Toolhelix helps you number, choose and organise your tools. Built by someone who works in tool rooms.
Insert codes, toolholders, tap drills, tolerances, collets, hardness: the answer in seconds, even on your phone at the machine. Free, nothing to install, no sign-up. Built by someone who works in a tool room, not by a tool maker: no brand to push.
ISO turning and milling inserts: shape, clearance, tolerance and size, letter by letter.
Tap drills for cutting and forming taps, clearance holes and ISO 286 tolerances, without leafing through catalogues.
One code for every tool, a duplicate check and practical guides to run the tool room.
Excel was made for numbers, not for managing tools: it doesn't warn you about duplicates, doesn't know what an insert is and breaks as soon as two people edit it. Toolhelix is built for the tool room.
Tap a folder. Inside is a tool that works right away, even on your phone at the machine.
No software to install, no subscription.
Open the tool in your browser, even on your phone at the machine. No sign-up.
A file that opens in your browser and works without internet. Your data stays on your PC, not on a server.
Import your tool list, choose your numbering scheme, export to Excel and print labels.
The online tools stay free. The Pro is a one-time purchase, no subscription.
A personal licence for one computer, with no expiry and no subscription. The Pro file runs on your PC even without internet, and updates to the same version are included.
Write to us within 14 days of purchase and we'll refund you, no questions asked.
Yes, on one computer. For several seats, write to us and we'll talk.
Toolhelix comes from the tool room, not from a marketing department. It is made by someone who works in tool rooms: tool numbering, stock and consumption, every day.
Every tool solves a problem met on the actual shop floor before it ends up here. No manufacturer or distributor behind it: nothing to sell you except the tools themselves.
Write to toolhelix@proton.me with questions or ideas for a new tool.Using Toolhelix in your shop? Tell us how you use it: real stories, with your permission, end up on What people say.
Does Toolhelix save you time? Buy Toolhelix a coffee and help us build the next tool. The online tools stay free.
Support ToolhelixWe let you know when new tools and tool room guides come out. Subscribers are the first to know when the Pro version comes out.
Done. You're on the list for .
What problem it solved, how much time it saves you, what is missing. We read everything. We only publish with your permission, and only the way you choose.
Thank you. We have it: if you allowed publishing, we will write to you to confirm before it goes online.
Type the ISO insert designation as it appears on the box and Toolhelix decodes it field by field, following ISO 1832. You see the shape, clearance angle, tolerance, size, nose radius and the jobs the insert suits.
Milling inserts follow the same ISO 1832 standard as turning inserts, with something extra: the wiper edge. Type the code as it appears on the box and Toolhelix reads it position by position, separating the ISO part from the maker's part.
Examples: SEKT 1203AFTN · APMT 1604PDER · RPMT 1204M0 · SPKN 1203EDR
ISO inserts Pro and Tool numbering Pro can be reserved now: reserved price for early bookings.
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Your tool numbering system decides whether the tool list stays clean or fills up with duplicates. With a category-size-sequence scheme every tool gets a code that reads by itself, like EM-0100-0001 for a Ø10 carbide end mill, and Toolhelix warns you when the tool already exists.
Enter the cutting speed Vc and feed per tooth from the catalogue, the diameter and the number of flutes: Toolhelix works out the spindle speed in RPM and the feed rate in mm/min for the machine. It works for milling and, with one edge and feed per revolution, for turning. A second box converts mm/rev to mm/min and back, for live tools.
n = Vc × 1000 / (π × D) · Vf = n × fz × z. For turning, enter 1 flute and fn per revolution.
Stationary drill with the part turning: feed per spindle revolution. The same drill on a live tool, part stopped: feed per minute, from the tool rpm. Example with sample values: f 0.2 at 2500 rpm = F 500 mm/min. Type in either box and the other one updates.
ISO inserts Pro and Tool numbering Pro can be reserved now: reserved price for early bookings.
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Enter the diameter, the catalogue Vc and feed, the hole depth and how many holes there are: Toolhelix works out the travel including the drill point, the feed rate and the time per hole and in total. For taps you only need pitch, RPM and depth.
Travel = depth + drill point length (D/2 ÷ tan(angle/2)) + approach. Time = travel ÷ F. Rapids, tool changes and chip-clearing retracts are not counted: with peck drilling the real time is longer.
