Combating Tool Wear with Proper Edge Prep

Check-out edge prep using the MET-2 Universal Edge Prep System

When I was a kid, I lived in a pretty small town, and I worked after school at the local hardware store. I did a lot of odd jobs for the store, like hauling out lumber, sorting nails, stocking shelves, even working the cash register. But the thing I remember most was sharpening knives. You see, the gentleman who owned the store had an electric sharpening machine, an industrial grade one, and the housewives and other folks from town would drop their knives and scissors and other cutting instruments off with him and he'd charge them a small fee to get them sharpened. And the job of actually running them through the machine usually fell to me.

These days, I work in the manufacturing industry, but I'll never forget sitting behind that counter sharpening knives. It really drove home to me the importance of keeping a cutting tool sharp, and you could really see the difference in those knives from when they got dropped off to when I was finished with them. It's something I try to keep in mind when I'm dealing with my own cutting tools now, all of them much larger and subjected to a lot more pressure than those kitchen knives from back in the day.

The cutting tools we use in the manufacturing industry have to cut through a lot of different kinds of metals, plastics, or other extremely dense and sturdy materials. They do it over and over again, and they do it under pressure and at very high temperatures. That's a lot more strain than just cutting up vegetables. But just like those knives, our cutting tools wear out eventually, get dull, and putting the proper edge back on them can make all the difference.

MET-2 Edge Prep System

Basically, any cutting tool does its job by removing a little bit of material from whatever it's cutting. That's true of a kitchen knife cutting a carrot, and it's true of a big manufacturing machine cutting a piece of sheet metal. The better honed the tool is, the better it does its job. But the same friction that does the cutting in the first place also wears on the edge of the tool itself, and will eventually cause it to lose its edge.

So what's the solution? Well, it's pretty much like what I did as a kid behind the counter of that hardware store, just on a bigger scale. Proper edge prep prevents tool wear, and keeps your cutting tools sharp and able to do their job, just like me sharpening all those kitchen knives. Only these days, our cutting tools are bigger, more complex, and they require a somewhat defter touch. That's why I turn to edge prep specialists like Mutschler Edge Technologies to ensure that my cutting tools are at their very best, so that my manufacturing processes can be at their very best.

The author of this article works in the manufacturing industry and utilizes Mutschler Edge Technologies (MET) for cost-effective edge-honing systems and services that enable him to apply standard or custom-edge preparations to a wide range of cutting tools. You can contact MET for a solution tailored to your edge-honing needs.

A Brief Guide to Controlling Burrs

Everyone in the manufacturing industry knows that burrs are unavoidable. Whether you're cutting, milling, grinding, turning, engraving, or drilling, it's inevitable that there are going to be some unwanted burrs left over on the workpieces once they've gone through the process. Burrs are just a part of the business, and taking care of them is where a good deburring solution comes in.

But there are ways to handle burrs that'll help keep them under control even before the deburring process begins. A thorough knowledge of the material that you're working with can help reduce or eliminate burrs, as can proper edge prep on tools and making sure that your feed rate is appropriate for the process that you're undertaking. Deburring costs make up a significant portion of manufacturing costs worldwide, and as a safety inspector, I've seen a lot of manufacturing operations that could have reduced the number of burrs they were generating with only a few small adjustments that would have saved them a lot of time and money in the long run.

CART Deburring Machine

The main way to control burrs is to know when, where, and how they're likely to form. Though burrs may be created where the tool enters the piece, a burr is most likely to form where the tool exits the part, especially if the part is made from ductile material.

There are a variety of different types of burrs that occur in different situations, such as Poisson burrs, rollover burrs, and breakout burrs. Burrs can occur because of cutting or machining, because of lateral flow, bending, or tearing of the material, as well as from solidification or redeposition, though the kind of burr that most people think of typically results from incomplete cutting. A thorough knowledge of the different kinds of burrs and what causes them can help to reduce or eliminate them in your production.

Portable Deburring Machines

A good way to reduce the burrs in a finished workpiece is to plan the machining steps in such a way as to minimize burrs. Burrs that are produced by one cut or process may be eliminated by a later one. You can also try to ensure that the burrs that are left when the piece is done are left in places where they are more easily removed, which will save time and money on deburring when the time comes.

Not all burrs can be avoided. They're just a fact of manufacturing life, and some of them are going to show up no matter what you do. That's where a good deburring solution comes in. Cleveland Deburring Machine Company (CDMC) are leaders in providing deburring solutions for the manufacturing industry. They have a variety of ready-made deburring systems available, and also do custom work for clients with specialized deburring needs. Part of controlling burrs is having the right deburring solutions for your business, and there's no one better to help you find it than CDMC!

Check-out CDMC/OLS Model 5000 Gear Deburring: