Following a recent, major investment in 3M™ Abrasives’ Demonstration and Technical Testing department, the impressive facility has played host to a steady stream of visitors. In addition to industrial distributors and current 3M Abrasives users, who are seeking to enhance their product knowledge and who are searching for ways to improve their processes, the facility has also welcomed many visitors who are new to the brand and who are in pursuit of superior abrasive solutions.
Although, relevant abrasive theory subjects are covered, visitors to the Atherstone, Warwickshire based 3M facility spend the majority of their time witnessing and taking part in real-world, practical demonstrations. To help prove the merits of 3M Abrasives’ products, both existing and potential customers are encouraged to communicate their specific needs and application challenges to the knowledgeable members of the company’s abrasives team. Visitors to the facility often bring samples of their components to enable beneficial abrasive techniques and solutions to be explored and demonstrated. On completion, trial findings are compared and analysed so that objective decisions and recommendations can be made.
As a result of these practical and logical steps a large number of OEMs, precision engineering companies and metal fabricators have been helped by the 3M Abrasives team to increase their efficiencies, to improve their products’ quality and to save both time and money.
In addition to major technical advantages, it is the shear breadth of 3M Abrasives’ range that impresses visitors to the Atherstone facility. 3M Abrasives provide a range of products that are able to deliver a full process from start to finish. This enables an end to end specification for even the most specialist abrasive applications
Typical of the recent visitors to the 3M Abrasives Demonstration and Technical Testing department, was Paul Weir, Manufacturing Manager at MML Marine Ltd based in Coatbridge, Scotland. MML Marine Ltd is a leading specialist fabricator and supplier of offshore fire doors, marine fire doors, watertight doors and blast rated doors. The well-known company also provide a comprehensive range of marine hardware.
Explaining the reasons behind his recent visit to 3M’s Atherstone facility, Paul Weir said. “MML provide bespoke solutions to meet our client’s specific requirements and have done for many years. Today our core business is the manufacture and supply of A, B, and H class fire rated doors which we supply regularly to the offshore and marine markets. These doors are required to be supplied with type approval certification and are used on all offshore platforms as well as commercial vessels.
“MML marine have built up an excellent reputation for our quality and for supplying our products at a competitive price. Products produced and supplied by MML are fully certified to international industry standards such as, MED, Lloyds, DNV, USCG and ABS certification.
“As we operate in a competitive environment, in addition to providing high quality products in a timely fashion, we strive to supply as competitively priced products as possible. To these ends we constantly search for process improvements.
“We recently identified our use of orbital sanders as a source of potential problems and an area where improvements could be made. In addition to the possibility of health and safety issues related to orbital sanders, the use of the different sanding techniques to reach the required surface finish by our fabricators, raised the possibility of inconsistent paint finishes
“To help address the risk of health and safety issues and to ensure that we achieve the standard of paint finish that reflects the superior quality of our products, we considered that the use of a belt grinding sanding system was the way forward. Furthermore, we believed that the use of such a modern system would help deliver further process efficiencies.
“Having spoken to the staff of Snapco, our abrasive products supplier, and our local 3M Abrasives Technical Representative, Allan Simpson, it was suggested that a visit to 3M Abrasives’ Demonstration and Technical Testing department would allow us to use the facility’s abrasive belt stroke sander on samples of our problematic fabrications and to investigate the most suitable abrasive belts for each of our applications.
“After forwarding representative samples of our mild and stainless steel fabrications to 3M, I later visited the Atherstone site. Then, with the help of 3M’s extremely knowledgeable technical staff, I was able to prove that the use of a stroke sander would provide the solutions that we were looking for. Also, the in-depth trials that we undertook enabled me to select one of their newest belts as ideally suited to our demanding applications.
“My visit to 3M, Atherstone was extremely rewarding, rather than estimate the effect a belt system would have on our fabrication finishing functions, in a single day I was able to prove and to quantify the multiple benefits a belt machine would deliver and to zone-in on the most appropriate abrasive 3M material for our various applications.
MML have settled on an abrasive from 3M’s new range of Cubitron™ II coated belts – 784F. The material blends aluminium oxide with 3M’s patented Precision-Shaped Ceramic Grain to deliver speed and life never before seen at that price point. Other abrasive materials in this new range include grades for hard to grind metals as well as for more intricate flexible applications.
3M Abrasives solutions
3M provide a comprehensive range of highly efficient abrasive solutions for innumerable metal finishing applications, including matching and blending surface finishes, final blending and paint preparation to enable the delivery of excellent surface finishes and tolerances. The extensive range includes air tools, discs, wheels, brushes, belts and handpads that are able to generate a consistent, high quality metal finish whether users are working by hand or using machines and tools. 3M understands that choosing the right tool and matching it with the right abrasive product is crucial when finishing surfaces effectively.3M abrasives for metal grinding applications demonstrate clear performance advantages over conventional products. Users are able to work them harder, faster and longer.
For higher volume operations, semi-automation, rapid stock removal, or complex parts, belt machines are the ideal solution when paired with 3M™ Cubitron™ II Belts. Other 3M abrasive belts offer a consistent finish all the way to end of life. The 3M™ Trizact™ 307EA cloth belt, for example, is an aluminium oxide abrasive product constructed on a JE-weight, flexible rayon cloth backing. It is resin bonded for heat resistance, with grinding aid for cooler grinding and a micro-replicated pyramid structure of the abrasive delivering the consistent performance and finish throughout its life that so many applications demand.
3M abrasive solutions for stock removal applications such as flat grinding, weld grinding, de-flashing, edge grinding and dimensioning, and demonstrate clear performance advantages over conventional products: users are able to work them harder, they deliver a higher rate of cut, and their durable construction is able to generate reliable, consistent levels of performance over a longer period of time.
For higher volume operations, semi-automation, rapid stock removal, or for use on complex parts, belt machines are the ideal solution when paired with 3M Cubitron II abrasive belts.
“The technical assistance that both myself and my team was able to provide to MML Marine Limited is a perfect example of the benefits that visitors to the Atherstone facility receive”, added Nigel Willcock, 3M Abrasives’ Demonstration and Technical Testing department Application Engineer. “We now have numerous examples of companies who have invested a day, or even half a day, in visiting 3M Atherstone and exploring subjects such as reducing their process times, improving operator safety and achieving enhanced surface finishes. We are happy to organise visits to 3M Atherstone for all industrial users and to help them solve their abrasive problems.”
3M Abrasives have launched a new consultation service that invites anyone looking for help in solving problems or seeking further process improvements to get in touch. To access the on-site consultancy use the following link – www.3m.co.uk/abrasiveadvice
