Woodworking shop owners may sometimes face a difficult decision on whether to choose diamond, carbide-tipped or insert tooling for their machining operations. In its article – “How to pick the right cutting tool for the job”, Woodworking Network tries to answer this question.
All of these tools will do the routing job, but it’s important to consider the costs and your manufacturing goals. While diamond tooling lasts the longest period of time (up to 300 times longer than carbide tooling) and requires less power to do the same amount of work, it’s also the most expensive choice. Diamond tooling may prove to be cost-effective if you are dealing with long runs of the same material and the same bits. Otherwise, it’s difficult to justify its costs.
Brazed carbide-tipped tooling is usually the most cost effective for a variety of machining operations, but carbide insert tooling provides a better finish and longer life. Insert tooling also allows an operator to maintain the tool setup because the shank is not removed to change the insert. The disadvantage of insert tooling is that, compared to brazed carbide tooling, the variety of bit profiles is much more limited.
It’s also important to consider the material being cut. For example, diamond tooling may be used to cut ceramics, fiberglass and solid surface panels. Carbide-tipped router bits may be used in all forms of wood cutting, shaping and milling procedures. They would also be the bits of choice for laminate trim work, plastics and non-ferrous metals.
At our online store – http://cncrouterstore.ca, you can find a wide range of diamond, carbide and insert tools from such brands as Onsrud, Belin and Dimar. You can easily choose which tool best suits your manufacturing needs by shopping by material or cutting application. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any tooling questions – we’re always here to help.
No responses yet