I used to change my Zenith Slitter blades every 21-28 days. Now I changes them every 43 days!
Joe Williamson from Ohio Packaging in Massillon, OH- Noticeable difference in wear. Less time changing knives. 2 to 3 times longer life. Less grinding to resharpen.
Larry Hunter at Pike Lumber in Akron, IN - Trenching teeth for digging trenches for highway underdrain systems lasted 1½ times longer.
Kenneth Davies at Kokosing Construction in Fredericktown, OH - D-2 dies were normally line-side polished 17 times in four months... after Cryo treatment, once in three months.
Jim Rau at TABC Subsidiary of Toyota Motor Sales - Greatly enhanced performance of calendar knives and Cameron cutter knives from every 1½ months to once a year.
Dominique Nero at Salem Republic Rubber Co. in Sebring, OH - It saves labor and time and doesn't change the properties as far as being able to resharpen the tools.
Nathan Replogle of Replogle Ent. in Henry, TN - Treated end mills maintain better cutting edge capabilities giving a 5 to 1 ratio over non treated tooling.
Dan Smarr at Stark Mold in Canton, OH - We used 3-4 cobalt roughing end mills for a 60 piece run. After cryo we used 1 tool to run all 60 parts.
Tom Stugmyer at Ace Precision Ind. in Tallmadge, OH - Treated slitter knives cutting corrugated paper went from lasting 2 weeks to 4-5 weeks after cryogenic treatment.
Jim Greenwood at Trey Corrugated in Sharonville, OH - Average life for untreated Stanley #11-911 blades was 4-5 days. Treated blades are lasting 8-14 days.
Ken Barna at Sentinel Consumer Products in Mentor, OH
About Us
Kathi Bond, owner of CryoPlus, Inc. is a member in ASM International in the Akron, Canton, and Cleveland Chapter. She is also on the Cryogenic Committee at ASM. Kathi, founding lifetime member, serves on the Board and is a membership chair for Women's Network of Northeast Ohio and is a Board trustee at Goodwill Industries. She is a member of the Cryogenic Society, NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners), AWMI (American Women in the Metal Industry), Women in Manufacturing, Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce, holds a Membership Chair of Orrville Lions Club and is a Founding Lifetime Member of ATHENA International. CryoPlus Inc. is certified as a Women's Business Enterprise by WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council). Along with her many associations, Kathi received the Woman of Achievement award in 2008 in Wooster, the Woman of Achievement award in 2009 in Akron, "Lion of the Year" award in 2011 and is the 2012 ATHENA Award Recipient for Wayne County.
Kathi Bond founded CryoPlus, Inc. in 1994 to provide cryogenic service to the woodworking, stamping, tool and die, shearing, slitting, welding, punching, musical, shooting and racing industries. The process of deep freezing metal parts makes the internal structure more uniform, durable and stronger. Cryo processing increases abrasive wear with one permanent treatment.
The Process
Cryogenic processing, the deep chilling of tool steel so that the molecular structure of the metal is brought to "cryogenic stillness'" in order to improve wear characteristics, is not a new technology. Today's dry process is computer controlled, using a prescribed schedule and maintained at -300F for a particular time before slowly returning the parts to room temperature. The dry process means the material is not exposed to any cryogenic liquids, eliminating the risk of thermal shock. The microprocessor is programmed according to size, weight and configuration of the parts being treated. It controls the flow of the liquid nitrogen into the chamber where the liquid is contained and the boil off vapor is spread throughout the chamber. Prior to the deep cryogenic step, many tool steels require a preconditioning step consisting of a short temper. Once the temperature reaches -300F the cryogenic process enters the "soak phase" which maintains this temperature for a period to allow for transformation on the molecular level. After being subjected to the deep freeze, the materials must be tempered to about +300F. This temperature varies for different materials, and the processing time varies for different material cross sections.