Grinding technology meets rural life

Stefan Radke, managing director of the WEST grinding center. He achieved this goal with the LH 65 Premium from WENZEL.

In the middle of the countryside, near Jülich, you will find high-end grinding technology in a small well-kept courtyard, behind an inconspicuous and simple barn door. There, in a fully air-conditioned environment, is the WENZEL measuring machine. This is how Radke combines life and work in a fantastic atmosphere.

Stefan Radke is a trained toolmaker and is active in two areas with his company, the WEST grinding center. On the one hand in the production of special tools and prototypes, on the other hand in the grinding technology of hardened workpieces, in many variations. 75% of the work of the WEST grinding center consists of manufacturing parts for research & development. Radke also supplies universities. The remaining 25% comes from general mechanical engineering. Tools are also manufactured for the pharmaceutical sector.

The problem with the WEST grinding center back then, before the WENZEL LH 65 moved in, was that many tasks could no longer be solved and documented. Many works had to be rejected because there were contours that could not be measured. With the introduction of this measuring machine, the high precision of subcontracting has finally been comprehensively documented. “On the one hand, this has brought trust and on the other hand opened up new customer groups,” says Radke. When processing tasks for research and development departments, measurement reports are always included in almost 100% of orders. The complaints are virtually zero.

The main measurement tasks of the WEST grinding center include recording very tight dimensional tolerances, as well as all form and position tolerances. The tightest tolerances that are processed are well below a hundredth of a millimeter. The measuring machine is calibrated before each measurement. The spans when calibrating the SP25 scanning probe from RENISHAW are often less than one micrometer.

The main competencies of the WEST grinding center lie in profile grinding. In addition to classic surface grinding, so-called profile grinding allows you to incorporate “technically realizable” geometry into grinding wheels in order to process contours other than flat and flat contours. With an optimal grinding wheel design, this process can also be used to economically cut very delicate and very difficult to machine, tough materials such as those found in engine construction (nickel, cobalt and titanium-based alloys, Nimonic, Inconel, Udimet).

Radke became aware of the WENZEL measuring machine through one of its main customers, who has been using a large WENZEL portal measuring machine for more than 20 years. Radke was fascinated by the reliability of WENZEL's measuring machines. With WENZEL's granite-based mechanical engineering, he found just as impressive that all surfaces where precision is important are not only ground but also lobed by hand.

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In order to adapt his grinding center to the challenges that now exist, Radke compared the measuring machines from three different manufacturers. With his responsible sales partner, the company Klostermann GmbH from Remscheid, Radke felt particularly in good hands. In two demonstrations, Klostermann presented the machines and software on the components they brought along.

Radke was impressed by the complete package of high-quality mechanical engineering and easy-to-use software, in addition to the excellent customer service provided by Klostermann. Radke therefore opted for WENZEL's LH 65 just over two years ago. According to Radke, this gives him a huge competitive advantage. Since then, the clientele has changed: away from the previous standard business towards more lucrative orders.

The special thing about Schleifzentrum West is that an extra measuring room has been expanded on the farm for WENZEL's LH 65, which is of course about 25 square meters in size and is of course fully air-conditioned.

The new measuring machine is located behind a barn door. From the production hall, you can look out at the horse pasture. Sometimes Radke simply has to hold his breath because he can barely believe his luck.

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