Sharpening saws by the Yellow Sea 2018-03-14

Hwaseong lies on the coast of the Yellow Sea in South Korea – approximately 50 kilometres from Seoul. The region is a popular sunny holiday destination and has also made sporting headlines. Cha Bum-kun – the best Asian footballer of the 20th century – was born here in 1953. In the 1980s, he played over 300 games in the Bundesliga and scored almost 100 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen.

Other sports enthusiasts from the west of South Korea include An Youngmoon and his son, An Stephan. The father likes to play tennis and golf, while the son is an avid cyclist. Yet their hearts are undoubtedly in sawing. An Youngmoon and An Stephan are managing directors of DCM, which has its headquarters in Hwaseong. The company was founded in 1982 and manufactures high-precision circular saw blades as well as special tools such as cutters and circular knives.

High-quality circular saw blades for cutting metal

"At the end of the 1970s I was teaching at the vocational school and noticed that our circular saw blades were always blunt when sawing metal cylinders and often broke", states An Youngmoon, CEO and founder of DCM. "This was my motivation to develop high-quality circular saw blades which permanently withstand the tough conditions for metal cutting."

This idea soon led to the development of the first high-speed steel circular saw blades by DCM. Shortly thereafter came friction saw blades, which have a high peripheral speed and are therefore ideal for cutting steel pipes and profiles. With these circular saw blades, the enormous speeds and the friction between the saw blade and the metal lead to extremely high temperatures, whereby the cut point becomes a mixture of sawing and melting – the red heat effect, according to DCM.

"Before we developed our first friction saw blades at the end of the 1980s, this type of saw was imported to South Korea. Today we supply almost three quarters of all friction saw blades, which the metalworking industry needs for our domestic market", adds An Stephan, CEO of DCM. “Our aim is to become the leading provider of circular saws in South Korea and to continue to grow on an international level.”

A dozen VOLLMER sharpening machines in use

At the start of the 1990s, DCM developed carbide-tipped circular saw blades for the first time. Right from the start, the South Koreans put their trust in VOLLMER's sharpening machines during manufacturing. At this time, An Youngmoon travelled to Biberach for three weeks of training. This investment would truly pay off for DCM. Today, the company supplies circular saw blades worldwide to all industries involved in sawing and cutting metal – first and foremost steel pipe production, but also automotive manufacture, shipbuilding, as well as aerospace.

The South Korean company DCM uses a dozen VOLLMER machines for manufacturing its carbide-tipped circular saw blades. The company purchased its first sharpening machines from Biberach at the start of the 1990s. Among its most recent acquisitions are the following VOLLMER sharpening machine models: CHD, CHF and CHP. These machine concepts can be used to sharpen carbide-tipped circular saw blades in a single and precise clamping operation. In combination with an ND handling system and a suitable loading carriage for automatic tipping, the machines are ready to use round the clock.

"South Korea has since developed into a high-end market for sharpening machines in the metals and composites sector, and the demand for service and user support is growing", states Dr. Stefan Brand, CEO of the VOLLMER Group. "With the subsidiary we set up in Seoul in 2016, we can look after customers such as DCM even more intensively and competently than before."