Furukawa Rock Drill USA

09/09/2026

How can you tell when a drill bit needs changing? A sharp bit blasts out big, heavy chips as air clears the hole. As carbide buttons wear down, those cuttings shrink. A fully worn bit stops cutting rock altogether, grinding it into more of a powder instead. That shift is a direct signal of pe*******on rate, and it means what took minutes can start taking much longer. Watching cuttings size is one of the simplest ways to gauge bit condition. Swap at the right time to keep consumable costs down and minimize downtime.

Click on the link to find out more about excessive drill bit wear and how to avoid it:
https://frdusa.com/excessive-drill-bit-wear/

09/07/2026

09/02/2026

Y2K ushered in a new era of innovation at KENT. In 2003, we received a patent for a ‘connector assembly for mounting an implement to a prime mover.’ That innovation was the Switch Hitch, which made breaker attachment easier and eliminated the need for OEM-specific mounting brackets. In 2005, KENT became the exclusive distributor of the TEFRA Auto Coupler, a line of pin-grabbing quick couplers recognized as one of the safest and most reliable in the industry. The Rock Drill Division introduced several new down-the-hole drills that excelled in all rock conditions.

Learn more about our storied history.
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08/26/2026

Rock drilling is demanding, so it might not be a big surprise that the operator behind the controls could be the biggest factor when it comes to excessive drill bit wear. Heat, abrasion, and repeated use all contribute to premature bit wear. But, it’s the operator who dials in feed pressure, rotation speed, percussion and more. Push rotation speed too hard for the rock conditions, and buttons on the drill bit wear out faster. Experienced operators read the rock and adjust in real time. Less experienced ones may miss the warning signs until damage is done.

Learn how technology can help compensate for operator experience in our latest blog post about excessive drill bit wear:
https://frdusa.com/excessive-drill-bit-wear/

08/19/2026

The start of the decade saw big changes at Gougler Industries (KENT’s parent company). Furukawa Rock Drill Sales Company purchased the nearly 70-year-old company, giving it an anchor location in the Western Hemisphere to continue growing in the boom-mounted hydraulic-demolition breaker market and to sell its line of top hammer blast hole drills. Later in the decade, KENT demolition expanded its manufacturing capabilities with a 60,000-square-foot addition to its existing shop. The company also launched the line of F-Series Hydraulic Breakers, redesigning and replacing the long running G-Series.

Learn more about our storied history.
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08/12/2026

Experienced drillers spend years learning to feel formation changes through the machine, adjusting percussion, feed force, and rotation in real time. That instinct of “reading the rock” is hard to teach and harder to hire.

Self-adjusting dampening systems don’t have to wait for the operator to react. Like a car's suspension responding to the road, auto-dampening reacts to shifting rock conditions instantly. That means most operators can perform at a level that previously required a more experienced and skilled driller.

FRD's dual dampening system takes it further, with one damper maintaining bit-to-rock contact and another absorbing rebound energy. The result: greater responsiveness across a wider range of rock conditions, reducing the number of manual adjustments needed.

Read more about how your blasthole drill can “read” rock for more efficient drilling:
https://frdusa.com/drilling-smarter-not-harder/

08/05/2026

Excessive bit wear doesn’t announce itself. It just quietly eats away at margins. Slower pe*******on. Longer cycle times. Thinner profits on each hole drilled. For drilling contractors, consumable costs like fuel are easier to see, but premature bit wear is the quieter budget killer. The good news: advanced drifter technology can make a big difference, helping contractors drill faster while extending bit life.

Want to know what's really driving excessive wear and how to stop it? Read more in our newest blog:

https://frdusa.com/excessive-drill-bit-wear/

07/29/2026

Bell bottoms, disco and Kent. Three big hits of the 1970s. The Kent name debuted in the pneumatic market in 1971 when Kent Air Tool launched a line of pneumatically operated handheld tools. The line included paving breakers, tampers, diggers, chippers, scalers, vi*****rs and pumps. 1973 was a big year with a patent granted for a ‘reciprocating air hammer’ marketed under the AirRam name, which would go on to be an industry-leading breaker. Kent Air Tool continued to innovate, introducing a full range of pedestal booms, vibratory plate compactors and more.

Learn more about our groovy history.
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07/22/2026

For more efficient drilling in variable rock conditions, the high-output compressor is one of the most effective hardware solutions. The continuous flushing process of pumping compressed air down the drill string and back up the hole to clear cuttings only works if there’s enough air volume and pressure to do the job.

Voids are the wildcard. When the drill encounters a cavity, air escapes laterally into the void instead of traveling up the hole. With a larger reservoir of available air, a high-output system can compensate for losses through voids and still deliver enough volume to properly flush the hole. The operation keeps moving even when the geology changes.

Click on the link to find out more about how high-output compressors keep air where it belongs—to keep your production on schedule:
https://frdusa.com/drilling-smarter-not-harder/

07/15/2026

MTV, Cabbage Patch Kids and hydraulic breakers were the rage. Kent Air Tool recognized that the future of boom-mounted demolition tools were those powered by the carrier’s hydraulics. To enter this growing market, Kent forged an OEM relationship with the Furukawa Rock Drill Sales Company, marketing six models of hydraulic breakers under the HydraRam name. With Furukawa’s dependable design and advanced product line, Kent quickly grew its hydraulic breaker market share. Later in the decade, Kent Air Tool became KENT Demolition to better reflect the company’s vision for the future.

Learn more about our totally tubular history.
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