tools back to their original specifications. Our ISO 9001:2000 certification and exclusive Q3 quality process ensure that your indexable tooling is repaired accurately every time. Because these tool holders are so expensive to manufacture, the repair savings can exceed 70% of the replacement cost. With emergency delivery available, downtime can be reduced or eliminated. Indexable tool reconditioning is an economical way to dramatically reduce your tooling costs.

Program in Action

A large automotive manufacturer uses only special indexable tool holders to manufacture precision parts. This tooling is very expensive to replace, is held to very tight tolerances, and is imported from overseas creating extensive lead times. CTS developed an indexable tool repair program to eliminate these problems. The program is set up for CTS to house master prints and inserts for inspection to ensure quality. CTS' inspection procedure is designed to mirror the receiving inspection procedure of the customer. In order to reduce delivery time, the customer issues a blanket order so that repair can begin as soon as the tools arrive at CTS. The customer now saves over $200,000 annually with this indexable tool repair program.

Tool Modifications

CTS can make modifications to your existing indexable tools. It is common to take existing indexable tools and modify them to accept different inserts or adjust them to cut different sizes. These changes will often increase tool life and/or shorten cycle time. Contact CTS today to find out what modifications can be made to your existing indexable tool holders to increase the efficiency of your application.

Program in Action

An automotive parts manufacturer was having a problem with the chips coming off the inserts in their indexable drills. The customer found an alternative insert that would provide better chip control but did not want to purchase all new drills. CTS worked with them to develop a procedure to modify their existing drills to accept the new insert. The drills were modified when they were sent in for repair. The modified tooling not only ran better because of the improved insert chip breaker, but the customer was also able to use all of their existing indexable drills. The indexable tool modification project saved the customer over $150,000 in new tooling expense.