Razor Blade Grinding Wheels

A case study for the industrial blade and knife industry

The industrial blade and knife industry is converting from conventional, mineral-based abrasives, such as aluminum oxide, to engineered ‘superabrasives’ containing diamond or cubic boron nitride (cBN) in order to reduce manufacturing costs and scrap, and to increase manufacturing capacity by increasing line speeds.

In most cases, existing equipment can be retrofitted for these new razor blade grinding wheels which offer higher material removal rates, faster line speeds, more consistent product quality, and reduced scrap, as well as decreased operator adjustment and machine downtime due to wheel wear.

A recent case study from Coastal Diamond, where one of our customer was using our razor blade grinding wheels, illustrates some of these aspects in a real world example. In a continuous stainless steel blade grinding application:

• Line speeds were increased 4x
• Wheel changeovers and dressing/truing adjustments were virtually eliminated, increasing line production time
  approximately 24% and reducing labor by 8 man-hours per day
• Overall conversion costs were reduced nearly 50%
• Post-conversion product had a superior finish than the conventional process finish

Summary of Superabrasive Razor Blade Grinding Wheels Conversion Benefits:

1. Higher Material Removal Rates – as calculated by the Grind Ratio (cubic volume of stock removed over the cubic volume of wheel wear), of at least 200:1 post-conversion
2. Faster Line Speeds – achievable due to the superior heat dissipation and improved Grind Ratio
3. Consistent and Superior Product Quality – superabrasives produce a finer finish, and improved consistency from part-to-part as well as hour-to-hour
4. Reduced Scrap – less variation means that more product is “within spec”
5. Decreased Operator Adjustments – limited operator involvement due to reduced wheel wear and increased
   product consistency
6. Decreased Machine Downtime – limited need for wheel changeovers and dressing/truing

In this example, from individual machine trials to the entire plant conversion, Coastal Diamond’s application engineers were able to assist the customer with proper abrasive selection, machine modifications, and operating parameters to increase their productivity and substantially reduce their costs.

Coastal Diamond is ready to help you convert to a more profitable process using our razor blade grinding wheels today!