Neuenkamp is a specialised blade and knife manufacturer of high precision tooling for strip slitting, side trimming and cut-to-length-lines. Neuenkamp have been manufacturing high precision longitudinal, slitting and side trimming tools for over 90 years on the same site in Remscheid, Germany. Today, Neuenkamp is a leading manufacturer in the field worldwide.

The main industrial sectors targeted by the company are steel and non-ferrous metals processors. Special expertise is involved in the design and manufacturing of product with thickness tolerances accuracies down to ± 0.0005mm (half a micron) and the best possible surface finishes that increase knife performance and life. As a standard feature, slitter knives and spacers up to 420mm diameter have a thickness tolerance of ± 0,001mm and parallelism and flatness are within 0,002mm.

Roll shear knives are manufactured to a thickness tolerance of ± 0.001mm and for special requirements knives with a thickness tolerance of ± 0.0005mm can be supplied. Roll shear knives are manufactured up to 600mm (24.00 inches) in diameter for slitting and edge-trimming lines, using special metallurgies for forged tool steels, high speed steels, high performance steels and special metals as well as carbides. Knives are available with ground, lapped or polished side faces.

“We have been Neuenkamp’s agents in South Africa for the last four years and the company has benefitted from having a dedicated slitting expert concentrating on marketing and selling their products,” said Rob Barclay of Ideal Trading 253cc.

“We have been assisting, guiding and educating local companies on the best options of tooling they require to maintain and grow their position in the market. We have presented the Neuenkamp Technical Slitting Theory seminars at various companies who realise the importance of having ongoing in house training for their employees responsible for slitting. This training takes place in the training room as well as on the shop floor. Candidates benefit by having a better understanding of, firstly how quality tooling can assist them in producing quality slit material. Secondly, the slitting team members learn to appreciate the importance of the correct handling and care of the precision slitter tooling so as not to damage the tools. Thirdly, candidates learn more about the functions of each tool that comprise the “set up” on the slitter.”

“It is amazing to see how candidates respond to the opportunity of learning more. There are three important factors that come into play for quality slitting to be achieved. Namely the slitting machine including the tooling, the material being slit and the men or team that operates and maintains the equipment.”

“Slitting has been thought of as an art, but it is increasingly becoming recognised as a science. Because of the advances in equipment, tooling and software, it is now possible to control the variables and to improve the slitting process to achieve results never before possible.”

“The most important variable is the horizontal clearance between the knives as well as the vertical clearance. Poor quality tooling will result in inconsistent and inaccurate clearance settings that will produce poor quality slit strips.”

“Having the correct spacer sizes in the tooling inventory is of the utmost importance. When slitting thin gauges with clearances of 0.02mm or 0.03mm there has to be spacers in the inventory to allow for these clearances.”

“With poor quality tooling or tools in a bad condition or not manufactured to the correct specification, it is very hard, if not impossible, to get accurate clearance settings. When using poor quality tooling not manufactured to the correct tolerances, so much time is wasted fixing setups. It is always better and less costly to do it right first time.”

“If you want good slit edges, have the right tooling, look after the tools, maintain and keep them in good condition.”

The Neuenkamp range includes rotary shear knives, stripper rings – bonded and loose – separator discs and spacers, knife collar systems, knife quill sets, straight knives, knife polishing, software – CamB tooling assembly software – and tool storage systems.

For further details contact Rob Barclay on 082 605 9418 or visit www.neuenkamp.de