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Cutting tools can be classified into five categories according to the type of workpiece surface being machined. Tools used for cutting wood are referred to as woodworking tools. These non-metallic circular blade materials enable slitting machine blades to cut at higher speeds. In 1898, Taylor and White in the United States invented high-speed steel. The earliest documented record of the twist drill dates back to 1822, though it was not commercially produced until 1864. As early as the 28th to 20th centuries BCE, China already saw the emergence of copper tools such as brass cones, red‑copper cones, drills, and knives.

At that time, drills and saws already bore some resemblance to modern flat drills and saws.

At that time, slitting machine blades were made from solid high-carbon tool steel, with an allowable cutting speed of about 5 meters per minute. In 1923, Schrötter of Germany invented cemented carbide. Since the slitting machine blades used in mechanical manufacturing are almost exclusively employed for cutting metallic materials, the term “tool” is generally understood to refer to metal-cutting slitting machine blades. Surface coating techniques combine the substrate material’s high strength and toughness with the surface layer’s high hardness and wear resistance, thereby endowing this composite material with superior cutting performance. In 1792, Maudslay of Britain produced taps and dies.

However, the rapid development of slitting machine blades occurred in the late 18th century, coinciding with the advancement of steam engines and other machinery.

When alloy tool steel is used, the cutting speed of slitting machine blades increases to approximately 8 m/min; with high-speed steel, it rises by more than a factor of two; and when carbide is employed, the cutting speed improves by another factor of two or more compared with high-speed steel. Moreover, the surface quality and dimensional accuracy of the machined workpieces are significantly enhanced.
Because high-speed steel and cemented carbide are relatively expensive, slitting machine blades typically adopt welded or mechanically clamped designs. In 1972, General Electric in the United States produced polycrystalline diamond and polycrystalline cubic boron nitride cutting inserts. In 1783, René of France was the first to manufacture a milling cutter.

Strip‑cutting machine blades are cutting tools used in mechanical manufacturing, also known as circular cutting blades. Between 1949 and 1950, the United States began employing indexable inserts on turning tools, soon extending their use to milling cutters and other cutting tools. In 1972, American inventors Bonsack and Laguillande developed a physical vapor deposition process for coating the surfaces of carbide or high-speed steel strip‑cutting blades with hard layers of titanium carbide or titanium nitride. In 1868, the British metallurgist Mushet produced alloy tool steel containing tungsten. Cutting tools for machining various external surfaces include turning tools, planers, milling cutters, external broaches, and files; hole‑making tools comprise drills, reamers, boring tools, reamers, and internal broaches; threading tools encompass taps, dies, automatic self‑opening threading heads, threading lathes, and threading mills; gear‑cutting tools include hobs, rack cutters, shaving cutters, and bevel‑gear cutters; and cutoff tools comprise toothed circular saw blades, band saws, bow saws, cutoff lathes, and saw‑blade milling cutters, among others. In the late Warring States period (3rd century BCE), thanks to mastery of carburizing technology, copper‑based cutting tools were manufactured.

The development of slitting machine blades has held an important place in the history of human progress.