Contact us to learn more about how you can save money by sharpening and reconditioning your used tooling with General Cutting Tools.

General Cutting Tools is an authorized Ingersoll representative. We ship to Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and the rest of the United States.

It provides a complete listing of Popular Special and Blueprint Special taps, as well as threading dies, and an expanded line of thread plug/thread ring gages. Also featured in the new catalog are “Tru-Flo”™ thread forming taps, solid carbide taps and “Carb-I-Sert”™ carbide insert taps, “Cost Cutter”™ combination drill and tap tools, stock TiN (titanium nitride) coated taps, metric taps, pipe taps, coolant-through taps, extension taps as well as tap extensions, acme taps buttress taps trapezoidal taps, PG Series conduit thread taps, DIN-dimensioned taps, STI (Screw Thread Insert) taps, oversize taps, left-hand taps, “Smart Cut”™ tapping/drilling fluid and other industrial cleaners, degreasers and rust preventatives. Contact: (847) 677-8770 or info@generalcuttingtools.com

Below is a link to where you’ll find an online catalog.

General Cutting Tools is an authorized source for North American Tool.

For more information, or a quote, contact us at (847) 677-8770 or info@generalcuttingtools.com

These carbide taps can be manufactured with special design criteria to better suit customer-specific applications.  North American Tool tool designers provide value-added solutions to meet the most challenging tapping requirements. Special carbide taps are available as:  • 60° Thread Forms  • Pipe Threads  • Form Taps  • S.T.I. (Screw Thread Insert) Taps

These precision, high performance taps are also available in popular decimal-inch sizes, pipe tap sizes, and metric sizes.  Carbide taps offer enhanced strength and rigidity in high speed tapping applications.  Carb-I-Sert™ carbide-insert taps are also available, and are an economical way to utilize the benefits of carbide with solid carbide cutting inserts brazed to a high-speed steel tap body.

The superior strength of micro-grain carbide offers excellent cutting edge wear resistance, and is ideal for high production runs allowing greater tapped part throughput.

Depending on the specific application, carbide taps can be specified with surface treatments to further enhance tool life and performance.

Ask for a copy of the carbide taps technical flier today.

North American Tool Corporation is an ISO 9001:2008 registered manufacturer of cutting tools, and is an industry leader in rapid shipment of special taps.

General Cutting Tools is an authorized source for North American Tool.

For more information, or a quote, contact us at (847) 677-8770 or info@generalcuttingtools.com

Today, North American Tool is one of the fastest growing manufacturers of premium quality cutting tool products in the world along with being an ISO 9001:2008 registered manufacturer.  North American Tool continues to pursue cutting edge technologies and processes that provide you with rapid shipment of special cutting tools, unmatched tooling quality and helpful customer service and technical support.  State of the art equipment and production processes; advanced computer systems and machining equipment; and knowledgeable, experienced associates contribute to their unparalleled reputation as a world class supplier of industrial tooling products.

With North American Tool, General Cutting Tools is your one stop shop for special taps, dies and gages.  Their quality tooling products include:

• Special Taps
• Special Threading Dies and Adapters
• Thread Plug and Ring Gages
• Cylindrical Plug & Ring Gages
• Solid Carbide Taps
• Carb-I-Sert® Carbide Insert Taps
• Solid Carbide Thread Mills, with programming support
• Coolant Fed Taps
• Conduit Thread ‘PG’ Series Taps
• Smart Cut® Tapping Fluid
• Blueprint Special Taps (made to customer specs.)
• Metric Taps
• DIN-dimensioned Standard Taps
• Cost Cutter® Combination Drill and Tap
• Stock TiN-Coated (Titanium Nitride) Taps
• Tru-Flo® Thread Forming Taps
• Pipe Taps
• Interrupted Thread Taps
• Acme/Trapezoidal/Buttress Taps
• Tandem Style Acme Taps
• Oversize Taps
• Screw Thread Insert (STI) Taps
• Extension and Pulley Taps
• Vast selection of styles and types of taps
• 24-Hour Shipment of Popular Special Taps
• 8-12 Day Shipment of Blueprint Special Taps from Bar Stock

General Cutting Tools is an authorized source for North American Tool.

For more information, or a quote, contact us at (847) 677-8770 or info@generalcuttingtools.com

Step Twist Drills

Right Hand Step Drills

Left Hand Step Drills

Multiple Step Drills

Straight Flute Step Drills

Flat Flute Step Drills

Spade Step Drills

Step Gun Drills

Sub-Land Step Drills

Half Round Step Drills

Counterbore Step Drills

Countersink Step Drills

Radial Relief Step Drills

CNC Relief Step Drills

Choose from any of drill base material:

• High Speed Steel (HSS)
• High Speed Cobalt (HSCO, M42)
• T15
• Solid Carbide
• Carbide Tipped

We use standard drills to manufacture our step drills.  From there, we cut to length, grind one or more pilot diameters, change point configuration, thin the web, reduce the shank, grind flats, what ever is needed.  Primary and secondary reliefs and tip geometry can be made for optimal performance in different materials.  Such as brass, bronze, copper, magnesium, aluminum, titanium, Stainless Steel, plastics,  composite materials, and nickel based alloys (inconel, waspaloy, hastelloy, monel, etc.).

