While visiting ARKU’s U.S. headquarters in Cincinnati, OH, two things became clear: 1) this was a newly designed headquarters with very modern/Euro looking style and functionality; and 2) we were going to have some fun with the Under the Hood stories and running the deburring and leveling machines.
The EdgeBreaker 4000 is stout and can handle materials up to almost four inches thick. The working width is 51 inches. Naturally, many people cut thick stock with plasma or flame-cut methods. These processes can leave behind industrial-strength burrs and slag, and that’s where we get acquainted with the EdgeBreaker 4000.
The machine seems to be simplicity itself, and it is, in terms of use and even maintenance. Even the HMI (human-machine interface) is pretty intuitive, something you can get used to after the second or third use. Additionally, you can use it while you’re fully suited up for work–even your hands, as you’ll see in the third video.
To do the work, first you enter your settings on the control panel. Next, you place the part to be finished onto a conveyor, and the part goes through two stations inside the machine. The first station is a grinding drum that rotates and oscillates, and is the main tool to deburr the part. A very tough and flexible sandpaper cylinder is held in place by an inflatable cylinder. The drum is outfitted with a rubber backing, which allows it to contour around the parts, as well as allowing a slight “give” to prevent any tears in the sandpaper. Let’s have ARKU marketing man Denis Weinfurtner show us this first station in this first video:
The first station gets rid of all the slag and resurfaces the top of the plate, but it doesn’t do much for rounding. In this video, that’s the job of the second stage. This stage takes a different approach to surface improvement; it has many “brushes” or blocks placed along an elongated oval. This oval of blocks rotates and crosses the surface of the part mainly in an east-to-west pattern. (In the first stage, the part is processed in north-south style, but the big cylinder does oscillate a bit from east to west.) The blocks continue around the oval, and thus they make twice the contact of a mere line of blocks.
The blocks don’t wear out easily. They can wear more than an inch before the system tells you it’s time to consider changing. Because the second stage’s system automatically recalibrates based on wear, you never have to waste time doing that yourself. Even as the brushes are reduced in height, they do the same job as they ever did, as they are put into the same position relative to the work surface as they were when they were brand new. As the blocks wear, the system brings them closer to the work surface. If they get too worn to be safe, the machine won’t start until the blocks are changed (the warning comes through the HMI).
Maintenance and changeout demands zero tools. Denis Weinfurtner continues his tour of the EdgeBreaker 4000 with some information on the second stage:
Having taken an Under the Hood look at the EdgeBreaker 4000, it’s time to fire it up and send a part through. We had on hand a particularly ugly piece of plate with different types and sizes of cuts.
We get a look at the control panel, and something intriguing but practical about how the interface can be used while the operator is prepared to send parts through (you’ll see it on the video). It took about one minute to get rid of the tough burrs as well as round the edges to make the part safe and usable. No need to send it through twice. While we don’t see the part getting the full treatment inside the machine, we do know exactly what’s happening inside. Denis Weinfurtner again shows us the way:
The second stage can be set up according to the ongoing jobs of a shop; deburring with grinding blocks, or rounding with rounding blocks (in these videos we used rounding blocks, top and bottom, but you could mix or match grinding blocks too, i.e. grind on the bottom, round on top). There is something satisfying about putting in a very tough-looking part on one end of the EdgeBreaker 4000 and taking a clean, rounded part out of the other end—and knowing how it happened.
This is our first of many Under the Hood segments. If you have machines you’d like to see covered, or if you have other technical suggestions, please contact us at editorial@fifthwavemfg.com. We will be happy to hit the road on your behalf.