Laser Cutting Abrasives Materials
For a long time abrasives converting was dominated by knife slitters and die punchers. But in the year 2000 Zenna launched a laser converting line, specially designed to cut fiber discs, a difficult to die-cut material. A decade later Zenna introduced the first wide web sandpaper converting line, designed to cut high volumes "multi-hole" discs and sheets. These products distinguish from standard abrasives shapes, as they are impossible to produce with a die and knife press. Cutting 100, 200 or even 350 small holes for improved dust extraction has become the standard in the car repair market. But even for generic abrasive materials and shapes, laser cutting offers significant advantages versus die and knife:
- Less waste, as the laser can cut (nearly) disc-to-disc
- Eliminates wear on tooling, saving cost of sharpening
- High quality and precision of the edge in any shape thinkable
- From first to last part a constant quality, contact-free cutting
- Only seconds changeover time between different jobs
Zenna offers a wide range of abrasive cutting systems, either specialized for a specific material like fiber and heavy cloth or more generic materials, like Velcro, paper, film and PSA. Each of these materials can range from P24 to P1000, which is no problem for laser cutting. There are laser cutting systems for narrow web up to 500mm ( FlexCutter) and half to full web of 750mm up to 1700mm (MultiCutter).
The major reasons to consider laser cutting systems of Zenna are:
Flexibility
- Any shape - disc, belt, sheet, brush, button disc, flower,
- Any hole size & pattern – multi-hole, 1mm ~ 10mm holes, slits, fingers,
High Productivity (OEE)
- ‘No’ change-over time
Design possibilities
- Special shapes, multi-holes, waves, sharp edges
Low maintenance
- Hardly any moving parts
- Minor weekly , monthly inspection, Zenna Service Contract for preventive maintenance
Consistent quality
- First disc has same quality cut as Last disc of a job, no waer
- Sharp edges, no threats, no burning marks (except phenol-based raisin)