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Producing Tools for the Woodworking Industry

October 21, 2021 By Editor

The perfect woodworking cutting tool means something different to every customer. Unlike metalworking, woodworking cutting tools are usually unique to an application, so their variations are endless. Woodworking customers change products and product lines frequently to keep up with ever-shifting consumer and end-user trends. To supply the cutting tools and related services their customers require, toolmakers must possess an arsenal of capabilities very different from the ones they had when their shops first opened for business. 

“To deliver the highest quality products to the woodworking industry and new segments, we have to be advancing in our machining technology,” said Jens Schulz, President of Leuco. “To gain access to a market, and not just copy competitor’s products, we have to bring innovation and utilize innovative equipment.”

Leuco is one of the world’s largest suppliers of carbide and diamond-tipped machine tools for wood and plastic processing. A wealth of ideas and technical know-how have been the heart of Leuco since the beginning. The product range includes circular saw blades, hoggers, bore-type and shank-type cutters, drills, clamping systems, and inserts. Sharpening service, application consulting, and service packages bundled under “Tool management” complete the spectrum.

As lumber supply catches up with current demand, a potential boom is on the horizon for wood processors. There was never a better time for manufacturers of their cutting tools to update perspective on responding with maximum flexibility to what will come in the door. Because while woodworkers will always require performance reliability and extended service life for their machine tools, the landscape has changed in significant ways that have spilled over to the shops manufacturing those tools. 

What is different today from 20 years ago? The type of wood materials being cut, the circumstances surrounding production, and the workforce’s skillsets have shifted substantially in that time. These realities are a lot to contend with, doing things the way they’ve always been done. In a more sustainable business model, woodworking tool manufacturers would have all the right technologies to produce a tool design, program the grinding machine, simulate a prototype, and make a cutting tool in one seamless undertaking.

The good news is: they can have these technologies right now. 

“The ownership of cutting tool innovation lies solely on our shoulders. Cutting tools are specialized; they are application-specific,” said Kevin Misenheimer, President, Misenheimer Inc. “We don’t try to do one tool for a multitude of applications. Whether they’re routing MDM, melamine, or laminated particleboard – we want to say to our customers: ‘this is the tool you should be using.’”

Challenge: Produce new tools for new materials in record time

With business conditions forever in flux, cutting tool producers know that the days of being a commodity supplier to the woodworking industry are behind them. A customer base that is constantly setting trends for wood and wood-based products needs its tool producers to be partners – helping them meet and exceed their expectations for producing parts quickly, parts that are cleanly cut using tools that perform consistently, accurately, and reliably over a long service life. 

But today’s wood and wood-like materials are more exotic and are using composites unheard of in the past. Woodworkers explore alternative materials like never before, implement new performance laminates, and use new finish and surface treatments. After they come up with new material, they want to cut it right now, which means going from tool concept to production in shorter time frames. But machining these newer materials is often frontier territory. Woodworking cutting tool producers have to apply abstract and innovative thinking to every challenge and do it in record time.

The only way to be that responsive – even within 24 hours if the customer requests it – is if the tool manufacturer can produce a design, verify the capabilities to deliver it, and give the customer a preview of what they will get and how it will perform, in advance. Sometimes this process might need to occur without ever touching a grinding machine or being in the same building with it.

For this scenario to have a happy ending, toolmakers need to harness the ingenuity that can be programmed into grinding machines with software. Whether the material is MDM, melamine, laminated particleboard, or plywood with rubber laminated in the middle of it, programmable CNC machines and proprietary software developed by leading grinding experts give toolmakers the functionality to work without risk to achieve customer objectives. 

“The Tool Studio simulation is one of our customers’ favorite features. For instance, when we set up a compression router bit, the wheels are set and programmed, and the 3D simulation begins,” said Justin Harris, Engineer and Carbide Supervisor at Leuco. “The simulation shows the tool being ground as it comes out correctly, with no runout and no breakage. The customer is satisfied with our products before even receiving the tool in hand.”

Challenge: Design tools requiring complex geometries, tolerances, and cut quality


Custom tools, increasingly a more significant percentage of a shop’s overall production mix, require complex tool surface geometries, tight tolerances, and cleaner cuts. Achieving more aggressive design features in a tool intended to produce parts from newer wood-like materials is one of the biggest challenges that woodworking toolmakers face. For these tools, solutions for controlling excess heat transfer use and optimizing chip removal to prevent clogging will be needed. With software, G-codes can be selected manually to direct a grinder’s movement more precisely – not only from the center but from different entry points as needed – without hours of guesswork and costly material waste. 

