What Cutting Edge Tool Supply does

Cutting Edge Tool Supply, Inc. (operating as CETS.com) is a privately held industrial tool distributor founded in 1993 and based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The company sells carbide cutting tools and machine-tooling consumables — including boring bars, drills, end mills, taps, thread mills, carbide inserts, reamers, countersinks, abrasives, hand tools, measuring instruments, and workholding equipment — to independent machine shops, manufacturing facilities, and CNC machining operations across the United States. Its catalog spans products from multiple premium industrial brands including Ingersoll, Kennametal, Dorian Tool, MA Ford, Micro 100 Carbide, Mitsubishi, Monster Tool Company, Norton, Pearl Abrasives, Starrett, YG-1, Sandvik Coromant, Iscar, and Emuge, positioning CETS as a single-source alternative to factory-direct procurement.

CETS operates an e-commerce-first distribution model: the primary sales channel is its own Shopify-powered storefront at CETS.com, supplemented by third-party marketplaces on Amazon and eBay and a toll-free phone line for quote-based orders. Pricing is unit-based with a $75 free-shipping threshold, a 10% newsletter-acquisition discount code (NC25Z), and a clearance program discounting surplus and overstock inventory up to 80% off. A scrap carbide recycling service purchases used carbide material from customers, creating a closed-loop supply dynamic uncommon for distributors of this size. The company does not disclose revenue, headcount beyond an 11-50 employee range, ownership structure, or institutional backing, and shows no evidence of AI/ML capabilities, external funding, or acquisition activity.

Name

Cutting Edge Tool Supply

Legal name

Cutting Edge Tool Supply, Inc.

Website

https://cets.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cutting Edge Tool Supply is a privately held Colorado Springs-based industrial tool distributor that sells carbide cutting tools and machine-tooling consumables from multiple premium brands to U.S. machine shops and manufacturing operations through its CETS.com e-commerce site, Amazon, eBay, and phone sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Cutting Tool Distribution

NAICS

Cutting Tool and Machine Tool Accessory Manufacturing (333515)

SIC

Machine Tools, Metal Cutting Types (3541), Cutlery, Handtools & General Hardware (3420)

akta.pro primary industry

Metal Cutting Tools, Tooling & Workholding (Cutters, Inserts, Chucks, Fixtures) (IMAHADAB)

Keywords

• Carbide cutting tools
• Machine tool distribution
• CNC machining supplies
• Industrial tooling e-commerce
• Manufacturing consumable tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Colorado Springs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: One-time sale of cutting tools, carbide inserts, boring bars, drills, end mills, taps, and other machine tooling products through e-commerce and marketplace channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cutting Edge Tool Supply distributes carbide cutting tools and machine tooling products from multiple industrial brands (Ingersoll, Kennametal, Dorian Tool, MA Ford, Micro 100, Sandvik Coromant, Iscar, YG-1, Mitsubishi, Starrett, and others) to machining and manufacturing operations in the United States. The company sells these products through its Shopify-powered CETS.com e-commerce site, plus Amazon and eBay marketplace storefronts, and offers a scrap carbide recycling buyback service.