F = pitch × RPM. Time = (depth + approach) ÷ F going in, plus the way out: with return ×2 the tap backs out at twice the speed. Tap speeds and cutting data are in the manufacturer's catalogue.
ISO inserts Pro and Tool numbering Pro can be reserved now: reserved price for early bookings.
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Pick the metric thread and Toolhelix gives you the tap drill for a cutting tap and an indicative one for a forming tap. For an M8 coarse thread the cutting tap drill is 6.8 mm; a forming tap needs a larger hole, because the material is displaced rather than cut. For screws you also get the ISO 273 clearance hole and the socket head counterbore.
Forming taps: values are indicative. Always check your own tap supplier's catalogue: each manufacturer gives its own range.
ISO inserts Pro and Tool numbering Pro can be reserved now: reserved price for early bookings.
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Type the diameter, pick the hole class and the shaft class: Toolhelix gives the deviations in micrometres, the limit sizes in millimetres and the maximum and minimum clearance, with the type of fit. For Ø20 H7/g6 the clearance runs from 7 to 41 µm.
Values to ISO 286, diameters up to 500 mm.
ISO inserts Pro and Tool numbering Pro can be reserved now: reserved price for early bookings.
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Type your insert grade and Toolhelix shows where the makers' comparison tables place it in the ISO areas and which grades of the other brands are equivalent. Every equivalent says how many tables agree; where they do not, you see it.
Indicative equivalents, cross-checked on the comparison tables of Mitsubishi Materials, Tungaloy and Kyocera: none is approved by the companies named. The maker's catalogue is what counts.
ISO inserts Pro and Tool numbering Pro can be reserved now: reserved price for early bookings.
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What carbide scrap is worth per kg, and what your used tools are worth. Enter the weight, or let Toolhelix estimate it for solid carbide tools and inserts: you get the indicative value with this month's price and the sources.
Prices offered by online buyers in Germany for small lots, updated once a month. Ask for several offers. Carbide with steel or brazed, and grinding sludge, pay much less. The estimated weight is indicative (±15%): the scale is what counts.
| Tungsten concentrate, Chinapeak 1,050,000 on 12 March: −64% | 380,000 yuan/t30 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|
| APT, Chinathe intermediate powders are made from | 560,000 yuan/t30 Sep 2026 |
| Tungsten powder, Chinaabout 100 €/kg: scrap is worth about half | 850 yuan/kg30 Sep 2026 |
ISO inserts Pro and Tool numbering Pro can be reserved now: reserved price for early bookings.
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Type the turning toolholder or boring bar code as it appears in the catalogue. Toolhelix reads it letter by letter, to ISO 5608 and ISO 6261: clamping, insert shape, cutting edge angle, clearance, hand, shank, length and insert size, with links to the inserts it takes.
Examples: PCLNR 2525M12 · SVJBR 2020K16 · PDJNR 2525M15 · S20S-SCLCR09
ISO Inserts Pro and Tool Numbering Pro can be reserved: reserved price for early bookings.
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Type the shank diameter and Toolhelix tells you which ER collet fits in every size, ER8 to ER50, with clamping range and body dimensions. Below is the full chart of the series.
Clamping ranges to DIN 6499 / ISO 15488. The collet maker's catalogue is what counts.
ISO Inserts Pro and Tool Numbering Pro can be reserved: reserved price for early bookings.
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Type a hardness value and pick the scale: Toolhelix gives you the other scales and the approximate tensile strength, for steels, interpolating the SAE J417 / ASTM E140 table. The full chart is below.
Values for steels, from SAE J417 / ASTM E140. Conversions between scales are always approximate: for acceptance, the test made with the required method is what counts.
ISO Inserts Pro and Tool Numbering Pro can be reserved: reserved price for early bookings.
Found it useful? Buy Toolhelix a coffee and help us finish the next tool.
Guides written on the shop floor, with practical examples.
Free tools for people who work in tool rooms and on CNC machines, made by someone who does it every day.
It all started with a spreadsheet: a tool numbering scheme built over years in the tool room, to bring order to end mills, drills, taps and inserts. It worked, but only for the person who made it.
Toolhelix is that spreadsheet turned into a tool anyone can use, even from a phone next to the machine. The other tools followed, each one solving a problem met on the shop floor.
And a bigger project for company tool rooms. More on that when it is ready.