A basic principle of cutting that has existed since its invention centuries is that wood chips need to be directed into a chip gullet in front of the cutting edge. AKE overcame this supposed law in 2013 with tooling that ushers in a revolutionary new era in this field of technology.

The traditional way of thinking about the wood cutting process makes the assumption that every chip produced by a cutting edge is directed into a chip gullet in front of the cutting edge and is ejected from the workpiece once the cutting edge has left the material. AKE questioned this belief and arrived at extremely interesting findings, which ultimately led to a new generation of saw blades such as the SuperSilent. AKE refers to this development as ‘Cutting 2.0’ and a clear competitive advantage for their customers.

AKE 2.0 tools are now established in the market around the World. AKE claims long tool lives where re-work is gone; high feed rates are common; dust is eliminated and clean cuts are the norm. New machines can be relied on to deliver the performance promised because the tool won’t let the process down. This is made possible because the annoying multiple chipping of previous tools was overcome by AKE tool designers. The benefits are claimed on a wide range of machines, materials and processes. One such tool is the Panel sizing saw blade 2.0

Customers’ experiences with this new saw blade have been purely positive. In the field test performed in various industrial companies throughout Europe, tool life increases of up to 70% were achieved. The finished cutting quality was rated either “very good” or “good” by all testers. Noise emissions were reduced by 10 dB (A), which corresponds to a noise reduction of 50%. The same saw blade was able to cut through a mixture of materials, including chipboard, MDF, plywood and HPL, just as reliably and cleanly as it would cut any material in individual machining.

At the end of the tool life, the panel sizing saw blade 2.0 has shown total costs 35% lower compared to circular saw blades of other manufacturers. The thin-kerf version used 25% less power consumption and 25% less material usage. As soon as chips leave the cutting edge, they are immediately and precisely directed into flank faces positioned laterally in the basic body of the saw blade, where they can release their tension without rubbing excessively against the lateral flank faces. AKE has coined the term “ChipBelt®” for this alternative chip gullet, as it is positioned along the circumference of the basic body on both sides, like a belt. AKE tooling is sold in Australia by Salestech.