CASE STUDY – FLOAT GLASS INDUSTRIES UK
Float Glass Industries are one of the UK’s largest, independent stockists of glass with a wide range of glass products available. They are at the forefront of glass supply nationwide, manufacturing toughened, processed and high performance insulated glass units as well as being the UK’s largest independent volume glass distributor.
Float Glass Industries are keen to invest in the new technology of Easy Pro but realised they must find a new deletion wheel in order to process the glass. We visited earlier this year and conducted tests with the new wheel. Results of these tests were excellent and after a few machine adjustments (slight increase in pressure) we managed to achieve a perfect result on the EastPro coating. We also managed to at least double the current speed of edge deletion on all other coated glass types. Results are as follows (Fig. 7).
Results of the trial
Grind Speed –
We were able to at least double grind speed on all glass types. This is important as this process is usually the bottle neck of most glass processing factories. Cutting tables are expensive pieces of equipment and optimising these is crucial.
Edge Deletion Quality –
Much superior finish with all surface coating removed and no sign of bounce. The sharp silicon carbide grain combined with the soft compressive nature of the wheel enables it to cut through all coatings fast and efficiently leaving a smooth consistent finish.
Wheel Life –
The major factor of wheel life here is the dressing cycle. Edge Delete Pro requires less dressing due to its open porous structure resulting in increased lifetime. Float Glass Industries have now begun ordering this wheel from Saint-Gobain Abrasives and are now optimising all their programs for other glass varieties to exploit the benefits our new wheel provides. Trials were done on one of the 3 lines at Float Glass Industries, and they have now expanded the use of this wheel to the other 2.
Float Glass Industries have now begun ordering this wheel from SGA and are now optimising all their programs for other glass varieties to exploit the benefits of our new wheel. Trials were done on one of the 3 lines at Float GIass Industries, and they have now expanded the use of this wheel to the other two lines.
Customer Comments
Ryan Jackson – Supply Cutting Manager
Wheel life – ‘I estimate the wheel life to be around 2-3 times more than our previous wheel’. This gives the customer an immediate cost saving.
Edge Deletion Quality – ‘Much better and more consistent. Makes me feel relaxed as I’m confident the glass is not going to be rejected for edge deletion quality. Even if the wheel ran at the same grinding speed as the old one we’d use it anyway due to the surface finish’.
Overall – ‘I’m a big fan of them’
Mark Wadsworth – IG/Production Supply Manager
Grind Speed – ‘This is work in progress, we will be looking at all other programs to try and get our lines deleting faster. Our initial set-up is 10% faster than our current speed and we build from there’.
Increased Production – ‘I’m getting better yield from my cutting tables and this area is my bottleneck. We were thinking we would have to invest in another cutting table to support the new line, but now we may not have to
Overall - 'All in all it a win-win'
The Float Glass team:
New Norton Rapid Finish Edge Delete PRO
Features | Benefits |
| Fast grinding for all machine types | 50% faster deletion vs. competitors - Decrese cycle time |
| New sharp silicon carbide grain | Can delete the hardest multi layer glass coatings in one pass |
| Faster deletion produces less heat - less chance of glass breakage | |
| Ability to delete the latest generation of high performance technical glass | Certified for Saint-Gobain Glass 'EasyPro' |
| Soft grade of wheel | Allows more wheel to contact grind area giving unrivaled deletion quality |
| Wheel does not bounce - reduced 'stripping' | |
| Open porous structure | Anti-loading gives reduced need for dressing = longer wheel life |
| Reinforced core | Increased M.O.S and no risk of machine spindle damage |
| Can be used wet or dry | Cutting oil does not affect performance |
| Not affected by grind pressures | Can be used safely up to 3 bars |
PRODUCT AVAILABILITY
Diameter | Width | Bore | SGA Specification | Part Number |
| 200 | 24 | 76.2 | P4MO1 NOR 80 | 66261114076 |
| 200 | 20 | 76.2 | P4MO1 NOR 80 | 66261125662 |
| 200 | 12 | 76.2 | P4MO1 NOR 80 | 66261130390 |
| 200 | 10 | 76.2 | P4MO1 NOR 80 | 6626113352 |
Standard wheel sizes are available from stock and other sizes are available as Made To Order.
Please contact your Norton Sales Representative for further information.
Paul Gray
Application Engineer, Saint-Gobain Abrasives