Factory Tooling Solutions is excited to announce our return to the Wichita Industrial Trade Show 2025 (WITS), taking place October 21–23, 2025 at the Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center in Wichita, Kansas. As one of the largest regional manufacturing and machining trade shows in the Midwest, WITS 2025 brings together professionals from across the industrial, aerospace, agricultural, and energy sectors to explore the latest in machine tools, precision tooling, automation, workholding, and metalworking technology.

Held every other year since 1974, the Wichita Tool Show has built a strong reputation as a must-attend event for manufacturers, engineers, and industry leaders throughout Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and surrounding states. Factory Tooling Solutions will be showcasing product innovations from all 19 of our world-class principals, giving attendees a hands-on look at the cutting tools, toolholding systems, workholding, and metalworking fluids that drive manufacturing efficiency and precision.

Our booth will feature a wide-ranging display of tooling innovations and solutions from all of the world-class principals we represent. This is a great opportunity to get hands-on with the latest products featured on our website and speak directly with the FTS team about your application challenges.

Explore the Full Factory Tooling Solutions Lineup
You’ll find product samples and technical displays from across our lineup, including:
​

• Boneham Metal Products (BMP) – Dowel pins, drill bushings, and custom precision components
• Carmex – Thread milling tools, DMT carbide, and laydown inserts
• Canela – Lathe holders, ISO boring bars, and turning tools
• Dümmel – Ultra Mini and Swiss Line micro-machining tools
• Everede – Specialty boring bars, indexable ANSI tools, and custom form tools
• Fullerton Tool – High-performance end mills like VMAC, Fury, and Aluma series
• Greenleaf – Advanced ceramic inserts and tooling for titanium and Inconel
• Hangsterfer’s Laboratories – High-performance coolants like 5080, Hardcut GTL, and S 500CF
• HEULE Tool – COFA, BSF, and other automated back chamfering and deburring tools
• Huot – ToolScoots, CNC tool storage systems, drill dispensers
• Jergens Workholding – Ball Lock, 5-Axis vises, tombstones, and quick-change fixturing
• MAPAL – Replaceable head reamers, QTD indexable drills, and PCD tooling
• Nine9 – Spot drills, chamfer mills, engraving and centering tools
• OMG – Right angle heads, speed increasers, and facing heads
• Rego-Fix – Powergrip, ER collets, and RE Cool coolant-through technology
• Riten Industries – Live centers, face drivers, and workholding support products
• Rocky Mountain Twist – Cobalt drills, threaded shank drills, and micro stop countersinks
• Superior Abrasives – Quick-change discs, flap wheels, and convolute finishing products
• Tanis Brush – Disc brushes, bore hone brushes, and abrasive filament tools

See What’s New – and What’s Next
If you’re looking to stay competitive in precision manufacturing, you won’t want to miss this event. Our team will be on-hand to guide you through tooling strategies, help identify cost-saving opportunities, and match your application with the right products.

Whether you’re optimizing for cycle time, surface finish, or material removal rates, FTS has the solutions to help you stay ahead.

We look forward to seeing you in Wichita this October!

If you’re still tapping threads the old-school way or burning hours on single-point threading, you might be missing a serious opportunity to improve your process. The Carmex Spiral Mill-Thread® system is purpose-built for shops running CNCs that want cleaner threads, faster cycles, and less tool replacement headache.
This isn’t just a “fancier tap”—it’s a complete, indexable thread milling system that brings versatility and efficiency together in a way that's hard to beat.

5 Reasons Why More Shops Are Making the Switch to Spiral Mill-Thread

1. You don’t throw out the whole tool when it wears down.  This system uses indexable inserts, so all the cutting happens at the insert—not the holder. When the edge is done, just change the insert and keep cutting. No need to re-zero or pull the holder out of the machine. It’s fast, simple, and keeps your spindle turning.
2. It cuts threads the smart way. Instead of forcing a tap through the hole in one shot, Spiral Mill-Thread uses helical interpolation. That means it mills the thread profile gradually, which puts less stress on your machine and your tooling. You get better surface finishes and eliminate the risk of broken taps, especially in blind holes.
3. One insert can cover multiple sizes. As long as you’re sticking with the same thread pitch, a single insert can handle different diameters—internal or external. So instead of stocking up on a dozen different taps, you just need one insert and a few holders to handle most jobs.
4. It’s faster—especially on large threads. With 2.5 to 3 threads being cut per insert, you’re knocking out full threads in fewer passes. That can easily cut your cycle times in half compared to single-point threading or tapping, especially on bigger parts.
5. Coolant-through holders keep chips under control. Most of the toolholders are designed with through-coolant, so you’re getting lubrication right where it’s needed. That’s a big deal when you’re threading deep holes or working with tough materials like stainless or titanium. It helps with chip evacuation, tool life, and finish.

