Tobacco cutter drum knives for KT-class and heritage cutters
Tobacco cutter drum knives sit in the rotating knife drum of a primary cutter and cut conditioned leaf into cut rag, or stems into cut stem. Steellogy makes them to your approved drawing, or from a worn knife, in our own plant in Poland; dimensions, hardness and edge condition are checked on a sample from each batch.
- SpecificationMade to your drawing
- ProductionOwn plant in Poland
- InspectionSample from each batch
What the part does
The long knives are carried in the knife drum and cut against the stationary bottom (bed) knife as tobacco passes through the cutting unit. A closing mechanism holds the gap between drum and bottom knife constant, and a grinding wheel sharpens the knives without removing them from the machine. Körber states that the blades have to be extremely sharp and clean and are sharpened automatically on a regular basis, so in-machine sharpening is part of normal running, not a knife change.
In the trade the part is called a long knife or long blade; supplier and machine-maker listings also use the wider category name primary tobacco cutting knives. The knives are made straight or profiled, to the edge form the drawing gives, and are usually fitted as a full drum set rather than singly. Stem cutter knives belong to the same family: the same machine can be set to leaf duty, which produces cut rag, or to stem duty, which produces cut stem.
The cutter sits in primary processing, after blending and conditioning and before the cut rag reaches the maker. Körber states that its tobacco cutters process up to twelve tonnes of fine-cut tobacco and up to three tonnes of stems an hour. Tell us which of the two duties the knife runs, because leaf and stem work the edge differently and the drawing for one is not automatically the drawing for the other.
Machines and stations
Körber / Hauni KT-series cutters — KT 2 and KT 4 — are the tobacco cutters named on Körber's current public pages. Hauni is the historic machine brand; the company is Körber Technologies. Körber also lists spares for its heritage primary brands Garbuio, Quester, Dickinson, Legg, AMF and NTM, and long knives for those older lines are made here from the drawing or from the worn part.
One machine family can span several knife variants and revisions, and no machine maker publishes which variant belongs to which machine revision. The drawing and its revision, or the worn knife itself, identify the part; the machine model only places it. Where two cutters carry the same model name, we still work from the approved part specification.
Machine names describe the intended application only; Steellogy is not affiliated with, authorised by or supplying original parts on behalf of the machine manufacturer.
How it wears and when to change it
Körber states that a higher share of reconstituted tobacco makes cutter knives dull more quickly, lowering cut quality and increasing tobacco loss and production stops. Blend is therefore worth stating in the enquiry, not only in a later trial.
Operators commonly watch for rising dust and fines, a ragged cut, more frequent sharpening, more knock-outs and higher noise as signs that a knife is near the end of its life. These are observations to check against your own records; none of them, on its own, shows that the knife caused the problem.
The end-of-life criterion itself — unacceptable cut quality, or a limiting knife dimension under the applicable machine instructions — is agreed with you from your line's records and written into the order.
Materials and hardness
Aftermarket suppliers list tobacco cutting knives in tungsten carbide, and UCUT also lists M2 HSS and D2. The OEM grade and hardness for KT-series long knives are not published; we determine them from your drawing and a worn sample and state both on the quotation.
Our own manufacturing process for tobacco cutter knives covers steel selection, in-house heat treatment and edge finishing, so hardness is set and verified in our plant rather than at a subcontractor. Bevel, projection and working clearance stay application-specific: a grade name does not define them, and we work to the values on your drawing or in your machine instructions.
Made to your drawing — quality and documents
The approved technical specification defines the knife's geometry and material requirement for manufacture. Where the starting point is a worn knife, we measure the sample and agree the features that wear has removed before production. Repeat orders refer to the approved revision, including its edge geometry and finish, so the machine settings established on the first delivery stay valid on the next.
Before dispatch, dimensions, hardness and edge condition are checked on a sample from each batch. Material documentation, hardness reports and dimensional inspection records are available on request; their scope is confirmed in the quotation. Our finished-blade inspection description explains the checks. Supplier information covers the company and documentation details used in qualification.
Trial batch and comparison on one machine
We offer a paid trial batch, with quantity, price, lead time, acceptance criteria and the number of comparison cycles stated in the quotation. It is not a free sample, not a guaranteed result. A cycle runs from fitting a new knife or defined set to its removal at the agreed criterion, with in-machine sharpening recorded inside the cycle rather than counted as its end. For leaf duty the proposed measure is tonnes of accepted cut rag between replacements; for stem duty it is accepted cut-stem output, with the knife or set identified the same way on both sides. You receive the comparison in writing, with the operating conditions and any deviations that limit the conclusion, under our single-machine comparison protocol.
What to send for a quotation
- Cutter manufacturer, model and revision; leaf or stem duty.
- Drawing with revision, or a worn long knife; length, width, thickness and mounting details.
- Bottom-knife drawing where available, with the specified edge profile and plant settings.
- Blend and share of reconstituted tobacco, cut format, throughput and sharpening schedule.
- Current replacement criterion and output per knife or set; required quantity and documentation.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. We measure the worn knife and prepare the part specification for your approval. Features the cutting edge has lost are agreed before manufacture, and the quotation states the proposed material and hardness. The machine name gives the context; the approved specification defines the part.
Whatever your drawing specifies. Aftermarket suppliers list tungsten carbide for this category, and UCUT also lists M2 HSS and D2. Those listings do not establish the OEM specification of a KT-series long knife, which is not published — so we propose grade and hardness from the drawing or the worn sample and record them on the order.
Yes. Stem cutter knives are part of this family, and Körber states that its cutters run both duties, at up to twelve tonnes of fine-cut tobacco and up to three tonnes of stems an hour. The two duties have their own drawings and their own edge forms, so tell us which one the knife runs.
No. The grinding wheel sharpens the knives in the machine as part of normal cutter operation. In a comparison, sharpening events, wheel changes and adjustments are recorded within the installed knife's cycle, which ends only when the knife or set is removed at the agreed criterion.