FD M
CUTTING TOOL
TECHNOLOGY
fdmonline.com
To olmaker expands by Ken Jennison,
Managing Editor
kjennison@wattnet.net
during challenging times
Plant
Video
Go online to www.
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Show Video.aspx to
take a look.
Carolina Specialty Tools
expanded to other
woodworking customers
when the economy took a
downturn. Now it’s grabbing
market share and increasing
its bottom line.
Plant Fa
Carolina S
Tools Inc.
Connelly S
N.C.
Product: C
insert toolin
diamond to
Plant size:
square feet
Employees
In 2006, Tim Weaver, president of
Carolina Specialty Tools, made what
many would consider a risky move:
he expanded the business to include
poly crystalline diamond (PCD) tools.
The decision involved purchasing
nearly $1 million in new
machinery, a big chunk of
money for this small North
Carolina company. Furthermore, while the potential for
revenue from PCD tooling
clients was large, there were
no guarantees.
However, the risk has paid
off. Since making the leap to
sharpening PCD tools, the
company is now able to offer
a larger menu of services,
which is opening doors to
new clients and enabling CST
to serve a wider territory.
Currently the company is
experiencing an increase in
sales, and company president
Tim Weaver anticipates even
more growth ahead.
www.caro
com
Carolina Specialty Tools manufactures both carbide insert tooling and diamond
tooling. In many cases, the cutter heads it produces are very intricate.
Time for change
Prior to 2006, CST pri-
marily focused on manufac-
turing and servicing carbide
