Roll slitting is a shearing task that cuts large rolls of various substances into smaller rolls. Slitting equipment is used to accomplish this job for many businesses. Log slitting and rewind slitting are two methods of this process. Log slitting involves the original roll being treated as one (log) and slices are cut into it to make different sized rolls. Rewind slitting unwinds the roll through a cutting machine and shorter rolls are reassembled. The newly dissected pieces of material are called “mults”, or multiple, or if the diameter is bigger than the width, they are called “pancakes”. In rewind slitting, the machine used to accomplish this job is called a slitter rewinder, a slitter or a slitting machine. A bobbin reel is an option for materials that are very thin and may become tangled. Tens of kilometers of substances can be put on one bobbin.
Softer materials, such as tape, foam, rubber, paper, foil, plastic, fabric and film, have many methods for shearing. Most commonly, razor blades are used to either cut or crush the material in the slitting equipment. The blades can be set to achieve any length desired with the new rolls. This system for soft materials is cheap and is perfect for mass production. With harder materials, like sheet metal, two circular cutters on top of each other cut the thicker material. This is considered a more expensive operation.
A slitter rewinder, or slitter machine, consists of the unwind, the slitting and rewind areas. The rewind is usually controlled by a breaking system so that the material is kept tight in the machine. The slitting section of the machine may have a razor slitting, which is easy to set up for production and is used with plastics. With rotary shear slitting, the machine utilizes circular knives and is used with paper, films and foils. The last method is crush cutting slitting, which has a knife run through materials on an anvil. This is mostly used with foams and non-woven materials.
There are other options for slitting equipment, like specialty conversion equipment. These machines can handle netting and rubber for construction purposes. One can also find converting equipment for solar, window, screen protection and cast films. When ordering this special equipment, one should consider that a good machine can help turn-around time and increase productivity.
