Kaltenbach structural CNC saw

takes on jumbo sections at Corus Teesside

Serving the voracious demands of the steel construction and fabrication industries, a new Kaltenbach HDM1430, fully automatic cold saw has been installed at the Teesside Section Service Centre of CORUS Group Plc. This centre of excellence is an integral part of CORUS Construction and Industrial Steel, based at the giant Teesside Works, near Redcar.

Located next to the Lackenby Beam Mill and housed in over 7000 square metres of dedicated modern facilities, the steel processing facility also includes a Kaltenbach-installed, automated handling and sorting system, which integrates the sawing operation with a drilling facility. The new HDM1430 joins a similar, but much earlier Kaltenbach saw installed within the same building and still widely used.

The HDM1430 is one of most advanced saws available to the structural steel industry and incorporates a state of the art control system. Straight cutting tolerances are down to 0.5mm and 1mm on the mitre, whilst mitre angles can be selected to 1/10th of a degree. The new saw operates for 24 hours/day over a 5 day week, with three 8hr shifts each day. Just one operator is needed for the integrated sawing and drilling system.

The new sawing/handling system can accommodate the full range of jumbo sections and beams produced by CORUS Group Plc, as well as flat products, angles and channels. Individual piece weights of up to 15 tonnes are commonly processed, although custom sections up to 25 tonnes can also be considered.