This month in Tech Notes, we’re going to deviate a little bit from our usual how-to. Instead, we’re going to explain in more detail how you can use the 3-D Fast Cut™ to perform a wide range of machine operations.
Before we get into the ins and outs of the 3-D Fast Cut™ System, let’s look at a little history. Grinding is one of the earliest methods for machining valve seats along with the Neway Valve Seat Cutter. These methods all machined a single angle at a time which could be time consuming. Multi-angle seat cutting first appeared in the Goodson catalog in 
1991 when cutter bits and tooling from mira® were added to the product line. The first multi-angle cutter blades (FT-blades) appeared in the 1994 Goodson catalog and the 3-D Fast Cut™ system was born in 1997. The rest, as they say, is history.
One of the advantages of the multi-angle cutting systems (like the 3-D Fast Cut) is that you can cut more than one angle at a time. Blades are made from tungsten carbide for their cutting performance and long life. Blades can also be customized; if you need a specific profile, it’s not a problem. Blades can be sharpened and if they get chipped or can’t be sharpened any longer it won’t cost you and arm and leg to replace them.
Another advantage is that the tooling and blades are pretty much interchangeable from one system to the next. This means that the 3-D Fast Cut™ tooling you can buy from Goodson is fully compatible with any you may have from Kwik Way or Peterson or Rottler or Serdi or ….
The biggest disadvantage to the whole multi-angle cutting system, regardless of who makes it, is initial investment. Once you get started, though, you can add blades or holders as you need them and soon, you’ll have an impressive range of tooling.
Over the years since the 3-D Fast Cut™ first appeared in the Goodson catalog, there have been a lot of updates and improvements to the tooling. You can now find Ball Heads that are smaller, larger or wider than the standard body. With all of these modifications, it’s now possible to cut seats that range from .550” up to 3.150”. All with the same basic seat cutting system.
One of the newest modifications to the 3-D Fast Cut™ system is the Micro tooling that enables seat cutting in very small bores. To accommodate these “micro” seats, the standard tip holders and the tips have been modified to fit (see picture at left showing relative blade sizes) without sacrificing cutter integrity or interfering with the combustion chamber wall. We didn’t forget the valve guides in the equation either. The 3-D Micro Tooling fits .236” top pilots that are available from .156” to .277”.
Just as we’ve added tooling over the years, we’ve added cutter blade profiles. In the 1994 catalog we showed a whopping 23 cutter profiles. Today (at least as of this writing) we stock 120 different profiles for everything from lawnmowers to land movers. As we said before, custom profiles are available (see back for more information).
The tech department (the guys who handle the majority of our new product research and development) did some creative thinking and came up with some other uses for the 3-D Fast Cut™ tooling. They like to say, “It’s not just for seats anymore.” With the addition of some custom holders, it’s possible to cut spring pads, contour bowls and drive counterbore cutters on your guide and seat machine.
One of the most interesting variations of the 3-D Fast Cut tooling was introduced in 2006 as a means of removing valve seat inserts.
As you can see, the 3-D Fast Cut™ system is a versatile and useful system to have in the shop. If you have an idea for how to expand the program even more, give us a call at 1-800-533-8010.
For more information about 3-D Fast Cut™ or any other technical topic, contact the Goodson Techxperts™ at 1-800-533-8010 or visit the Technical Library on our website.
