Bodies are manufactured out of special alloy steel.
- They are not cast.
These blanks are then turned to shape on a CNC lathe.
– Other factories don’t use CNC machinery and quality
varies.
They are then sent to the CNC mill to cut the flutes.
– CNC machining offers very accurate and balanced router bits.
The shanks are then heat treated to give them toughness
and strength. Better steel offers superior bending resistance.
The carbide is then brazed on using silver solder
which has a high tensile strength.
The bits are then coated with a specially formulated
coating that is temperature and wear resistant and has a non-stick
finish.
The bits are sent to the grinding room where shanks
are ground to +-.001” and carbide is ground using 300 grit to
600 grit diamond wheels.
Carbide
Pioneer Router Bits use high quality micro-fine carbide. Carbide is expensive
so there are big differences and corresponding costs between the type and
quality carbide that is used. Generally speaking, high quality carbide uses
a smaller percentage of recycled material and a higher percentage of cobalt
as the binding agent to hold it all together during the sintering process.
What we look for is carbide that is “tough” and not too hard
nor too soft to handle the impact of working with wood. Uniform fine-grain
carbide holds up better than carbide with larger voids because it doesn’t
fracture as readily.
Router Bit Bodies
Pioneer Router Bits are manufactured out of solid stock from special
alloy steel. Other imports use bodies that are “cast”. Cast
bodies are less expensive because of the material used and the reduction
in turning time in the manufacturing process.
Heat-Treating
Pioneer Router Bit shanks are heat-treated to prevent bending. This
of course is an added manufacturing step but produces a top quality
bit.
Brazing
Pioneer bits use induction brazing because temperature is easily controlled
and will not affect the body of the bit. Silver solder is used because
of it superior attributes for brazing over other materials The bits
are then placed in normalizing ovens to make sure the brazing process
has not affected the bit in any way.
Grinding
Pioneer Bits are ground using 300 grit to 600 grit diamond wheels. The
time it takes to finish grind a router bit is dependant upon the fineness
of the diamond wheel. The finer the grit the longer it takes to grind,
hence it is more expensive it is to do so. Also the wheels do not last
as long because there is more time in the grind.
Tolerance Levels
All Pioneer bits are inspected at every level of manufacturing. Clearance,
shear, hook and relief angles are designed, milled and ground to very
tight tolerances for optimum performance.
Anti-Kickback Design
Where applicable Pioneer router bits are anti-kickback designed. With
this design the body of the bit is brought forward so there is less
of a gap or gullet between the cutting edge and the body that supports
it, thus reducing the kickback hazard.
Anti-Stick Coating
Pioneer bits use an anti-stick coating that is temperature and wear
resistant. There are essentially two ways to go with regards to an anti-stick
coating. The least expensive way to go is using regular paint and the
other is using a specially formulated coating on the router bit bodies.
Other manufacturers use no coating or regular paint that wears off faster.
Runout
All Pioneer router bits are manufactured on CNC equipment. Runout pertains
to how much a router bit wobbles off center when rotated. The maximum
amount of runout or tolerance level a bit has is an indication of the
quality level a manufacture adheres to. Less runout offers a smoother
profile because there is less chatter during the cutting operation.
