Creating cutting tools for composites

The shop has grown to about 10,000 sq. ft. and includes seven CNC tool cutter grinders and various support equipment.

Before Tool Tech Systems focused on producing cutting tools, it was founded as a mom-and-pop kitchen cabinet builder. But in 1997 founder Eamon Douthart took a leap of faith and moved the shop out of cabinetry into metalworking. That year he bought a Walter grinder, and even though the company had zero potential customers, Douthart had a vision to break into the aerospace sector.

"We had tooling that we were buying for CNC routers for our cabinet-making business that we couldn’t get serviced locally," said Douthart, president, Tool Tech Systems, Winnipeg. "So we saw an opportunity in the market for this type of service in town, which led us to purchasing our first grinder. And soon after that we were lucky enough to get our first large aerospace customer."

Douthart added that although this first customer really helped build and shape the shop into the company it is today, he recognized the challenge of relying on only one customer. He tried to diversify the company by adding a product line of Ultrasonic Knives cutting tools specially designed for cutting composites. The company still focuses primarily on the aerospace industry, but it also has branched out to meet the needs of a variety of industries having to cut difficult materials.

The shop, located on the east side of Winnipeg, has grown to about 10,000 sq. ft. and includes seven CNC tool cutter grinders and various support equipment. Today Tool Tech Systems employs 15 people. Douthart said that 100 per cent of the shop workers are trained in-house as little outside training is available for the type of work that the shop takes on.

AEROSPACE WORK

"West of Toronto, I would say we are one of the largest grind shops, and we offer a diverse range of capabilities," said Douthart. "The aerospace industry has really pushed us to diversify our capabilities to support their needs. We manufacture, service, and sharpen cutting tools, but we are also a distributor for other customers’ tools. We basically do everything that a large aerospace manufacturer would need us to do."

Tool Tech Systems has been working with aerospace giants and subcontractors for over 20 years. And the current market climate is very hot, with stock prices higher than they’ve ever been. The production levels in aerospace, especially with some of the newer aircrafts like the Airbus A320, are extremely high, and aerospace manufacturers are trying to get as many delivered as possible. Douthart recognizes that this could change tomorrow, and the company is prepared for the cyclical nature of the market.

He added that a shop can’t just buy a CNC grinder and start pounding out end mills and drills and compete with guys that have been doing it for years. So he took some time to understand the market and decide the best direction for his company, which inevitably led to building the Ultrasonic Knives brand for composites and moving into this segment.

"As a resharpener or a regrinder, we feel that we offer a lot, and our customers, whose operations are completely cost-driven, can see the value in getting the most out of a single-use tool," he said. "However, we did recognize early on that we really needed to go after larger customers with large projects rather than just one-offs. We didn’t necessarily want to compete with other metalworking shops in Winnipeg, but rather carve out a niche for ourselves. And that’s what we’ve been able to do over the years."

When it comes to competing locally, the shop has found its sweet spot. Still, Douthart recognizes that one of the biggest challenges lately has been competing with the cheap rates in China.

THE SHOP

Because Tool Tech Systems works with a number of key customers regularly, it was important for the company to build a management system that would allow it to forecast projects to maintain stock and distribute tools when needed.

Douthart believes that west of Toronto, Tool Tech Systems is one of the largest grind shops, offering a diverse range of services. However, it has been the aerospace industry that has really pushed the company to expand it capabilities to support it.

"We want to be able to provide our customers with what they need before they even know they need it," he said. "As long as they’ve provided us with the necessary data, we are able to produce it."

From a maintenance perspective, as dull tools come in, operators clean, sort, and inspect the tools to determine if they meet regrinding criteria, such as minimum length. The operator then reestablishes geometries on one of the seven 5-axis tool and cutter grinders on the shop floor. Once sharpened, the tools are reinspected, measured, ultrasonically tuned, and then shipped back to the customers. For the most part, the company focuses on its own composite tools, which it stocks for its larger customers.

"The composite cutting tool industry is fairly inbred," said Douthart. "We are one of a small handful of shops doing it, and we see more, larger cutting tool companies looking to get into this. One of the ways is through acquisition of companies like ours. We kind of anticipate that a larger company may tap into our business and leverage our specialties. But we aren’t there yet."

Currently the shop focuses on solid-carbide tooling, some steel, and a few different material grades as well. The company does not go into diamonds. It does, however, sell other people’s diamond materials, both coated and solid, but primarily manufactures solid-carbide tools. Douthart said that at the moment the shop doesn’t focus on exotic materials, but that could change in the near future. The cost of materials is a concern for the shop, especially with most of the raw materials coming from the U.S.

COMPOSITE CUTTING

"Geometries for composite cutting tools are quite different from conventional metalworking tooling," said Douthart. "And coatings are very much part of the success of any composite cutting tool. We are seeing significant evolutions when it comes to coatings for composites, but we are always trying to stay ahead of the curve."

One of the biggest misconceptions Douthart grapples with is that composites are much easier to machine than steels. Actually, composites are highly abrasive and can break down cutting tools very quickly, which is why the shop has spent years perfecting its tooling for composites.

Although designed primarily for composites, ultrasonic cutting knives can be used to cut pre-impregnated, Kevlar® and aramid fibre (AFRP), automotive interior panels, carbon fibre (CFRP), honeycomb core, glass fibre (GFRP), insulation, and rubber materials.

With the shop’s steady growth over the last several years, Douthart hopes to focus more on product development. For now the shop is ideal from a square footage and equipment standpoint, but in the next few years he can see adding more CNC equipment and employees along with new material options like polycrystalline diamond (PCD).

As for the aerospace market, Douthart is taking advantage of the upswing and hopes to expand the shop’s reach into Europe with a new sales rep dedicated to the region. For the most part, Winnipeg doesn’t seem to have the highs and lows that other cities face, and with over 20 years in the business, Tool Tech Systems is dedicated to producing cutting tools for aerospace manufacturing.

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