Automated belt grinding finishes five sides

To address the weld finishing on the six sides of a fabricated gun safe cabinets, belt grinding machine specialist has partially automated the formerly labour-intensive process.

Having invested substantially in state-of the-art CNC metalforming and plasma profiling machinery, a robot welding cell and a powder coating line over the past few years, Sutton, Surrey-based Brattonsound Engineering could well have rested on its laurels.

But something was still missing.

Manufacturing a range of gun safes, Brattonsound Engineering operates in a market populated by low-cost, low-quality products from within the UK and Europe.

The company had, therefore, taken the decision to ensure that its products, although more expensive, would be the best available in terms of functionality and quality.

However, there was one particular aspect of the manufacturing process that still needed attention, namely the weld dressing of the fabricated gun safe cabinets.

Traditionally, Brattonsound had used angle grinders and sanding discs to remove any excess weld and to dress the six faces of the cabinets prior to painting.

This process was not only labour intensive, with each cabinet having to be manually positioned five times to complete the process, but was also dirty, noisy and expensive, with each sanding disc having to be replaced after just two cabinets had been dressed.

Finding an alternative was proving both a problem and a slight embarrassment to Brattonsound's managing director, Gerald Tagg.

"When I was showing people around the factory, trying to impress them, I used to avoid that bit or to explain that I had not yet found the right machine.

We were then introduced to Ingo Heiland, the sales manager of belt grinding machine specialist Kuhlmeyer, at a big hunting show in Germany, who suggested that he might have a machine that would solve our problems." That particular machine is the Kuhlmeyer ZBS twin-belt grinding machine which, while partially automating the process, has in Tagg's words "brought this particular process into the 21st century." The installation of the 'universal' ZBS machine by Kuhlmeyer's UK agent, Ellesco, has resulted in many benefits for Brattonsound, particularly in the areas of health and safety, and quality.

"The physical side of the work was a big concern, with the safe cabinets weighing up to 50kg," confirms Tagg.

"With the Kuhlmeyer machine you only have one lift onto the table, where the component is held in place by suction cups.

Pneumatics then assist in positioning the part, after that the machine does all the hard work.

So, from a health and safety point of view, the machine was a must.

Additionally, with the versatility of the machine's 'universal-jointed' table, the component can be ground on five sides in a single set-up." In the working area the two belts run parallel to each other before travelling around a 'triangular' pulley system.

This provides the operator with an open and safe working environment.

The component can then be presented to either of the belts and pressure applied using shaped pressure tools to achieve metal removal or the finish required.

The use of a clever drive and idle wheel system, along with pneumatic belt tensioning, allows the belts to be flexed in any direction and up to 90 degrees from its axis without the loss of tracking.

One immediate benefit to Brattonsound, following the installation, has been a marked improvement in the working environment.

The obvious by-product of weld dressing, namely grit and dust, used to be a serious concern.

Even though masks were provided and operators instructed to wear them, they were disliked by the operators.

The inclusion of a Carter-Thorne dust extraction unit has eliminated all of those concerns and has resulted in Tagg being happy to show anyone the process.

Tagg is also very complimentary about the level of service and support that he received from Ellesco and Kuhlmeyer.

"We had no complaints at all.

The two companies did everything that we expected of them." This included a day's training that helped Brattonsound to fully understand the capabilities of the machine.

"We learnt so much in that day in terms of techniques and ways of thinking through the jobs.

They also made recommendations as to the type of belts that we needed with each belt lasting up to three days.

I can honestly say that the ZBS machine beats our original method in every way you can think of and it is helping us as a UK manufacturer compete against low-cost imports as we are, in my opinion, now well ahead in terms of quality of product.

Would we change back to our angle grinders?" They can't have the ZBS back is the immediate rhetorical response.

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