There are some instances where a step drill can not be made from a standard drill.  In these cases, we will start from scratch, using a blank and make your step drill.

Contact us for more information on how General Cutting Tools can make your step drills better.

(847) 677-8770

The answer to today’s custom PCD tool needs with delivers to meet your demanding schedule.  All diamond tooling is available in metric, fractional, wire and letter sizes as well as custom made for your specific application.

Now available from CJT:

• Diamond Tipped Bearing Shoes
• Diamond Tipped Boring Tools
• Diamond Tipped Centerless Blades
• Diamond Tipped Countersinks
• Diamond Tipped Drills
• Diamond Tipped End Mills
• Diamond Tipped Engravers
• Diamond Tipped Fluting Blocks
• Diamond Tipped Form Tools
• Diamond Tipped Step Reamers
• Diamond Tipped Wear Pads
• Why use poly crystalline diamond tipped cutting tools?

As innovation continues to improve materials and manufacturing processes, it is necessary to also upgrade the tools used in today’s high-tech machines.  Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) tools have exceptional wear resistance, high thermal conductivity, and an extremely low coefficient of friction. These tools can out perform carbide tools 50-100 times, reduce machine downtime, and increase the quality of your products.

PCD is therefore quickly replacing carbide as the premier non-ferrous cutting tool material.  When properly manufactured to the right specifications, by the right company, PCD tools are the most cost-effective choice. GenHam Diamond Tooling is dedicated to manufacturing  PCD and PCBN tools, whether new, retipped or resharpened.  This allows us to provide you with the best product and service possible.

Benefits poly crystalline diamond tipped tooling can bring to your shop

• Longer Tool Life (50-100 times carbide)
• Reduced Down Time for Tool Changes
• Reduced Tooling Cost per Part
• Increased Production Capacity with Minimal Investment
• Excellent Compatibility with Automated Operations
• Improved Product Quality

Polycrystalline Diamond (PCD) Advantages

• Superior Hardness
• Excellent Wear Resistance
• Good Fracture Resistance
• High Thermal Conductivity
• Extremely Low Coefficient of Friction

General Cutting Tools is an authorized distributor for CJT Koolcarb cutting tools.

We serve Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and ship to the entire US.  Contact us to find out how General Cutting Tools can give you big on your tooling costs.

(847) 677-8770  info@generalcuttingtools.com

Ingersoll Chip-Surfer Resharpening

Don’t throw your tips away.

Save money by having General Cutting Tools resharpen your tools.  We use ANCA 7 axis CNC tool cutter grinders with high quality diamond wheels.  With your resharpened tools, you will receive precision ground tolerance for accurate finishing.  The advanced geometry is maintained using CNC tool cutter grinders.

We also can make special cutter tips for your specific application.  Simply provide us with a drawing or sketch.

We serve Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and the rest of the US.

Contact us for a quotation.

General Cutting Tools noted that many shops do not have the machining centers equipped with coolant delivery through the spindle.  This limits the length to diameter ratio that can be achieved and/or requiring shops to use pecking routines to generate deep holes.  In some instances, shops have had to outsource work to a deep hole drilling specialist.

General Cutting Tools is a distributor for many manufacturers of cutting tools that have tooling specifically designed for these types of shops using only flood coolant.  Special forms, low resistance web thinning, advanced cutting geometries all add to the success when drilling at very high length to diameter ratios.  In addition, tool coatings lower the coefficient of friction, increase feed rates, assist chip flow, and extend tool life for a wide range of materials.

Ingersoll Cutting Tools

One of our customers has a re-occurring job of machining a fairly large piece for Boeing that is cut from a solid block of titanium.  In order to maintain competitive in the market, General Cutting Tools was invited to come in and examine their processes.

Titanium is normally classified as a difficult to machine.  This is due to the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the metal.  Titanium’s low thermal conductivity does not allow the heat generated by the cutting action to dissipate quickly.  Consequently, most of the heat is concentrated on the cutting edge and the tool face.  Titanium has a high chemical reactivity or strong alloying tendency with materials in the cutting tools at tool operating temperatures.  Galling, welding and smearing can be found along with rapid destruction of the cutting tool.

Titanium is more “springy” than steel.  The work piece has a tendency to shift away from the cutting tool unless heavy cuts are maintained or strong support us used.  Chatter, tool rubbing and tolerance issues occur as a result of tool pressure’s tendency to deflect slender parts.  Usage of sharp, properly shaped tooling and rigidity of the complete system is extremely important.

Ingersoll Milling Cutter

A total of seven operations are required to make a finished part.  We elected to focus on the first milling operation.  This operation alone had required over five hours of machining time.  Given the speed capability of the machining center, General Cutting Tools along with Ingersoll Cutting Tools were confident we could improve the process with a helical interpolation method using Ingersoll’s high feed milling cutters.

With this switch, we were able to condense the first milling operation from well over five hours to only 42 minutes.  With this singular improvement, the customer has been able to not only maintain the orders coming from Boeing, but also increase profit margin.