COURMATT INTERNATIONAL, INC. has prepared this informational paper on the features and the differences of carbides used in today's CNC machining centers.

Features
COURMATT's polished shank, ultra grind, provides for increased collet life and superior holding power. Due to the roughness on conventional solid carbide shanks, increased wear will be noted on the collet, thus reducing the collet life. By utilizing a polished shank, less friction between the collet and the shank will occur and the collet life will be doubled.

The leading edge on the shank is chamfered(or should be), allowing for two benefits:

* the tool will enter the collet much easier.
* the chances of the carbide chipping as it's entering the collet, resulting in an unbalanced tool and shorter collet life, will be decreased.

COURMATT has increased the overall length on most solid carbide tools, resulting in increased holding power. The full collet length holds the shank, which increases the stability of the tool. This important feature also reduces the chances of tool breakage and chatter lines while machining.

Each precision CNC solid carbide shank tool is NC ground, to ensure the tightest tolerances and accurate diameters, within 0.001.

Carbide Sub-structure
COURMATT has worked with its suppliers to provide the wood industry with the best carbide available. Research has provided information as to why the product breaks down, so each precision shank tool has under 1 micron of carbide and cobalt particles. Using less cobalt in the binding process (a more expensive product) will increase the tool life, as the heat is dispersed more quickly. Larger carbide and cobalt particles will break down the cutting edge prematurely and also have a tendency to cause larger pieces of the sub-structure to break. This results in less service life, as more material has to be removed.

COURMATT's unique design in the sub-structure allows the particles to be bonded in a way which provides superior transverse and rupture strength. This design allows for rapid acceleration and deceleration, without the breakage of the tool.