Wood is a raw material that surrounds us from all sides. It is one of the first materials accompanying man since the dawn of time, which is still reliable and - in many aspects - irreplaceable. At the same time, in the era of artificial substitutes, its value has increased dramatically. Oak furniture, alder floors or houses built of larch are undoubtedly highly luxurious products.
All wood products go a long way before they come into general use. The initial phase of wood processing is carried out by sawmills. This is where the cutted trees go, which are dried and processed using specialized machines. And here we come to the heart of the subject, because some of these machines are equipped with specialized industrial knives. The machines in question are mainly industrial chippers and planers. The former are used to shred redundant elements of the tree. The latter is equipment designed to process wood in such a way as to give it a properly smooth surface and thickness.
Wood is a difficult material to work with, so knives designed for this task must be hard, durable and very sharp. With constant use, they dull quickly, so regular maintenance is very important. That is why many companies decide to purchase the appropriate grinder for industrial knives to regenerate their tools on an ongoing basis.
Zwickl Holzwerk is a huge sawmill located in Austria, in the town of Bahnstraße. It started its activity in 1960, when the first owner purchased a small carpenter's saw Zechmann and started a small sawmill together with his wife.
Over the past 60 years, the company has grown and expanded. Currently, it has the status of a large enterprise, equipped with many modern solutions, e.g. in production halls with an area of 1000 m2 with automated planing lines.
GRAFS TO HELP
Zwickl Holzwerk approached us with a request for an offer for a grinding machine. Like any company that wants to start grinding knives in-house, the company's management decided that the costs of outsourcing sharpening were too high. Added to this is the logistics issue and the lack of reliable grinding plants nearby.
The sawmill uses chipper knives, which wear out very quickly during work. Sending them for regeneration results in a long waiting time for the knife, sometimes several days.
The investment in self-sharpening of tools pays off in about three years. And we, as the manufacturer, are able to adjust the grinder to every customer's request, so that it fulfills its function in the best possible way.
WHICH GRINDER FOR ZWICKL HOZLWERK?
Responding to the needs of Zwickl Holzwerk, we adapted the machine in such a way that it was as simple as possible to use.
We proposed an automatic GRAFS GR model with a grinding length of 1200 mm. For effective cleaning of the coolant from the output resulting from sharpening, we have included a magnetic separator.
The machine has been adapted to sharpen chipper knives and planer knives. Our client was also particularly interested in grinding flat surfaces. The company has a sawmill, where guides are made, the surfaces of which must be regularly regenerated, which is why we have used a special mechanism that allows to move the grinding motor from the inclined position to the "0" position.
In addition, the company asked for the possibility of mounting the electric box in a convenient place, e.g. on the wall. Usually in our machines the box is mounted directly on the machine, but as we are not afraid of any challenges, we were able to comply with this request and the electric box was delivered separately from the machine.
We can offer the manual and the entire control panel in the language used by our Client, and this was also the case here.
WHY GRAFS?
Zwickl Holzwerk won over our product for several reasons. Our grinder maintains European standards at an attractive price compared to other European suppliers. It is so easy to use that it can be used by any employee who has undergone training prepared by our company. We always adjust our offers to individual customer needs.
We helped Zwickl Holzwerk to implement a grinding system from scratch. We guided our client from the moment of purchase, until the machine was installed and launched in the company's plant. We helped with the selection of appropriate abrasives and other accessories.
The GRAFS GR grinder has been successfully sharpening planer knives at the DI Johannes Zwickl Holzwerk sawmill since December 2021.
