"We run our own research department and do everything possible to perfect our circular saws, starting with choosing the basic body, on to tipping the teeth and right through to rotation of the blade," says Erwin Hissink, Managing Director of the Kinkelder Group. "Even now we manufacture one hundred thousand saw blades a year, 90% of which are sold abroad."

Kinkelder is a family-run Dutch company that was founded by Pieter de Kinkelder in 1945. With roughly 350 employees – at 14 subsidiaries in eight countries – and an annual turnover of over 50 million euros, the company is one of the largest saw manufacturers in the world. Its headquarters may be in Zevenaar, but the company also manufactures in Germany, the USA and the Czech Republic and supplies companies in around 80 countries. Committed action has always been the heartbeat and the culture of Kinkelder – even though the diversity of customer requirements in terms of sawing machine, material and cutting specifications is infinite. "By working closely alongside our customers, we are able to analyse sawing processes and take the most important conditions for the process, such as material and machine requirements, into account. This puts us in a position where we can lower our customers' production costs and improve production itself," adds Erwin Hissink.  

Most of Kinkelder's customers saw steel or iron and are primarily involved in car manufacturing or the oil and gas industry. The company's in-house development department is constantly researching new sawing technology and collaborating with international institutes and universities. Kinkelder is always on the lookout for the best partners from across the world to develop their circular saw blades – at both the research and the production stages. This is why, over 30 years ago, Kinkelder turned to the technology manufactured by Swabian sharpening specialists VOLLMER; today, the Dutch company has a fleet of more than 20 VOLLMER sharpening machines at their sites. These include the latest CHD, CHF and CM models, which allow carbide-tipped circular saw blades to be sharpened with precision, and without the blades having to be clamped in more than one position. 

Thanks to its eight CNC-controlled axes, the CHD sharpening machine can machine a variety of circular saw blades at the face and top of the teeth. The machine's entire grinding unit is robustly mounted on a central main structure and takes up very little space – this monobloc design enables the sharpening process to run extremely smoothly, allowing Kinkelder to achieve exceptionally high precision. The CHF sharpening machine has seven CNC-controlled axes and measuring equipment for peripheral grinding on both sides. Kinkelder uses these machines around the clock, in combination with an ND handling system and appropriate loading carriage for automatic tipping.

"As a complete supplier for the machining of rotary tools and circular and band saws, we are able to offer saw manufacturers like Kinkelder exactly the machine concept they require for producing or resharpening their products," says Dr.-Ing. Stefan Brand, CEO of the VOLLMER Group. "This allows them to satisfy the many different customer requirements when it comes to saws, materials and cut."