Higher hardness cutting knives thanks to laser hardening

Integrated laser hardening offers a solution for hardening slim, elongated objects which suffer deformations with traditional hardening methods. This process also offers a number other advantages.
In a modern tool shop, most steel components are hardened for life. These include moulds, injection openings, mould punchings, but also guide rails and machetes or knives. The latter two place special demands on the production process. Due to their often slim and elongated shapes they deform considerably during the hardening process and require a lot of hard finishing (grinding). This increases turnaround time and costs considerably.
Laser hardening offers a solution here: these components can be milled to size and, in the same clamping setup, immediately hardened by means of a laser. Because laser hardening only hardens certain areas, geometrical deformations will be very limited, far below the desired tolerances, which means that hard finishing such as grinding is no longer necessary. Laser curing is also expected to allow higher hardnesses due to the very high cooling rates achieved in this process.