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Spangenberg/Westerheim/Oberkochen, Germany, 30th March 2020: The combination of a band saw blade from WIKUS-Sägenfabrik and a respective machine from MEBA Metall-Bandsägemaschinen enables the steel trader Günther + Schramm to cut tempering steel with a diameter of 200 mm and marks its entry into thin-cutting technology. The innovative flagship project by these three partners allows fast and efficient sawing of material with diameters of 130-300 mm using an innovative and powerful machine-band solution. This led to a cost reduction of approximately 20 percent for Günther + Schramm.
The system service provider Günther + Schramm was not able to reach the specified machining rate for tempering steel with a diameter of 200 mm using its own sawing machine. The company wanted to find a manufacturer that could contribute a suitable machine for testing purposes. This paved the way for a joint project that also included MEBA.
During cutting tests with the band saw blade ARION® FG from WIKUS on a MEBA standard machine, it was possible to significantly increase the cutting rate to 320 cm²/min. The thin-cutting band has also allowed Günther + Schramm to reduce cutting costs by 40 percent. The project partners see additional potential for raising the cutting speed of the band saw blade machine, which is why MEBA now provides the high-performance solution MEBAxtreme 800-600. The machine is now twice as fast as every other standard machine available on the market. Tempering steel 42 CrMo4 with a diameter of 380 mm was cut with the band saw blade ARION® FG at a band saw blade speed of 300 m/min and a feed speed of 150 mm/min in just 2.5 minutes – with a further improved cutting rate of about 453 cm²/min.
“The great thing here for us and our customers is that we can now realise several hundred cuts at short notice,” says Michael Sticke, deputy operations manager at Günther + Schramm GmbH.
The excellent cutting rates can be reached in combination with the band saw blade ARION® FG thanks to its carbide blade with a highly wear-resistant carbide coating. The special WIKUS thin-cutting technology with excellent blade stability also ensures the precise evenness of the cutting surface. For further optimisation, WIKUS developed a special tooth geometry, calculated cutting parameters and monitored all cutting test series.
“With the thin-cutting technology we are able to achieve approx. 20-35 m2 per material distribution when sawing construction steels, tempering steels, rust and acid-resistant steels with diameters ranging between 40-280 mm,” reports Andreas Priel, Head of Design at MEBA Metall-Bandsägemaschinen GmbH.
The benefits of thin-cutting technology range from low costs-per-cut and shorter cutting times through additional sawing capacity and material savings, and/or more sawing cuts from the material. “The technology allows productive, efficient and economic sawing and is worthwhile for steel traders that process orders with large lot sizes and also for forging workshops that process short cuts in large quantities,” explains Stefan Schwenda, technical supervisor at WIKUS-Sägenfabrik.
Elke Sachs, Head of Marketing