Product overview

Cutting Edge Tool Supply, Inc. (CETS.com) is a B2B e-commerce machine tool distributor offering a comprehensive portfolio of carbide cutting tools and machining supplies. The product lineup centers on consumable cutting tools including abrasives (cut-off wheels, flap discs, grinding wheels), boring bars (indexable carbide, indexable steel, solid carbide), burrs, countersinks (1-6 flutes), carbide inserts (turning, drilling, milling, parting/grooving, threading), dies, drills, end mills (ballnose, square end, corner radius, high performance), hand tools, machine tooling (collets, tool holders, vises), measuring tools, reamers, taps, thread mills, and workholding equipment. The company operates a clearance channel for surplus/overstock items at discounts up to 80%, and offers a scrap carbide recycling service. Key brands carried include Ingersoll, Kennametal, Dorian Tool, MA Ford, Micro 100 Carbide, Mitsubishi, Monster Tool Company, Norton, Pearl Abrasives, RIP Cutting Tools, Starrett, YG-1, Sandvik Coromant, Iscar, and Emuge. The business model includes free shipping on orders over $75 and quote request capabilities for tooling procurement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Abrasives Cutting tool and supply category including cut-off wheels, flap discs, and grinding wheels for metalworking and fabrication applications.
• Boring Bars Internal diameter cutting tools including indexable carbide, indexable steel, solid carbide, engraving tools, and brazed tool bits for precision boring operations.
• Burrs Carbide burrs for deburring, shaping, and grinding various materials in machining operations.
• Countersinks Chamfering and countersinking tools available in 1-flute, 3-flute, 4-flute, and 6-flute configurations for various materials and applications.
• Carbide Inserts Indexable cutting inserts including turning inserts, drilling inserts, milling inserts, parting and grooving inserts, and threading inserts for CNC machining.
• Dies Threading dies in inch round, pipe round, and metric round configurations for creating external threads.
• Drills Drilling tools including center drills, spade drills, spot drills, twist drills, indexable drills, coolant thru drills, and drill sets for various machining applications.
• End Mills Milling cutters including ballnose, square end, corner radius, drill mills, chamfer mills, rougher-finishers, routers, high performance, miniature, and tapered end mills.
• Hand Tools Manual hand tools for machinists and metalworking professionals.
• Machine Tooling Machine tooling accessories including quick change systems, collets, end mill holders, face mills, tool holders, vises, and collet holders for CNC and manual machines.
• Measuring Instruments Precision measuring instruments including test indicators, gauges, and measurement tools for quality control in machining operations.
• Reamers Precision reaming tools available in decimal, fractional, letter size, metric, and wire size configurations for achieving accurate hole diameters.
• Taps Threading taps including spiral flute, spiral point, straight flute, forming, pipe, and STI taps for creating internal threads.
• Thread Mills Thread milling cutters in Metric-ISO, Inch-Standard, and NPT-NPTF configurations for CNC thread machining.
• Workholding Workholding equipment including vises and clamping solutions for securing workpieces during machining operations.
• Clearance and Overstock Surplus carbide tools and overstock items discounted up to 80% off regular pricing.
• Scrap Carbide Recycling Company purchases scrap carbide materials from customers for recycling, providing a buyback service for tooling operations.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• RIP Cutting ToolsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRIP Cutting Tools is a brand whose products are sold through CETS.com. Featured products include end mill sets for aluminum machining. The relationship appears to be a standard distributor-reseller relationship.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• MSC Industrial Direct: Largest US B2B industrial distributor of metalworking supplies including cutting tools, carbide inserts, end mills, drills, taps, and tool holders — directly comparable product breadth, customer base (machine shops), and distribution model, but at vastly larger scale.
• Lakeshore Carbide: Carbide cutting tool specialist distributing end mills, drills, reamers, and saws to manufacturing shops, with a similar clearance/overstock offering and scrap carbide program overlap.
• Drill America: Distributor of drills, end mills, taps, dies, and countersinks to machinists and metalworkers via e-commerce — overlapping SKU mix and customer segment (small manufacturing shops).
• Travers Tool: Long-standing specialty distributor of cutting tools, end mills, drills, taps, and machining accessories to metalworking shops — same niche, same horizontal customer base, comparable online catalog model.
• Maritool: Online-first carbide cutting tools specialist carrying end mills, drills, taps, inserts, and tool holders for CNC and manual machining shops — closely matches CETS's catalog focus and e-commerce GTM.

Broad incumbents

• Grainger: Massive US industrial supply distributor with a cutting tools and metalworking category serving the same manufacturing-shop buyer, but as part of a much broader MRO portfolio rather than a cutting-tool specialty focus.
• Kennametal: One of the largest carbide cutting tool OEMs whose products CETS distributes; Kennametal sells direct via its own e-commerce channel, making it both a brand supplier and a competing channel for the same end user.
• Fastenal: Large industrial supplier with growing cutting-tool and metalworking offerings sold to manufacturing and maintenance customers, overlapping on end mills, drills, and related consumables but at much higher scale and breadth.

Others

• Monster Tool Company: Cutting tool brand currently distributed through CETS.com; comparable product category (carbide end mills, drills, taps) but positioned as a supplier/brand partner rather than head-to-head distributor competitor.

Emerging players

• YG-1: Korean cutting tool manufacturer with growing US direct e-commerce footprint in end mills, drills, and taps — directly competing with the same distributor-customer relationships and increasingly selling direct.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cutting-edge-tool-supply-inc-
• Xx.com/CETS_Tools
• Facebookfacebook.com/cuttingedgetool

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cutting Edge Tool Supply