TPT July 2016

T E CHNOLOG Y

High-quality edge preparation for welding seams

exhibiting outside radii or inner contours. Tubes and small workpieces can also be processed with ease. The principal offer from Trumpf is the TruTool TKF series of bevellers. Here, smaller models such as the TruTool TKF 700 weigh just 5.4kg, which provides the advantage that they are not exclusively for shop use, but are portable and can be used away from the factory at a customer’s site. The TruTool TKF 700 can be used to prepare edges on sheet metal up to 20mm thick in the vertical or horizontal position or even overhead. It can either be guided by hand or mounted on a workstation for static use. The unit requires no extra tools to adjust the bevel height and sheet thickness, and comes with fixed angle cutter mounts that help users produce bevel angles of 30°, 37.5° or 45° to suit their specific welding requirements. A quick-release lock allows three defined directions for tool carrier setting. With the TruTool TKF 700 users can prepare pipe with a minimum inside diameter of 80mm, while bevels can be produced inside cut-outs starting at 90mm diameter and curved edges with a minimum radius of 40mm. Sometimes customers believe that these tasks can be performed using an angle grinder. However, angle grinders

ALTHOUGH bevelling is mature technology – the first Trumpf beveller was launched over 50 years ago – there remains continued demand from industry for technology that is able to provide high-quality edge preparation for welding seams. The latest bevelling machines from Trumpf are still based on the chipping principle developed by Professor Berthold Leibinger in 1963. The reason for this is that the process still offers several essential advantages. For instance it is economical and guarantees uniform, oxide-free, bright metal surfaces, without sparks and with recyclable scrap. There are many industries that see high quality, reliable welded joints as the foundation for their work and products. Steel and metal engineering, marine and vehicle construction are among them, as are manufacturers of ‘hazmat’ containers and tanks. Essential here is achieving joints of the highest possible strength and alignment, an ambition that not only requires fully qualified welders but perfectly prepared edges too. For half a century, bevellers have proved the right tool for this kind of work. Such machines are not only able to prepare straight edges in a single operation but also sheet metal patterns

High quality edge preparation from Trumpf

surface roughness, but the cut is metallically bright and free of oxides, thus delivering perfect conditions for welding without reworking. The largest TruTool TKF 2000 is used primarily for stationary work. It is available with or without a forward feed, but in both cases, high quality bevels can be created in mild steel or aluminium sheet measuring between 10 and 50mm thick. The forward feed drive will be of special interest to users who principally work long, straight edges. Once it has been positioned the TKF 2000 automatically advances along the edge of the metal at a pre-set travel speed of up to 1.4m/min. The machine offers vibration-free operation with minimal effort. In short the bevelling process is not only fast and economical, it is also very precise and produces high quality edges. The cutters have two cutting edges and can be re-ground numerous times, and using the quick-release fastener means they can be replaced with ease. To sum up, Trumpf bevellers have proven themselves in industries where fast, reliable welding preparation is an essential part of operations. TruTool TKF series machines are used on flat sheet, pipe and tubing applications to produce clean, even, oxide-free, metallically clean K, V, X and Y edges.

do not represent a real alternative to bevellers since the quality of the edge is unpredictable and thermal effects preclude bright cutting edges. This makes retouching necessary, along with all the associated issues of time and cost. Furthermore, the advancing speed of angle grinders is relatively slow and the short service life of grinding discs can trigger high labour costs and operating expenses. Every model in the range – from the TruTool TKF 700 to the TKF 1100 and 1500, and up to the TruTool TKF 2000 – chips away the material in a uniform manner. This not only makes for minimum

Trumpf – UK Email: sales@uk.trumpf.com Website: www.uk.trumpf.com

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J uly 2016