New Amana insert Cutters

[wberminio]

Check out these new cutters.
http://amanatool.com/intech/

[ed_lang]

I have a couple that I got from ToolsToday.com and love them.

[knight_toolworks]

myself they are cool but are they really cost effective? for the price you can buy 3 or 4 of the regular bits and they only cost about 5.00 to get sharpened. me i would loose the screws all the time (G)

[jhicks]

Steve, yes you can typically buy 2 or 3 bits for the price of the 1st one but remember, once you sharpen it, you have lost your dimension and it gets worse each time. On the other hand insert replacements are very inexpensive so for $5.00 or so instead of sharpening, you have a pure sharp new bit for $5.00.
Just depends on your short term or long term value and up front expense. Over 2 to 3 bits the rest are a no brainer with inserts.
But yes, you do need to keep the screws but its not that difficult. Just keep them in the bit holder.

[knight_toolworks]

the bits these would replace can be sharpened 4 or 5 times without really loosing any size. I Have some 1/2" straight bits that have been sharpened at least 3 times and are .497.
I did a search for the cutters they are hard to find and cost around 13.00 and up plus shipping.
so you pay 3 to 4 times the cost for the bit and and the replacement cutters cost more per use then to have the bit sharpened.
so after 12 or so sharpening then the replaceable bits start to somewhat pay for them selves.
so if you really hammer on them I can see it but if you go awhile between sharpenings then they are an expensive investment.

[beacon14]

The inserts might be harder to justify for simple profiles like straight bits or V bits, but for large or complex profiles the equation changes. Another factor is convenience - if I need to re-surface my spoilboard and my spoilboard surfacing bit is out being sharpened I'm in a bind, but with the insert tooling I'm back up and running in a few minutes. So without the insert cutter I'd need to have two spoilboard surfacers on hand to always have one available.

I've also found that re-sharpened bits tend to not cut as well or last as long as new bits.

So yes, for bits that are inexpensive or not used very often it's hard to justify the insert cutters but for the everyday workhorses - they might be a good idea.

[knight_toolworks]

I do like my 2.5" amana replaceable cutter flattening bit.
hey my sharpening place is 3 blocks away and now I do work for them and they refer customers to me so it is worth it to get them sharpened. so my bits are dirt cheap to get sharpened.

[jon]

I also have a 2.5 cutter that takes inserts. The inserts are RAZOR sharp, have four sides and cost me around $3.00 a set. I can rotate the insert 3 times to get sharp edges. This is the absolute cheapest system I have found, and the cut quality is superb. When the insert is dull, I can lap it sharp again on a water stone. I have bought only one replacement box in the last two years, and I use it almost daily.