Bill Kerr comes by his expertise in tooling and machining honestly. Before becoming a manufacturer’s representative 13 years ago (he’s based in Rockford, Michigan), Bill spent a number of years as a machinist for an aerospace manufacturer.
One of Bill’s customers, Steeplechase Tool in Lakeview, Michigan, was spending $8,000 or more a month on uncoated carbide tools and needed to cut costs. After relentlessly pushing for lower prices, Bill stood firm.
“I’m not going to sell you uncoated carbide tools,” Bill said. “You’re doing your shop a disservice using an
inferior product.”
“I’d been telling him, ‘You need to use coated carbide end mills,’” Bill said. But Steeplechase’s Mike Garvey just kept replying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys keep telling me that.”
“Are you using uncoated carbide inserts?”
Bill asked. When Garvey said, “No,” Bill asked, “Well, then why are you using uncoated
carbide tools?”
Finally, Garvey agreed to test IMCO SPECTOR® cutting tools against his uncoated tool – same size, same number of flutes, same width and depth of cut.
The results
Garvey was able to run the machine at nearly double the rpm, got a 155% increase in feed
rate and the SPECTOR tool lasted two to
three times longer.
Today, Garvey buys IMCO carbide end mills exclusively. And because they’d had such great results with IMCO SPECTOR tools, when Steeplechase got its first job cutting aluminum for the military, Garvey tested IMCO STREAKERS.®
He’s very happy with the results.