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New Darex sharpener is a hit Mail Tribune photo / Drew Fleming John Griffin, Darex new product development worker in Ashland, assembles a drill bit sharpening machine. In the foreground is the finished product. Ashland company expects sales to reach $1.5 million annually By TONY BOOM ASHLAND - Darex President Gary Varney recalls employees asking "What are we doing?" while the company took three years and spent $400,000 to develop a $14,998 industrial drill bit sharpener. Now they know. Varney says orders and interest have exceeded expectations for the machine that debuted at trade shows this spring. An initial batch of 10 machines is under assembly for customers and the company expects sales to reach $1.5 million annually. In a single set-up, the Darex CNC XPS-16 automatically sizes, aligns and then sharpens the drill. It can also create split points and hone the cutting edges to minimize chipping. "We wanted to develop a sharpener with computer controls, which was simple to use and affordable," said Varney. "There's not one out there in the market that could sharpen some of the high-performance drills." The firm knew it was on the right track when another company came out with a $75,000 sharpener, $25,000 less than its earlier model. More expensive machines usually include other sharpening features. Darex concentrates on drills, the major cutting tool of industry, said Varney. "Their mind-set was to make big machines smaller," said Varney. "Ours was 'How can we make a small machine?' " Ease of use was another Darex goal. Operators control the machine by touching images (icons) on a computer screen. The icons lead to menus. A jackrabbit icon allows inexperienced operators to run the machine after selecting from six choices. Up to 30 drill settings can be stored for automatic operations to speed work. New programs can be downloaded into the machine, which features two Intel processor units. John Roberts of "Cutting Tool Engineering," a trade publication, called the machine "the most exciting new product at Westec," a Los Angeles trade show. Sales of 100 units are projected per year. Auto, appliance, aircraft, toy and other manufacturers could use the tool. Boeing, General Motors and General Electric have made inquiries about the unit. The United States is expected to be the primary market, followed by Germany and Japan. Darex's next-cheapest sharpener costs $6,500. The firm sells 5,000 industrial sharpeners annually. It had sales totaling about $6 million last year and has 45 employees. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.