“When we have a challenge in front of us, and we want to make tool geometry changes, that’s where Tool Studio software comes into play,” said Misenheimer. “We can make changes on the computer before any blank is ever put in any chuck. It allows us to create a special tool in a short time frame, and it reduces scrap. Before Tool Studio, we would be up until the wee hours of the morning, failure after failure. Those days are gone.”

A tool design must balance precision and quality with the equally important machining efficiency and uptime. Grinding machine OEMs can show the way to achieve this and increase value per operation. It can be eye-opening to consider just how much room there is in an operation to streamline the grinding process, or more specifically, the non-grinding tasks preceding and surrounding it. 

  • State-of-the-art machine hardware and software combines ease of programming feeds and speeds with the ability to produce highly complex geometries in one clamping. 
  • It can simulate the wheel grinding carbide or eroding PCD or other super-hard materials from the blank to produce a unique tool. 
  • A grinding machine can offer built-in automatic wheel changers and dressing units. 
  • The machine can be programmed to start the grinding process closer to the part and utilize in-process probing, further reducing cycle times for increased productivity. 
  • When processing edges and tips with PCD, grinding and eroding functions can even be combined in the same machine. 

The result is that running good tools in 15 minutes vs. an hour becomes a realistic scenario. The market also offers automation solutions integrated into gantry robots, palletized part loaders that can run 1,500 pieces in a single pass, and vision inspection systems. The potential to take cutting tool production to unprecedented levels is there today. 

Challenge: Bring your A-game despite the skills gap

This brings us to the elephant in the room: the state of the available workforce. These sea changes are occurring at a time when, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 29,000 new machinists will be needed by 2024 to meet demand from retiring workers alone. The continuing downturn in workers trained for a tool cutting environment would be problematic were it not for advances in production automation. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, almost 9 of every 10 hours spent on activities performed by workers in manufacturing production occupations can be converted to automation. 

New levels of productivity and growth are within reach with automation, especially since machine tool OEMs offer standard options for automation implementation with increasing functionality and flexibility for woodworking toolmakers, such as tool changing and machine tending. United Grinding’s U.S.-based Automation Solutions offers a portfolio of industry-leading standard systems along with custom automation of specific equipment combinations from among the company’s eight grinding machine brands. Training and setup to get new operators up and running quickly is all part of the value. 

Furthermore, in the new world order, current employees can be used with a resource like Tool Studio to the best of their abilities. For instance, having a workforce with no background in G-code, the CNC programming language, can be overcome with pre-programmed feeds and speeds in a simple operator interface. On the opposite side of the spectrum, newly minted trade school graduates with a general understanding of CAD/CAM can branch out and quickly become proficient in Tool Studio applications to design and program the CNC grinding process. 

Solution: Leverage advanced engineering and applications expertise

Do any of the above challenges describe your situation? Have you thought about how to lower your cost per part, reduce cycle time, expand your know-how to match what you see going on around you? Pain points that woodworking cutting tool manufacturers face today can be converted to competitive advantages tomorrow. 

United Grinding North America offers our customers the professional training needed for the most basic to the most advanced skill levels within a facility. Courses range from general grinding, operation, and programming to customized training. This service can be provided at your production facility on your own machine or at United Grinding North America’s headquarters in Miamisburg, Ohio.

But what we really want to help you do is assess the limits of your capabilities today and then push them further to serve your trendsetting customers best – and still be poised for the industry developments that you haven’t even thought about.

Latest wood coatings innovations

October 15, 2021 By Editor

Experts from AkzoNobel’s Global Color and Design team for Wood Coatings showcased the latest trends in colour and wood finishes at this Fall’s 2021 International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, NC.

The Global Color and Design Studio for Wood Coatings works with color designers to create new colors and effects in paints and coatings, drawing inspiration from trends in other areas of society, such as fashion and lifestyle. Across the five days of the High Point Market event in October, the team will be sharing valuable insights – both in the showroom and virtually – into the color and design influences currently shaping the wood industries.

“Color can bring joy, vibrancy, and impact to our lives, and that’s never been so important as it has over this past year,” says Rob Haley, Color Trends Manager for Wood Coatings at AkzoNobel. “This is why we’re so committed to innovating with color and wood finishes, keeping customers up to date on the latest trends. We like to visually demonstrate the relationship between color and wood finishes to our customers during consultations – and make the right decision together based on centuries of experience and in-depth market research.”

