3. Tool evolution

3.1 Adapting cutting tools

We'll just give you a quick overview of existing tools and their relative performance.

• High-speed steels

  These are historically the oldest. They have the advantage of being re-sharpenable. They do not tolerate high cutting speeds and are losing ground to carbides, although recent applications with coatings have been developed. Coatings of this kind have variable effectiveness, and above all pose the problem of their disappearance after the first re-sharpening.

  Today, these tools are mainly used for difficult operations such as tapping, broaching and fine drilling.

• Carbides

  These...