It seems incongruous, but the metal bits and blades in our woodshops are actually consumables. They have a limited life cycle, and at some point become disposable. They’re also expensive, so it pays to shop around and keep up with what’s new. And that often begins with some of the oldest and most reliable names in the industry.
New Jersey-based Charles G.G. Schmidt & Co. (cggschmidt.com) is closing in on a century of providing state-of-the-art tooling as well as technical help for all types of woodworking machines, both new and old. Woodshops that are giving new life to old 3-phase machines salvaged from the throes of the Covid days will find the catalog, and the staff, invaluable. Along with offering the very latest in CNC cutters and holders, the staff at Schmidt have been doing custom profile grinding for the past 98 years. The catalog also carries more than 170 standard profiles.
Based in Farmingdale, N.Y., Amana Tool features the Spektra solid carbide router bits along with a selection of saw blades, shaper cutters, countersinks, dowel drills and boring bits. The company’s product catalog is available online at amanatool.com.
Forrest Saw Blades (forrestblades.com) has added a 90-tooth trim blade to its 10” and 260mm ChopMaster Signature line. There are eight bore sizes available in addition to the standard 5/8”. The tooth pattern is designed to produce tight, perfectly cut miter joints and crosscuts with no bottom splinters. Forrest was experiencing two-to-three-month shipping delays as of the end of October and suggests that customers who need a blade faster should do an online search for a Forrest dealer who may have a specific blade in stock.
Located in Spokane, Wash., Freeborn Tool Co. (freeborntool.com) offers traditional brazed, carbide insert, and custom tooling solutions for woodshops. Among the newer additions to the catalog is IC-22-ADJ, a two-piece expandable split groove set with a 6” outer diameter that can cut a groove from 12.5mm to 24mm wide using the included spacer or shims. This is one of several straight and spiral cutters with 1-1/4” bores that have been added over the past couple of years.
Denver-based Vexor Custom Woodworking Tools (vexorcwt.com) offers router bits, shaper cutters, insert tooling, profile knives, sawblades, PCD tooling and more. With a diverse range of CNC machines on the shop floor, Vexor performs custom machine shop services including tool balancing, sharpening and reconditioning. The company’s new Multi-Pro series of insert tools are designed for maximum flexibility on a variety of machines. The woodshop simply changes the inserts when they’re dull, so there’s no need to send the tool in for sharpening.
Vortex Tool Co. (vortextool.com) has a new series of four-fluted ball-nose router bits with either a zircon nitride (ZrN), aluminum titanium nitride (AlTiN), or the more visually distinctive (titanium nitride) TiN coating. These bits are used for slotting, roughing, finishing and 3D surfacing.
Among a host of proprietary bits in the Grizzly Industrial (grizzly.com) catalog is the interesting C3707Z. This is a 2” diameter surface and flattening bit with a 1/2” shank that the manufacturer says is “great for planing large surface areas on a wide variety of materials including fiberboard, MDF, plastic, plywood and solid woods.”
A couple of years ago, Freud America (freudtools.com) introduced router bits with the company’s Black I.C.E protective coating and TiCo high-density carbide. Freud also has an online resource for sharpening that includes an interactive map of the U.S. and listings for more than two dozen states that have approved sharpening service centers.
Production woodshops make extensive use of diamond PCD tooling because it’s so hard and long-lasting, but there are a few caveats. Georgia-based GDP Tooling (gdptooling.com) notes that PCD tools perform best when used on homogeneous material, and they tend to wear faster when used for multiple material types. The company’s three-flute PCD bits are engineered for high-speed nesting operations cutting MDF, particleboard and other abrasive composite materials.
Leitz (leitz.org) can regrind tools of every kind and from every manufacturer and restore them to the original manufactured quality. It has more than a hundred locations globally (eight in North America) that offer uniform service and quality standards, and about half of those specialize in diamond tool sharpening.
Castle USA (castleusa.com) makes six different machines for milling the holes that are required for pocket screw assembly. To support those, the company supplies an assortment of drill, screwdriver and router bits. Among them is the B01338, which is a 3/8” three-flute reverse helix bit that woodshops use when milling for pocket screws in melamine or veneered plywood. The groove pattern of the cutting teeth on this bit creates a downward cutting motion for better finishes and less tear-out. It’s made from solid carbide and can be resharpened, furthering its lifespan.
For most other materials including MDF and hardwoods, Castle recommends the B00338, which has a standard helix flute.
One of the most annoying aspects of woodworking is trimming laminate and then finding that the guide bearing froze and either deposited melted plastic on the surface or dug in and burned. Häfele America (hafele.com) has two laminate trimming bits that solve this problem. The 1/2” and 3/4” diameter bits (item Nos. 003.76.101 and 003.76.100) feature a square injection molded Teflon bearing with eased corners.
The new Dadonator XL from Infinity Tools (infinitytools.com) is an 8” stacked dado head that complies with SawStop specifications. It also has two full 1/4” chippers, which means it can deliver exacting 3/4” wide cuts using only four blades. The new set is an upgrade on the company’s original Dadonator.
Klingspor (woodworkingshop.com) is synonymous with sanding, but the company also manufactures full lines of both saw blades and router bits.
Among the saw blades is a complete selection of standard diameters, thicknesses, and tooth options. There are about two dozen blades, and each is identified clearly on its face with the diameter, number of teeth, the grind, and the recommended use. It makes choosing a fresh blade very easy in the middle of a job.
Additional Sources
Active Tooling - activetooling.com
ASAP Tooling - asaptool.net
Belsaw Co. - belsaw.com
Bits and Bits Co. - bitsbits.com
DeWalt - dewalt.com
Dimar USA - dimartooling.com
HValley Tools - hvalleytools.com
EPIK - epikltd.com
Everlast Saw & Carbide - everlastsaw.com
Irwin Tools - irwintools.com
Lee Valley Tools - leevalley.com
Leuco Tool Corp. - leuco.com
Makita USA - makitatools.com
MoldingKnives.com - moldingknives.com
NAP GLADU - peaktoolworks.com
Original Saw Co. - originalsaw.com
Oshlun - oshlun.com
PME Distributors - pmetooling.net
Practical Products Co. - practicalprods.com
Pro Cut Saw & Tool - procutsaw.com
RedLine Tools - redlinetools.com
Suzhou Rico Machinery Co. - qingonggroup.com
Total Saw Solutions - totalsawsolutions.com
US Router Tools - usroutertools.com
W. Moore Profiles - wmooreprofiles.com
Williams & Hussey Machine and Tool Co. - williamsnhussey.com
Wood-Mizer - woodmizer.com
York Saw & Knife - yorksaw.com
Urus Tools Co. - urusonline.com
This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue.