Some of the modern furniture designs and higher-end influences being reflected in the latest products from the AkzoNobel team include the trend for fresh looks rather than distressing, the preference for less gray and more color, the growing popularity of natural designs and smoother woods, such as birch, cherry, burl, walnut, and maple – all bringing the outside in. Consumers are also opting for organic elements, such as rattan, jute, sisal, and stone while moving away from pale and desaturated furnishings. 

Bright Skies™ ­– AkzoNobel’s Color of the Year 2022 – exemplifies these changing tastes. It is an airy, light blue that captures the optimism and desire for a fresh start felt across society. Extensive research conducted by the company’s in-house paints and coatings color experts and international design professionals reveals that people want open-air, connections to the great outdoors, and a fresh approach to everything after a spell of feeling shut-in.

AkzoNobel’s wood coatings experts have worked with these trends to build four distinct color palettes around the Color of the Year:

  • The Studio – soulful, warm and modern tones
  • The Salon – embracing artful qualities
  • The Greenhouse – reveling in nature’s influence
  • The Workshop – creating flexibility in multifunctional spaces

These will be a key influence on home decor – including furniture, flooring, cabinetry, and building products – in the coming year. The wood design team then works closely with highly-trained technical specialists to ensure the wood finishes are robust and can be industrialized for customers across the globe, across a full range of substrates.

“Wood is exceptionally versatile and the perfect companion for modern life. We want to inspire our customers with creative opportunities for combining colors and wood trends that reflect the way they live today,” adds Bob Averett, Color Design Manager for Wood Coatings at AkzoNobel. “Showcasing how we can help our customers achieve a contemporary, and personal aesthetic is a key part of the process.”

US Manufacturing Technology Orders Surge

October 15, 2021 By Editor

Orders for manufacturing technology in August 2021 totaled $560 million, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. August 2021 showed an increase of nearly 20% over July 2021 and 89% over August 2020. The year-to-date total reached $3.55 billion, the highest value through the first eight months of any year since 1998.

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) Report is based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program. This report, compiled by AMT, provides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

“The August numbers highlight the dramatic rebound from sales in 2020,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT. “It was the highest level of orders since September 2018 and the sixth highest in the history of USMTO. The consistent growth in orders across industries seen earlier this year was reversed in August when monthly growth across industries ranged from a decline of 16% to growth over 400%.

“The value of orders placed by machine shops was the highest monthly total since September 2014, reflecting OEMs placing more off-shore component business onto their floor in addition to the expansion of their traditional customer base. Computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing had a massive increase in orders. Orders from the aerospace sector increased modestly over July 2021 but still lagged behind their pre-pandemic spending. Forecasts expect output from the aerospace sector to increase steadily through 2024, requiring an eventual increase in the volume of orders.” 

AMT analysts have been following the steady downward trend in consumer confidence since its peak in April 2021. Their research indicates the abnormal summer surge in manufacturing technology orders could serve as an economy-wide stabilizer. Capital investment can alleviate the bottlenecks producers are experiencing due to labor supply issues. This can, in turn, reduce the pressure of inflation consumers are feeling by bringing supply and demand closer to alignment. Assuaging consumers’ fears would lead to more demand and could sustain the tidal wave the manufacturing technology industry is currently riding.

LestaUSA Introduces New Technology to Increase Production Capacity

October 14, 2021 By Editor

LestaUSA has announced its entry into the wood market to allow furniture and woodworking manufacturers of any size to increase capacity by 50% without the need to hire additional staff. This is possible thanks to their self-learning robotic finishing technology and scanning solutions. They made quite the impression last month at AWFS.

LestaUSA builds, integrates, and supports Lesta self-learning robotic and scanning technology designed to streamline finishing operations. The company is dedicated to automating solutions for the finishing industry and has proven solutions for all types of wood production.

“What makes this technology unique is that it’s so simple that manufacturers of any size can be finishing robotically on Day One following installation,” said Derek DeGeest, President of LestaUSA. “Successful painting automation needs software integration for simple spray controls to fine-tune the program and adjust for day-to-day variables. Lesta software gives your painter the tools to control the robotic system’s painting parameters, recipes, and quality. A perfected balance of robot and painter.”

While other robotic finishing technology requires engineers and robotic programmers, Lesta Self-learning robots allow your painter to teach the robot how to paint complicated parts in a weightless self-learning mode. Every gun angle, trigger pull, and spray technique is recorded in real-time, saved, and then duplicated by the robot on future pieces.

