Guhring UK opens up new markets with VOLLMER 2025-09-22

The English tool manufacturer Guhring UK has been using the VHybrid 260 grinding and eroding machine for almost a year. With the machine from the Biberach-based sharpening specialist, the English company has been able to reduce the machining times for carbide and PCD (polycrystalline diamond) tools by a factor of three to five. 
Thanks to the VOLLMER machine, Guhring UK has also opened up new market access in sectors such as electronics and medical technology. Various automation features enable Guhring UK to operate the VHybrid 260 unmanned and around the clock.

Guhring UK in Birmingham is part of the international Gühring KG, which has its headquarters in Albstadt-Ebingen, Germany. With around 8000 employees worldwide, the company is one of the leading manufacturers of rotating precision tools for metal cutting. The Gühring brand is internationally recognised for innovation, precision and flexibility in corporate management. The foundation for this is a management structure that grants the 48 global subsidiaries a high degree of autonomy. At Guhring UK, for example, this can even be seen in the company name: The subsidiary of Gühring KG is able to omit the umlaut dots, which are not typical in English. Flexibility and country-specific independence are also evident in production planning, which led Guhring UK to purchase a VHybrid 260 grinding and eroding machine from Biberach-based sharpening specialist VOLLMER in November 2024.

“We sent some PCD step drills to our long-standing partner VOLLMER in the UK for test machining on a VHybrid 260, followed by some ball nose cutters for one of our prestigious customers – the results were exceptional,” says Alan Pearce, PCD Supervisor at Guhring UK. “This ultimately led us to the decision to buy a VHybrid 260 for our plant in Birmingham.”

At Guhring UK, the VHybrid 260 is already the third machine from VOLLMER to make the 1200 kilometre journey from Biberach to Birmingham: The English company has been using two VOLLMER QWD 750 wire erosion machines for profiling and production tools with PCD cutting edges for some time now. With the VHybrid 260, Guhring UK is particularly keen to herald the next generation of new PCD tools.

“We have discussed the future direction internally and agreed on what we need in order to move forward,” says Gary Field, Production Manager at Guhring UK. “We want to develop new product lines in order to be able to offer our customers a greater variety and a broader product range. With the new VHybrid 260, we want to concentrate on other sectors, focussing on micro drills for industries such as electronics and medical technology.”

The VHybrid 260 features innovative and robust kinematics, enabling Guhring UK to grind or erode both carbide and PCD tools in a single clamping operation with 100 per cent accuracy. The machine is based on multi-layer machining, which is implemented through two vertically configured spindles. The lower spindle can be used both for grinding and for eroding. Disc erosion in particular, for which Guhring UK did not previously have a machine, now enables the company to machine full head PCD tools, tools with central PCD cutting edges and PCD tools with complex geometries.

“The VHybrid 260 allows us to combine several operations in one machine, instead of grinding the tool diameter, eroding the PCD and then grinding the drill tips again in three operations,” adds Alan Pearce. “The effort required for various machine operations, production planning and adherence to lead times used to be enormous. The VHybrid 260 has facilitated all of this and has already proved revolutionary for Guhring UK in the short time we have been using the machine.”

For some of its OEM customers in the automotive industry who require customised PCD step drills, PCD milling or reaming tools, Guhring UK has already achieved significant benefits thanks to the VHybrid 260: The reconditioning of a PCD drill, which previously took 1 hour and 25 minutes in a two-step process, was reduced to one 29-minute operation. The production of a PCD step drill, which previously required precise grinding of the outside diameter, was reduced from three to two operations, with Guhring UK reducing the cycle time from more than 5 hours to 1 hour and 30 minutes. For another PCD step drill, the machining time was reduced from 2 hours and 25 minutes to just 30 minutes, and for another PCD step drill, which required centre erosion and a step, the machining time was reduced from 3 hours on two machines to just 36 minutes on one machine – not including the time for machine settings and changeover times, which are also eliminated by the VHybrid 260.

Thanks to its steady rest system, the VHybrid 260 is able to produce PCD tools from 0.2 to 150 mm in diameter. During erosive machining, the machine achieves a surface quality with Ra values of 0.05 μm and can machine edge radii of 1.5 μm. Various automation features, such as the ability to change up to eight grinding and eroding wheels or the automated measurement and calibration of tools, enable Guhring UK to operate the VHybrid 260 unmanned around the clock.

“With the VHybrid 260, Guhring UK has opened up additional options for mould production from which the entire Gühring KG can benefit,” says Martyn Cross, Managing Director of VOLLMER UK. “This also applies to automation, which centres on the HC 4 chain magazine. The HC 4 can hold up to 160 shank-type tools or up to 40 HSK-63 tools, and supports the automated loading and processing of carbide and PCD tools.”