issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article includes a list of references but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations . please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations . november 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . november 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message imco carbide tool inc. type private family owned industry cutting tools founded 1977 headquarters perrysburg twp ohio products end mills drills burs key people perry osburn president & ceo matthew s. osburn vp steve whitlow vp revenue in excess of 12 mil 2007 sales website www.imcousa.com imco carbide tool is an american manufacturing company that researches designs and manufactures high performance cutting tools for a variety of applications in the aerospace automotive medical petrochemical and manufacturing industries . founded in 1977 by lawrence r. osburn and headquartered in perrysburg twp ohio imco serves a diverse customer base of small job shops to large production operations around the world . the company is iso 9001 2000 registered . contents 1 timeline 2 history 3 products 4 competitors 5 references 6 external links timeline edit 1977 company founded by lawrence r. osburn as a tool wholesaling company . 1984 perry osburn named president . 1985 purchased a.c. carbide company of rochester michigan to enter manufacturing business . 1998 imco launches streakers m2 end mills for machining in aluminum . 2000 imco purchases menlo tool company of warren michigan to expand export business . 2000 imco launches m7 omega 6 end mills with 6 flutes for high grade finishing . 2002 enduro launch . 2005 imco introduces pow r feed m9 high performance multipurpose end mills . 2011 imco introduces second generation of enduro m525 end mill line for machining in stainless steels and titanium . 2012 imco launches the pow r feed m924 a second generation version of the original with the new alcrnx coating and reinforced cutting edges that remove several times the metal per tool as the original m904 . history edit imco carbide tool is a family owned and operated company founded in 1977 by lawrence r. osburn . with his wife and two sons perry and matthew osburn built his business in general purpose end mills burs routers and drills for the automotive and manufacturing industries . the sons served as company vice presidents learning the business from the ground up and across all disciplines . perry succeeded his father as president in 1984 with matthew continuing as vice president in charge of factory set up production processes hiring training inventory management supplier relations and quality oversight . as the machining industry was challenged by engineered materials with difficult to machine characteristics and more demanding specifications and tolerances the brothers turned their focus on developing tools to meet those challenges . imco began to research and develop end mills working with customers to create tools capable of much higher performance with new and emerging high speed machining technologies . versatile tools dubbed streakers m2 end mills were introduced in 1988 . 1 streakers were designed especially for working in aluminum . a notoriously soft metal aluminum tends to meld in the intense heat of the cutting zone before the chips can be evacuated . this causes the chips to congeal in the cutting zone requiring downtime to clear the blockage and often replace the tool . tests with customer shops showed that streakers end mills two and three flute design eliminate this clogging problem . imco s m7 omega 6 end mills introduced in 2000 were designed to resolve problems in achieving high surface finishes especially in hard to machine materials . with these materials from cast iron to titanium the more balanced and frequent the contact between the cutting edges and the material the smoother the finish . imco developed geometries that maximize contact while maintaining exceptional balance breaking up harmonics . a heat resistant coating helps deflect the intense heat generated by cutting tough metals with six ultra hard carbide flutes . customers use omega 6 end mills for a wide range of machining applications describing performance they didn t think was possible . 2 soon thereafter imco launched another new product called enduro m5 end mills developed especially for working in and finishing aerospace alloys titanium stainless steels and high silicon aluminum . this line includes three and five flute designs to accommodate varying needs for chipload chip evacuation and finish quality . advances in coating formulations add to the tools productivity and extended life . by 2004 the demand for titanium and stainless steel increased ; the medical instruments equipment industry expanded and many planes in commercial and military fleets were aging out of service . by 2005 imco had introduced the pow r feed m9 series a group of high performance end mills effective in milling pocketing slotting and finishing in titanium and stainless steel and other very hard metals . 