LestaUSA is about working together to provide turn-key robotic solutions. This technology addresses the struggles everyone has and will improve the finishing industry for U.S. manufacturers by breaking down the barriers of automating complex parts. LestaUSA builds, integrates, and supports its finishing technology right here in the U.S. Finishing automation isn’t new. Still, the ability to have robots complete the work without complicated programming or teach pendants in North America is. Lesta robotic solutions are innovative and promise to change the way finishing is done.

Lesta technology is available for Cart Systems for complex furniture, a 3D Scanning and Carousel System for panels and drawers, and a 3D Scanning for Overhead Conveyor and Cart Systems for doors. These Lesta solutions can be added to any cart or conveyor system.

“Lesta breaks down the barriers of automating complex parts,” added DeGeest. “It empowers your painter to use their knowledge to automate repetitive painting tasks and frees them up to focus on improving quality. A perfect balance of robot and painter—giving more gun-on time, increasing production, reducing overspray, and improving working conditions.”

The wood industry has unique challenges. Among the biggest is the need to keep up with production demands with existing staff due to the limited availability of workers. Lesta robots solve this challenge in two ways, depending on what’s being painted. For larger pieces, the robot enters a weightless self-learning mode, and it records the precise movements of a human painter and repeats them on future pieces. The robot is programmed using a 2D or 3D scanner for panels, drawers, and doors, and pieces are fed through either a carousel or conveyor system.

Successful painting automation needs software integration that provides spray controls for painters to fine-tune the program and adjust for day-to-day variables. Automating a painting process is about more than a robot spraying parts. It’s also automating part transfer to maximize the robot’s potential and keep it spraying. Scanning and autonomous program generation allow precise robotic automation of gun path, distance, and speed to save time and material.

From prototype to patent

October 5, 2021 By Editor

With lumber prices in such a wild flux in recent months, interest in reclaimed wood has become a popular trend that makes tools for treating this kind of wood essential.

Robert Kundel Jr., Originally developed the Restorer to deal with rust removal that was one of his family’s company’s largest expenses. Driven to find a solution, Robert searched for an affordable handheld solution, but couldn’t find one, so he took it upon himself to build his own with the help of fellow employee Richard Schley a former tool and die employee of Delphi Packard Electric. Now, the tool is widely used in industries far beyond rust removal.

“The Restorer provides much more than an average sander,” explained Kundel. “It evenly distributes pressure across the tool, proving better control while reducing strain on wrists and hands.”

The Restorer can be used for material removal that typically requires many different hand tools and power tools. This patented handheld or benchtop tool can be used to buff, sand, grind, polish, scrub, or clean any surface. It’s balanced and compact for maneuvering in tight areas and around tricky obstacles.

“You can save money and the environment when you restore old materials rather than buying new and filling the landfill with items that have more heart and history than the store-bought alternative,” explained Kundel.

It can be used on surfaces that are flat or curved, wet or dry. It can also be fitted with any type of roller, from abrasives to wire wheels. The pistol grip allows for one-handed tool control or the front palm grip to work vertically or overhead. Users can also connect a vacuum source to the output port to efficiently clear away debris.

Kundel built his first prototype out of an angle grinder, a power source, a steel wire wheel, and pieces from his wife’s vacuum. In just a few short years, it went from this Frankensteined piece of homemade equipment to being patented and sold in major hardware stores across North America in just seven years.

Considering most people never even make it through the patenting process, this alone is a huge achievement.

“I already had a couple of connections; I had worked with my family’s company’s intellectual property lawyer quite a bit,” he explained. “And my sister worked at a patent attorney’s firm in California and knew the technical side of things. She was able to write the patent application for me.”

For anyone unfamiliar with the process, a successful applicant will typically spend three or more years and up to $14,000 to get the patent. Kundel did it in less than two years and spent only $1,200 to file.

“And I bought my sister an iPad as a thank you,” he laughed.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing; getting the patent was only about 5% of the process of getting it into stores, even if the feedback they were getting was very positive.

“People kept telling me that they had never seen anything like it, but I was looking for the right fit,” he explained. “After seven years, I signed a reverse brand license agreement with John Cunningham and the licensing team with Stanley Black and Decker under the brand names Porter-Cable and Black+Decker.”

In the fall of 2019, the Restorer was also be launched under the Craftsman brand and came to market in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece under other global brand names. All told, his product sells in retailers in 12 different countries, and it ships worldwide. He’s come a long way from his first order of 14,000 units from Lowe’s.

Next Page »

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