Cutlery is More Than a Chip of Stone

Humans have been using cutting tools since early man discovered that a chip of shale, obsidian, or flint made it easier to cut and skin game animals.  A simple slice of stone was the major cleaving implement for centuries.  As time passed man discovered how to mine and refine metallic ores.  With the creation of large sheets of copper, bronze, and iron, the need for better slicing tools became evident.  The chip of stone was soon replaced as the first choice in cutlery.  Today, chemists are creating many different materials which we use in our every day lives.  Many times the invention of a new manufactured substance required a new tool to cut it.  

The period known as the Industrial Revolution introduced the use of machines to do the cutting.  Manufacturing methods are driven by the diverse work piece materials being shaped.  As an example, to mill an engine block cast of aluminum, carbide and polycrystalline diamond tools may be used.  To mill an engine block cast of iron, a tool coated with a thin layer of material called chemicalvapordeposition (CVP) is used.  The coating helps to reduce the wear and extend the tools useful life.  The shearing tools used in today’s manufacturing processes combine sophisticated coatings and highly engineered geometric shapes to create the often intricate, specified results.  In the current manufacturing climate, developing a tool or method that can cut or shape a chosen material at the lowest cost, with the least amount of waste being high priority in most businesses.