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Advanced Machine Technology Enables Saw Manufacturer To Expand Product Offering
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For over forty-five years the M. K. Morse Company (Canton, Ohio) has gained a worldwide reputation for manufacturing superior saw blades and power tool accessories. With a product range serving industrial, construction and welding markets just to name a few, M. K. Morse is recognized for development of many innovative sawing products for industrial use that include bi-metal and carbon band saw blades as well as on-site manufacturing of specially designed and engineered carbide-tipped saw blades.

One of the newer developments for M. K. Morse is their REVOLUTION® thin kerf cermet-tip circular saw blades used primarily in high volume cutting of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. “These blades have gained acceptance in steel service centers, forging operations and steel bearing manufacturing,” said Ed Galosi, Product Engineering Manager for M. K. Morse. “Their unique blade design combined with the cermet tip gives the users precise cutting in high volume production applications,” he continued.

Galosi pointed out that even with the years of successful manufacturing of all sorts of saw blades, the transition in production of the cermet tip product line had some learning curve to it. Galosi went on to say that the bulk of the cermet tip blades had been coming primarily from Japanese manufacturers. But as their popularity grew, M. K. Morse had seen the potential to add this as a product line. Today the REVOLUTION® line offers 360mm diameter blades as an ideal direct replacement for the OEM blades of several domestic and foreign saw manufacturers.

Cellular Manufacturing A Key To Success
M. K. Morse has partnered with VOLLMER (Carnegie, PA) to provide the machines required for blade production since engineering work began on the industrial circular saw blade line. According to Galosi, “We have benefited from the advanced features and reliable service provided by Vollmer machines. We do not use any other grinders for carbide or cermet grinding. I do not believe there is even any option other than Vollmer for the quality level we require.” The cermet-tip blades are produced in cells consisting of various configurations of a Vollmer CHD270 that grinds tooth tops and faces; a CHF270 for side-grinding; and a ND270 robotic unit that enables unattended loading, unloading and transfer of the saw blanks in the cell. “Our close relationship with M. K. Morse,” stated Vollmer President, Ralf Kraemer, “enabled us to configure a cell that provided maximum productivity and flexibility while ensuring stringent quality standards were consistently achieved.”

Unlike other circular and band saw blades that M. K. Morse produces on their Vollmer’s, the cermet-tip blades have some additional challenges to the manufacturing process. “They’re more intricate and you need to be more accurate,” pointed out Galosi. “If you’re talking about a carbide-tipped wood blade, the tolerances can be easily in the thousandths of an inch, maybe even up to 10 thousandths of an inch. In a metal cutting carbide-tipped blade, maybe 4 or 6 thousandths maximum tolerance. But as we move into cermets, the tolerances could be two thousandths of an inch or less in all dimensions.” All Vollmer machines feature automatic measuring and compensation enabling the repeatable accuracy in the dimensional tolerances required for this product line.

Galosi also discussed the ease of operation of the Vollmer machines. The easy-to-use controls enable operators to store the manufacturing programs required for the various blade sizes and tooth configurations. With the cell’s capabilities to handle a variety of saw blank diameters, changeovers, according to Galosi, are pretty ‘seamless’. One of the benefits in this rapid changeover capability has been to see some reduction in the time required to fulfill customer orders.

Filtration Plays An Important Role In The Process
All of the Vollmer machines in operation at M. K. Morse are tied to a Transor Filter System (Transor Filter USA, Elk Grove Village, IL). Ed Galosi also spoke a bit about the important role that filtration plays in the manufacturing of all of their product line. “Coolant cleanliness is often overlooked, but very important in grinding hard materials such as carbide and cermet,” stated Galosi. His experience is that dirty coolant interferes with the grinding wheels’ cutting and can lead to poor surface finish and/or over-heating the carbide or cermet tip which in turn leads to micro-cracking of the tip and causes premature product failure once it’s put into use. All of the newer units also feature a chiller for the oil that maintains a consistent temperature to address the possibility of over heating.

He noted that with the Transor’s filtering the machine coolant to one micron absolute, the dirt and debris typically associated with grinding carbide is virtually eliminated. There is a Transor unit attached to each of the Vollmer cells. With the automatic back flushing process that cleans the filter cartridges, machine operators experience virtually no down-time for changing filter elements like with other forms of filtration.

Another significant benefit that M. K. Morse has experienced because of the Transor is the reclamation of the carbide. According to Transor President Irv Kaage, “Reclaiming the carbide captured by the Transor is another benefit of the system. The carbide is removed from the elements and placed into a cloth bag for easy handling. As there is no filter media contained in the sludge, the re-sale value of the carbide is higher than other forms of filtration.” Galosi noted that it is simple to unload and empty the disposal bag containing the carbide.

“Over the last few years we have realized there’s a payback factor in the carbide. With today’s higher prices that we get from the recycling company we use, that’s an added benefit,” stated Galosi. On occasion, Galosi has sent oil samples back to Transor for analysis. “We get the response back that everything’s in good shape, so I guess no news is good news.”

Cleanliness is another benefit that Morse achieves with the Transor systems. Morse’s Marketing Manger, Theresa Hannen, noted the significance of excellence in operations maintenance when inviting a distributor for a plant tour. She pointed out that both the plant and all machinery have an exceptional level of cleanliness to them. “We bring in large accounts to show them our manufacturing facility here in the United States,” stated Hannen, “and we win over a lot of people who are considering Morse that way.”

Continuing Innovation For The Future
M. K. Morse is still headquartered where they started in Canton, Ohio. But to meet the needs of a growing global business they have expanded in recent years by establishing warehouses in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, West Yorkshire, England and Helsinki, Finland. With the Vollmer cells, Morse’s capabilities can reach 24/7 production. “We haven’t achieved ‘lights-out’ manufacturing,” concluded Ed Galosi, “but I am very comfortable with our current level of automation being able to meet customer demands for the myriad of products we offer.” Through their partnerships with Vollmer and Transor, Morse is confident that as they develop new, innovative products, they have the machine tools to meet their rigid quality standards and customers’ expectations.

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