Downloads and Support › Info for Plastic Fabricators

General Facts You Should Know:


    1. Most plastics are highly abrasive, therefore plastic saw blades must be tipped with the hardest, corrosion resistant, carbide grades possible to obtain their maximum cutting life.

    2. Cutting thin plastic sheets and thin extrusions require saw blades engineered with many teeth to help reduce the chip load per tooth. Thick sheets and thick extrusions require saw blades engineered with fewer teeth to increase the chip load per tooth, and reduce friction and power requirements.

    3. Plastics that tend to melt from the friction of cutting require a tooth geometry designed to reduce the amount of cutting friction.

    4. In general, it is better to use the thinnest saw blade possible when cutting, such as a THIN RIM, or THIN KERF model. Thin blades push easier, save material, and Tooth for Tooth will cut cleaner than a thicker blade.

    5. Plastic cutting, carbide tipped, saw blades require VERY SHARP CUTTING EDGES. The degree of sharpness needed can only be achieved by grinding with VERY FINE GRIT diamond wheels, 600 grit or finer, is a MUST!

    6. NEVER OVERRUN a saw blade! Instead, have your saw blades sharpened at the first sign of dulling. Excessive dulling requires EXCESSIVE REGRINDING to regain a sharp edge, thereby reducing the number of sharpenings possible for that saw blade.

    7. It is strongly recommended that your saw blades be sent to a factory authorized repair & service center.

Sharpening Basics:

    THE PROBLEM:

    The almost universal complaint being voiced by plastic fabricators and distributors, is their inability to achieve like new cutting performance of their expensive plastic cutting blades after they've been sharpened.

    THE SOLUTION:

    The answer is quite simple: Return your saw blade to the saw blade manufacturer or to a FACTORY AUTHORIZED sharpening facility.

    Production Managers, Cutting Room Supervisors, and experienced machine operators will no doubt have learned that:

      a.) Very few saw blade manufacturers can produce a saw blade capable of the kind of quality cut required by the Plastics Industry.

      b.) Most local saw blade sharpeners often lack the equipment, knowledge, or skills required to resharpen a quality plastic cutting blade to its peak cutting condition.

    So, how do you achieve a "like new" level of performance?

    In order to restore a saw blade to that "LIKE - NEW BLADE PERFORMANCE", the following conditions must be met :

      1. Heavy duty, automatic, saw grinding equipment are used by the facility to...

        a.) soak up vibrations during grinding which can cause ridging on the cutting edge.

        b.) ensure the exact duplication of grinding conditions, tooth after tooth, after tooth, and so on.

      2. All grinding equipment, including mounting arbors and bushings, is routinely maintained to guarantee that correct blade tolerances are produced.

      3. Ultra-fine grinding wheels are used to achieve maximum sharpness of the cutting edge, (600 grit or finer).

      4. Inspection of the saw blade plate/body is made to determine ultimate flatness and proper tension.

      5. Inspection of the saw blade concentricity is made to check for run out straightness, (+/- .001).

      6. Inspection of the magnified carbide tips are made to check for imperfections of the cutting edge, (20 X min.).

    Achieving these optimum sharpening conditions can seem like an arduous and costly task, however, only through proper maintenance can a quality saw blades perform to the level it did when it was new.

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