Heusch claims first with new fleshing blade
17/01/2012
According to the company’s managing director, Thomas H. Schaefer, Excalibur will “set a new benchmark for high-performance fleshing of hides and skins” in tanneries around the world.
Hanns-Peter Spaniol, Heusch’s director of technology confirmed that the company is using a new production process to make Excalibur, a process for which it has applied for a patent.
According to Heusch, manufacturers previously believed it was impossible to forge a stainless steel blade with good characteristics for hardness and flexibility, leaving tanners with what it calls a black-and-white decision to have either blades that are corrosion-free or blades that are hard and flexible. Until Excalibur, it goes on, blades with all these characteristics were unavailable.
Tests on the new blade has confirmed a hardness of 62 on the Rockwell Scale. In tests at the laboratories of research university Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen), it also recorded a good result for flexibility. It had a brittleness indication value, defined by the force-deflection ratio required to break the knife, of 1.25.
Jochen Hall, director sales for Heusch, has said that the new blades will have an up to 30% longer durability, based on Heusch’s own standard durability test. “This will improve productivity and decrease costs for re-blading,” he says.
Also, with the new technology, Heusch is able to supply blades that won’t leave rust marks on skins and hides in customer tanneries. Rust stains on the hide can render the leather unfit for use.
At the same time, as there is no corrosion on the blade germs and bacteria will be less likely to adhere to it and infection risks from fleshing blades will be lowered significantly and the fleshing machine will become less risky to operate.
The official launch of Excalibur took place at the 2012 Instanbul Leather Fair (January 17–19).
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