The four groups
| Group | Answers | Start here when |
|---|---|---|
| Tool selection | Which tool to buy, and in what order to decide | Specifying tooling for an operation you have not run before |
| Speeds, feeds and cost | What each parameter controls, and what a tool really costs | A cut is not performing, or a price comparison needs to be on total cost |
| Coatings and materials | Which coating resists which wear mechanism | Choosing a grade or coating, or checking a cross-reference |
| Troubleshooting | What a wear pattern means, and how to correct it | A tool is failing and the cause is not obvious |
How to use them
Work from the symptom rather than from the index. If a cut is failing, the troubleshooting group identifies the cause from the wear pattern. If you are specifying something new, the selection group gives you the order to decide in. If a price comparison is not making sense, the cost guide explains why the cheapest tool frequently turns out to be the most expensive.
- Describe the symptom and the matching group will usually name the cause
- Each guide states its reasoning, so you can judge whether it applies to your case
- Where a guide and a catalogue page disagree, the catalogue page is the specific answer
- Tell us the operation and material and we will point you at the relevant guide
Why these are published rather than kept internal
A machining problem that takes a week to diagnose costs far more than the tooling that would have prevented it, and most of these questions have a definite answer.
Publishing them also holds us to them. If a recommendation in a guide disagrees with what we supply for a job, that is worth knowing before the tool arrives rather than after.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I start if I am new to a material?
Start with the guide for that workpiece material group and the tool selection guide. The material page explains what makes the material difficult and which coating direction that implies, and the selection guide gives the order to make the decisions in.
Do these guides replace a catalogue?
No. The guides explain the trade-offs and the reasoning, and the catalogue pages give the specific specifications, tolerances and options. Use the guide to decide what you want and the catalogue page to confirm it exists.
Can I ask you directly instead of reading?
Yes, and it is usually faster. Send the operation, the workpiece material with its hardness, the machine interface and the diameter and depth, and we will make the recommendation and explain the trade-off rather than just quoting a part number.
Are these guides specific to your products?
They are written around standard practice and published conventions such as ISO insert designations and the ISO material groups, so they apply to any manufacturer's tooling. Where we recommend something because we make it, we say so.
How often are they updated?
When standard practice changes, or when a customer's problem exposes a gap. Each page carries a last-modified date, and corrections are made in place rather than as new pages, so the URL stays stable.