3 this demand for machining in engineered metals also prompted a return to the m5 enduro m505 end mill for redesign . in 2011 the second generation enduro m525 was launched with refined geometries for even stronger more chip resistant cutting edges and higher metal removal rates . repeated testing showed enduro tools were effective in titanium and other hard metals even using low horsepower machining centers . this not only enabled smaller job shops to share in the titanium work it also allowed shops of all sizes to keep its older low horsepower equipment running if higher horsepower centers were needed for another project maximizing capacity and resources . with 2012 came the launch of the second generation of the original 4 flute pow r feed with the introduction of the pow r feed m924 . this line expansion also marked the appearance of a new engineered coating aluminum chromium nitride or alcrnx with improved heat protection . imco refined the tool s rake and relief angles and reinforced its cutting edges which afforded users higher metal removal rates and shorter cycle times . better chip resistance along the cutting edges offered the longer tool life shops need to reduce overall tool costs . imco distinguished between the pow r feed lines recommending the m924 for higher volume operations and the original m904 for shop environments where short runs and a variety of materials are common . products edit imco tools are designed tested sourced and manufactured in the u.s. for machining in a wide range of materials such as aluminum carbon and stainless steel tool steels titanium cast iron high temperature alloys copper and magnesium alloys brass bronze composites plastics and graphite . imco tool categories include high performance and general purpose end mills burs drills countersinks rougher finishers reamers routers die trimmers and custom made special purpose precision tools for industrial applications . the company also performs custom modifications to off the shelf cutting tools . imco carbide tool products begin with blanks or rods of micrograin carbide or ultra fine micrograin carbide because of its extreme hardness and favorable heat resistance . imco specializes in high performance end mills designed with variable fluting . varying flute geometries break up the harmonics or multiple mechanical frequencies that develop as tools spin and can cause tool instability and failure . variable fluting breaks up harmonics and keeps the tool balanced as it turns for optimum tool stability . this in turn enables the tool to cut with greater precision . 3 imco high performance tools frequently include an engineered coating that deflects heat away from the tool . typical coatings in the industry include titanium nitride tin aluminum titanium nitride altin and titanium aluminum nitride tialn although imco like many tool makers fine tunes these engineered coatings for better heat protection and longer tool use . imco added another coating an aluminum chromium nitride alcrnx formula with the pow r feed m924 end mill introduced in 2012 . this alcrnx coating was shown in research to provide heightened heat protection and exponentially longer tool life . because extreme temperatures are generated in the cutting zone where the cutting edges shear through the material at very high speeds coatings are added to deflect the heat away from the tool . coatings offer varying degrees of heat protection or hot hardness as well as other unique performance characteristics depending on their formulation . tools coated with each formulation will work well in some materials and poorly in others . coatings also provide a degree of lubricity that helps evacuate metal cuttings or chips from the cutting zone . this prevents clogs and removes chips before they can melt and bond with the tool s cutting edges which ruins the tool . tool geometries or cutting and fluting angles are essential to the tool s performance . a minute change in angle or cutting radius can make a significant difference in the tool s balance chiploads and other performance characteristics . imco and other tool manufacturers conduct extensive research to fine tune these geometries especially for use in heat treated alloy steels inconel hastelloy and other engineered metals . through research and testing imco has developed a range of unique combinations using multiple coating formulas and substrates . 2 competitors edit iscar kennametal widia osg tool & die sandvik sgs tools sumitomo references edit cutter cuts time and saves money . metlfax . gale group . 2000 09 01 . retrieved 2008 11 06 . a b today s medical developments . richfield ohio gie media inc. 2009 . cite error invalid ref tag ; name today .27 s medical developments defined multiple times with different content see the help page . a b modern machine shop . cincinnati ohio gardner publications . 2007 . cite error invalid ref tag ; name modern machine shop defined multiple times with different content see the help page . coordinates 41 35 54 n 83 32 44 w 41.59833 n 83.54556 w 41.59833 ; 83.54556 external links edit cutting tools carbide to the rescue example of carbide tool in real application ohio manufacturer cuts milling time by 75 percent example of imco s work with complex machining operations five flute end mills cut titanium and stainless steel perfecting the cutting edge eample of carbide tool in real application imco introduces 5 flute tools designed for titanium and stainless steel example of new products breaking through the profitability barrier example of imco s work with complex materials new imco m525 end mill high efficiency machining form dynamic duo in titanium stainless steel example of imco s work with complex materials imco s system makes leap forward in customer service example of new catalogs and videos imco s system makes leap forward in customer friendly product information example of new catalogs and videos imco s system makes leap forward in customer service example of new catalogs and videos imco carbide s reputation builds out of the limelight feature story on imco chips talk feature story on chips chips talk feature story on chips imco and customer service feature story on aerospace client customer service customized tooling is just a part of customer service aerospace story imco introduces second generation pow r feed end mill pow r feed m924 2g end mill called powerhouse of productivity pow r feed m924 imco carbide tools expands with new product pow r feed m924 students racing to careers formula sae race car story imco supports student designers formula sae race car story perrysburg firm has role in race car formula sae race car story retrieved