In today's disposable economy, savvy part manufacturers understand that money can be saved and productivity possibly boosted by resharpening worn cutting tools rather than tossing or recycling them.

General Cutting Tools, which was founded more than 40 years ago in Lincolnwood, Illinois, is one well-established source for tool resharpening, repair and modification services, as well as for new cutting tools. The company distributes an array of tool brands, including ATEMAG, Garr Tool, Ingersoll Cutting Tool Co., LMT Onsrud LP, M.A. Ford Manufacturing Co. Inc., The M.K. Morse Co., Sumitomo Electric Carbide Inc., Techniks Inc., YG-1 Tool Co. and others. In addition, GCT supplies safety gear, abrasives, hand tools, aggregates, toolholders, tool accessories, lifting magnets and a host of other offerings.

"We just added almost 100,000 pieces to our website," said Tim Baumruck, chief financial officer.

The tool types include carbide, carbide tipped, HSS including cobalt ones and PCD for cutting metal, wood, plastic and composites, said Joe Carone, company president. For metalcutting applications, GCT primarily resharpens endmills and drills, including ones from brands the company does not distribute. The quantity a customer provides for resharpening ranges from one to 300 or more.

"We separate, we evaluate, and we provide the customer with the best option for their needs," Carone said. "Usually, 99% of the time they give us the OK."

Vice President Jeff Schuster concurred that it is "very rare" for a customer not to have GCT resharpen a batch of cutters, but on rare occasions the company cannot perform resharpening because tools arrive with too much damage. In one uncommon instance, a customer essentially dumped the tools into a box without including any padding or protection for them, such as placing them in their original boxes. This caused the tools to bang into each other while being delivered from Pennsylvania.

With 16 employees at the company's 4,000-sq.-ft. facility, GCT's size works to its advantage, according to Schuster, especially when resharpening and modifying complex tools, such as drills with double margins and step tools. "We can pivot and move very quickly because we're small, like a sports car, and easily able to satisfy the customer."

Upon Delivery

GCT offers cutting tool resharpening services for customers throughout the U.S., and has established long-term relationships with many of them, Carone said. "We've got many customers who we've known for over 30 years."

Schuster noted that GCT provides its own delivery service to end users throughout Chicagoland, with its delivery zone extending from Joliet, Illinois, to Northwest Indiana and Wisconsin.

Once GCT receives a shipment of worn cutters, the company separates them based on tool material and type, evaluates them to determine if the tools can be cost effectively resharpened and refurbished, and provides the customer with a quote, Carone explained.

Schuster added: "Does it just have normal wear and tear on it or is there some damage we have to correct? We start from there and start listing what we've found. We need to 100% check each one of them and put together a list, and we send it back to the customer. Sometimes it's better for the customer to order a new tool, which we can provide as well."

After the customer approves the quote, the tools are resharpened on one of GCT's four 7-axis CNC ANCA grinders. The machines are standard, but the grinding wheels are not, Schuster said. "Every single one of the wheels we use is specialized for our shop in one way or another, whether it's the size, the angles, the shape or the grits. None of them are off the shelf."

Oil is used to lubricate the grinding wheel/tool interface, Schuster noted, adding that the use of oil helps extend machine life compared to water-based coolant, which can cause a tool and cutter grinder to rust and experience other issues. The company also has manual grinding machines, which sometimes produce a better result for the customer or are sometimes used in combination with a CNC grinder.

According to GCT, its master toolmakers use their decades of experience and craftsmanship to provide world-class quality. The shop workers are not only experts at tool grinding but also have mechanical expertise, Baumruck said, noting that when a CNC grinder goes down, they can pitch in and fix it. "It's not like we have to wait on some special company to come out."

The tools are resharpened to provide like-new performance, Schuster added, and can be outsourced for coating to enhance wear resistance and extend tool life. "We provide coating as an add-on service. The majority of the people like a coating because the tools perform better."

In addition, GCT can modify a tool to better suit a customer's specific application, Schuster said. An example is when an end user is applying a general-purpose tool to cut 6061-T6 aluminum. "They are going to see better performance because now their tool is optimized for that material."

The company also modifies tools in other ways to target an application, such as extending its length, he added. "They can push it a little bit deeper and get the value out of sharpening versus buying a brand new tool."

Although indexable inserts are rarely if ever resharpened, Schuster said GCT can grind special forms on inserts, such as a chamfer or radius.

The number of times a tool can be resharpened depends on the application and customer preferences, Carone said. Typically, a tool can be resharpened at least three times, but GCT has reground some tools many times more.

Compared to buying new, a resharpened tool can be about 20% to 50% of that cost, Schuster said, with easy-to-sharpen ones on the lower end and more elaborate cutters on the higher end.

Targeting Talent

Similar to other manufacturers, GCT finds that hiring and retaining workers — particularly experienced grinders — to perform tool resharpening is a challenge. As a result, Schuster said the company did not cut any hours, benefits or pay to its workers during the past pandemic, treating the team as family.

For a recent new hire, the company plans to train him internally and will consider paying for continuing education, Baumruck said. "If they need more experience, we will put them in those programs."

Knowledge can also be gained by having experienced toolmakers mentor new hires, he added.

Regardless of the challenges it faces, Schuster said GCT will continue serving its customers as a full-line cutting tool distributor that also performs tool resharpening and customization services. The business plan includes consulting with customers to determine if a special is actually needed or an off-the-shelf standard that is a close version and costs considerably less will do the job. "That's a nice advantage because we're going to do the whole gamut of things, that value-added service to our customers."