Toolholder Options That Fit How You Run
Carmex  didn’t build this system with just one kind of job in mind. Whether you’re doing short reach, deep bores, or large OD threads, there’s a holder for it:

• SIR/SLR Series – Standard right- and left-hand holders
• SIR-L/SLR-L Series – Long-reach versions when you’re down in a bore
• SIM/SLM Shell Mill Holders – Great for large external threads (think API or big hydraulics)

Inserts That Last

• Grade MT7 – Tough sub-micron carbide with a high-performance PVD coating. It’ll handle steel, stainless, and nickel alloys no problem.
• MXC Coating – Even tougher. Best when you’re pushing hard or dealing with nasty materials.

Threads You Can Cut
You’re not stuck with just standard UN or ISO here. Carmex ​ offers inserts for:

• UN / UNJ
• ISO Metric
• NPT / NPTF
• BSPP / BSPT
• API
• Trapezoidal (DIN 103)
• Specials (just ask)

Who's Using It?

• Job shops love it for cutting down setup and tooling costs.
• Aerospace guys rely on it when they can’t afford a bad thread in titanium.
• Medical manufacturers use it to hit high-tolerance internal threads without tapping.
• Hydraulic shops dig it for pipe threads and deep ports where taps struggle.

Whether you’re running 10 parts or 10,000, this system scales up or down without making your life more complicated.

Bottom Line?
If you’re dealing with broken taps, long thread cycles, or just too much clutter in your tooling drawer, the Carmex ​ Spiral Mill-Thread® system is worth a serious look. You’ll spend less time changing tools, cut better threads, and keep your machine running steady.
Need help figuring out which holder and insert combo fits your machine? Let’s talk. We’ll get you set up with a system that works for your parts, your material, and your cycle times.

by Bernard Martin

As new materials and technology push the limits of metalcutting performance, threadmaking faces new challenges. From hardened tool steels to exotic super alloys, the demand for tooling capable of threading these materials with precision, speed, and longevity has never been higher. Enter Carmex HBA — a carbide threading grade purpose-built to meet the demands of tomorrow’s toughest materials, available today.

Engineered for the Extreme
Carmex Precision Tools Ltd. developed the HBA carbide grade specifically for hard-to-machine materials like hardened steel up to 62 HRc, cast iron, Titanium, and high-temperature super alloys such as Hastelloy, Inconel, and Nickel-based alloys. At the core of HBA’s performance is its extra-fine submicron carbide substrate, offering high toughness and fracture resistance — crucial properties when threading brittle or abrasive materials.

What sets HBA apart is its optimized combination of substrate, coating, and edge geometry. This triad ensures excellent wear resistance, edge stability, and heat resistance — even under aggressive machining parameters.

Versatility Without Compromise
The HBA grade is available for both internal and external threading, supporting 60° and 55° partial profiles, as well as ISO metric and UN thread standards. This broad compatibility makes it a go-to solution for a range of demanding industries, from aerospace to die and mold, where workpieces often feature heat-treated surfaces or hard coatings.

Proven Performance in Hardened Steel
A recent real-world test highlights the capabilities of the HBA grade. In a threading application on D2 tool steel hardened to 53–56 HRc, a 16 ER 1.5 ISO insert was tasked with cutting an external right-hand thread, M32x1.5, over a length of 65 mm.

Running at a cutting speed of 147.6 SFM (45 m/min) — right in the middle of the recommended 100 to 195 SFM range for hardened materials with the HBA grade — the insert completed the thread profile in just 28 passes. It produced 36 threads per edge, showing not only solid productivity but also the kind of consistency and tool life manufacturers expect when working with high-value, hardened components.

A Solution for Hard Machining
As manufacturers continue to push into hard machining to reduce secondary operations and minimize setup time, the need for robust threading solutions grows. Carmex HBA allows users the ability to hold tight tolerances and maintain good surface finishes even in materials that traditionally pose significant challenges to tool life and performance.

Whether you're threading hardened tool steels in automotive applications or cutting threads in heat-resistant alloys for aerospace components, Carmex HBA offers a solution that blends strength, precision, and reliability.

Challenge Accepted
Carmex invites manufacturers, job shops, and engineers to bring their most difficult threading applications forward. With HBA, complex threading in hard and heat-resistant materials doesn’t have to mean sacrificing speed or tool life. Instead, it’s an opportunity to embrace the next generation of carbide performance — tough, precise, and fast. 

Get in touch with Factory Tooling Solutions and one of our team members will answer your questions and run some inserts if we think was can improve performance!