Life-time (Sheeter and Cross cutting knives)

Why must the knives have changed more frequently? How can you improve life-time?

• Wrong knife adjustment (adjustment between top- and bottom-knife)
• In-run time of the knives too short
• Wrong choice of the knife quality related to the product to be cut
• Problems while cutting high grammages resp. higher paper grades or multiple layers
• Knife geometry and tolerances are not in line with the OEM guidelines
• Grinding errors

How to optimize life-time
The sheeter/cross-cutter is a critical and quite sensitive machine. Frequent knife changes are costly, time-consuming and are highly influencing the cost efficiency in production. In most of the cases, the time dedicated to adjusting/set-up the knife and optimizing the life-time after a knife change is not sufficient. Additionally, knife qualities are too low relating to product to be cut and to achieve acceptable life-times. Best life times can be achieved with powder metal steel HSS knives. Depending on the application, the usage of tungsten carbide tipped knives can be advisable. In order improve the knife’s durability, we furthermore recommend a suitable in-run time and a timely adjustment/setting of the screws to minimize vibrations.

Choosing the right material quality of knife influences directly the life-time, but not so much the cutting quality itself. The cutting quality is mainly influenced by factors such like cutting angles, tolerances and the surface roughness (polished vs. standard).

TKM steel knives (from D2 high carbon high chrome steel to powder metal HSS steel) are produced from a solid material with a high hardness, wear resistance and toughness. Screw marks, caused by vibrations in production, are minimized by the through-hardened and solid materials. The results are longer life-times of the knives and much lower maintenance costs such like shutdown times and service/grinding costs.


We recommend:

TKM sheeter and cross cutting knives are available in various material steel grades and fit to your individual cutting application. Ask our service specialists for the best set-up procedures and the most cost-effective cutting solutions. Book our best practice “slitter and sheeter training courses”; this will optimize your cutting processes.