By John P. Lloyd
There are two basic types of straight line edgers on the market today. One uses cup wheels, and the other uses peripheral wheels. Here we will discuss the difference between the two, and advantages and disadvantages of both to help you choose which is ideal for use in business.
Cup Wheel Glass Edger
The Battellino FP 6 Six Spindle Straight Line Edger
First, let’s take a look at the actual tooling for a typical straight line edger.
Here’s a cross section for a typical diamond or polish wheel. A diamond and or polish wheel in a cup wheel edger is formed in this manner:
Advantages:
- Ability to change over between different thickness of glass instantly.
- Low stock of diamond and polish wheels needed.
- Quality of the finish: Excellent, depending on how many spindles are used.
- The ability to process laminated glass with no major problems
Disadvantages:
- The cup wheel edger can only do a flat with seams (FA) profile edge.
The Peripheral Wheel style Straight Line Edger
The Sulak BTS 02 Beta Maxi
Advantage:
- The ability to do many different profiles.
Disadvantages:
- It is necessary to keep different sets of diamond and polish wheels on your shelf to do the different profiles.
- It is necessary to keep different sets of diamond and polish wheels on your shelf to do different thickness of glass (more on this later).
- It is necessary to change over diamond and polish wheels when changing thickness and or profiles (more on this later).
Which machine is the right one for the first-time buyer?
Differences:
Cup Machine | Peripheral Machine |
Higher initial machine cost | Lower initial machine cost |
Lower overall operation costs | Higher overall operational costs |
Only able to process flat/arris edge | Able to process both flat/arris and pencil edge |
Changeover between glass thickness takes only seconds | Changeover between glass thickness takes an average of 15 minutes |
N/A | Changeover between glass profiles takes an average of 15 minutes |
*One important thing to take in consideration is that the above machines only produce a satin to semi bright edge.
If the company seeking their first machine needs a high-quality bright edge, then the best type of machine for consideration is the cup wheel machine.
For this type of work, at least 6 spindles would be needed, and at least 8 spindles if the company wants to produce ¾” “furniture quality” edges.
This information is presented for the prospective buyer who has a need to know the insides of the machine that they are considering — a consumer armed with facts will be able to make an intelligent decision that will bring the best value for the investment.
Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about your options for a new flat glass edger!
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