Method of manufacturing a blade
A method of manufacturing a blade of a cutting tool, the method including depositing a mixture including a hard material onto an edge of a movable steel strip to form a hard material coated steel strip; grinding the edge of the hard material coated steel strip; and subsequently to grinding, forming individual blades from the hard material coated steel strip.
1. A method of manufacturing a blade of a cutting tool, the method comprising:
depositing a mixture including a hard material onto an edge of a movable steel strip to form a hard material coated steel strip;
grinding the edge of the hard material coated steel strip; and
subsequently to the grinding, forming individual blades from the hard material coated steel strip,
wherein, prior to the depositing, the method comprises heating and quenching the movable steel strip to harden the movable steel strip, and
wherein the hardening of the movable steel strip with the heating is only done prior to the depositing.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hard material is tungsten carbide.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the depositing,
scoring the movable steel strip to form a plurality of spaced scored lines that define the individual blades.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the depositing includes
irradiating the movable steel strip with a beam of radiation to melt a portion of the steel strip, and
supplying the mixture including the hard material and a binder element to the melted portion of the steel strip.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the beam of radiation is produced by a laser.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the beam of radiation is an electron beam.
7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising cooling the melted portion of the steel strip prior to sharpening the steel strip.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the binder is a cobalt binder.
9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the mixture of hard material and the binder element is supplied to the melted portion of the steel strip during the irradiation.
10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the mixture of hard material and the binder element is supplied to the melted portion of the steel strip under the action of a compressed gas.
11. The method of claim 4 , wherein a thickness of the hard material deposit on the steel strip is controlled by adjusting a supply rate of the mixture of hard material and the binder element in the melted portion, or a particle size of the mixture of hard material and the binder element, or a speed of relative displacement of the steel strip and the radiation beam, or any combination of the foregoing.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the thickness of the hard material deposit on the blade perform is lower than about 1 mm.
13. The method of claim 4 , wherein the mixture of hard material and the binder element is supplied via a dispenser, the dispenser having an opening through which the radiation beam propagates.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the dispenser has a substantially annular shape.
15. The method of claim 4 , wherein the depositing is performed in a protective atmosphere to prevent oxidation of the blade.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the protective atmosphere includes nitrogen and/or argon.
17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising polishing the steel strip after the grinding to remove any oxide formed on the blade.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steel strip is made of carbon steel or low alloy steel.
19. The method of claim 1 , the depositing includes
irradiating the movable steel strip with a plurality of beams of radiation to melt portions of the steel strip, and
supplying a plurality of mixtures of hard material and a binder element to the melted portions of the steel strip so as to form multiple layers of coated materials.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of beams of radiation and the plurality of mixtures are supplied by a plurality of deposition heads.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the deposition heads are independently controllable.