Page 27 - MetalForming Magazine April 2023

Special Section
FABRICATION
24 MetalForming/April 2023 www.metalformingmagazine.com
Why
Automated
Deburring
WORKS IN FABRICATION
Need quicker throughput with fewer rejects—and safer employees doing more rewarding work? Then automated deburring might be right for you.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
IIn fabricating operations, where sheet metal parts off of cutting, bending and punching machines often route to assembly, painting and other operations, clean edges are a must. This is crucial to aid in fitup, downstream processing and safe han- dling. Automated deburring offers big gains here, providing consistent per- formance, reducing bottlenecks and freeing employees from the dangers and monotony of hand grinding to focus on more value-added tasks.
So says Denis Weinfurtner, North American marketing manager for Arku Inc., with U.S. headquarters in Cincin- nati, OH. In an interview with Metal- Forming, he outlines the advantages of automated deburring in fabricating operations and provides an update on technology developments.
“Grinding fabricated parts and com-
ponents removes slag or burrs, or rounds out edges to increase handling safety, provide better fitup for assembly, and enable improved paint adhesion,” Weinfurtner offers, commenting on the importance of such deburring.
Addresses Labor Scarcity, Manual-Grinding Safety Issues The recent pandemic aggravated an
already scarce labor pool and brought new life to automation efforts on the part of manufacturers, with the labor- intensive process of deburring an ideal candidate, according to Weinfurtner.
“Many fabricating operations employ people solely to hand-grind parts after laser, plasma, oxyfuel cutting or punching,” he says. “Perhaps three to four employees, maybe across two shifts, spend their workday at a bench with a grinder and a vice. Automation in this area provides an ideal solution. At the push of a button, a machine provides safe, secure and consistent high-quality deburring results.”
Manual grinding subjects employees not only to a monotonous task, but also to risk of repetitive-motion injuries, cuts from unfinished-part handling and the breathing in of grinding-abrasive and metal dust, Weinfurtner explains.
“On top of all of this, manual grind- ing is time-consuming and will not pro- vide consistent high-quality products,”
he says. “You can have the best hand grinders in the world standing there for 8 hr., but they’ll cut into one part a little deeper, or grind too light on anoth- er, or round off an edge not quite per- fectly. Sometimes, personnel can forget to grind a particular part feature.”
Grinding creates dust, from the abrasive and the workpiece, often a significant health hazard in manual grinding. Dust-collection apparatus in such operations may not provide ade- quate particulate removal. Automated deburring units, according to Wein- furtner, can be outfitted to collect any dust created by the process.
“The machines remove dust and debris and send it through a set of fil- ters,” he says. “And, when deburring aluminum or titanium for example, dust can become flammable and explo- sive. Arku’s dust-extraction system sucks the dust through a wet bath to eliminate risk of sparks or smoldering. If grinding carbon steels, dry dust extraction will work. Fabricators want- ing the flexibility of automated debur- ring of combinations of materials will want to select wet dust extraction. This involves separate sets of consumables that can be swapped out depending on the material undergoing deburring. Thanks to the intuitive quick-change system, these consumables can be changed quickly and with no tools.