For over 70 years, Salem has serviced three diverse industries: Architectural Glass, Precision Electro-Optical and Ophthalmic. This complex relationship of industries has served to build a base of product and process knowledge unique to a single company. With the formation of Salem Stone in 2001, the company has now distilled its resources into serving the stone industry with innovative, cost-effective diamond tooling and equipment designed to increase production while decreasing production costs, reports Salem.

Salem's router bits are the product of this cross-pollination of technologies. This forward thinking approach has yielded router bits that represent a significant advance in stone working performance, according to the company. The major advancement is in the diamonds and the bonding matrix. These router bits contain the exact concentration of precisely graded diamonds specifically formulated to optimize the cutting of stone. The bonding matrix has been engineered to secure the diamonds while grinding, and yet release them when they become dull to expose fresh diamonds and maintain high performance throughout the life of the bit. The unique combination of the perfect diamonds and the perfect bonding matrix yields speed, smooth finish and long life, Salem reports.

Salem's core drill bits not only look different, but they are also engineered to perform unlike any conventional bit. They drill faster, cleaner and last longer while virtually eliminating “blowout,” reports Salem. The breakthrough performance is attributed to the bit's unique architecture. The thin wall minimizes the contact area, creating a slicing/cutting action compared to the grinding of conventional core drill bits. This “slicing” action maximizes drilling efficiency, in turn, reducing the cost-per-hole.

Additionally, Salem offers corner breaker wheels, manufactured by Diamut. Salem offers three types of corner breaker diamond wheels: single, double (fixed) and double (adjustable). All of the wheels are constructed from the finest materials, under strict manufacturing controls to insure consistent high-performance.

These wheels are engineered to afford customers the most cost-effective product possible, according to Salem. The design maximizes the usable surface area, minimizing wasted unusable areas. The adjustable double corner breaker increases wheel life up to three times over conventional wheels. As the wheel wears out, it can be adjusted to expose a new area until virtually the entire wheel is consumed, dramatically reducing production costs.