my son-in-law would like to get these insert tools re-conditioned or buy the same new. must be solid carbide or if you have a better option, any suggestions? thank you
The whole point of carbide insert spade drills is to replace the inserts with new when they're dulled up. Try KBC Tool.
Solid carbide? I ran a toolroom and we used them a lot but they were HSS, we would send them into town to our tool grinder that had a setup for freshening them up.
Check with a large machine shop, near you, if there are any left. The shop I worked at in Tulsa had its own sharping dept and could sharpen carbide! Bones
Perhaps they are TIN-coated carbide? If so, the chipped-out areas would be a dull color. We used those types of drills often. But the ones we had were HSS. Google; spade drill inserts Lots of hits/brands to look at eBay has a bunch too. Gotta know what you’re looking for.
That's an Allied T-A series blade. They're available in M4 hss and Cobalt hss. The T-A series is a throw away blade,not made to be sharpened. The blades that are made to be sharpened in an Allied grinding fixture are taller and the T-A inserts won't fit in the fixture. I have the Allied grinding fixture and several sizes of sharpenable blades up to 4" dia. Also have a couple of the T-A holders and blades, so I know for a fact that they can't be sharpened unless a person built a custom fixture to hold them. Spade drills ARE NOT made for enlarging holes which is what the one in the pic has been used for. The preferred method is to run them blind (no pilot hole) although one that size could handle a pilot hole maybe as large as 1/2", but anything larger would risk destroying the blade as has been done in this case. A carbide insert drill (not a spade) can be used to enlarge an existing hole, but unless the hole is unusually deep it's cheaper to use a boring bar for the amount this tool was cutting. Allied blades in that size and series are available from Travers Tool. About $60 for M4 and about $80 for Cobalt hss.
Looks like Carbide Depot has the best price for the identical part at $63.63/each. http://www.carbidedepot.com/4-GEN2-T-A-SC-AM200-2-132in--P302732.aspx Good company to deal with, and they consistently have better prices than the big supply houses like MSC, Travers, and other similar sellers.
I would try MSC tool and a screen shot of just one of the pages. To set up and grind the used inserts would be time consuming. Being it’s chipped out you have a lot of grinding to do with a Diamond wheel with your profile. So a new insert would be recommended.
You may get more input from the Garage Journal guys....... Here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forums/general-tool-discussion.4/ I'm sure there are many vendors out there but this one stood out. http://perfcarb.com/products/spade-drills/sharpening-spade-drills/
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