Filter rod cutting knives for filter segmentation stations
Filter rod cutting knives divide finished filter rods into tips at filter cutting stations; aftermarket suppliers list them as thin circular knives, often in solid tungsten carbide. Steellogy makes them to your approved drawing or from a worn knife in our own plant in Poland, with dimensions, hardness and edge condition checked on a sample from each batch.
- SpecificationMade to your drawing
- ProductionOwn plant in Poland
- InspectionSample from each batch
What the part does
The station takes a finished filter rod and cuts it into the shorter lengths the maker and the filter-attachment unit need. One published system holds the rods in the flutes of a vacuum drum and passes them through rotating knives to produce the filter components. Stations are built in more than one way, so we work from the module you actually have rather than from a general description.
The knife is thin, and the cut has to be clean across a soft, wrapped rod rather than through a solid material. Four features define it on the drawing: outside diameter, bore, thickness and bevel, with the mounting arrangement the station requires. Supplier catalogues publish their own diameters and bevels as examples of what they stock; those are examples, not the specification of the knife in your module.
This is also a separate category from two knives it is often confused with. A rod cut-off knife cuts the formed cigarette rod on the maker; a tipping knife cuts the paper used to join the filter to the rod. Filter segmentation cuts the filter rod itself. We confirm which of the three operations the enquiry concerns before assigning a drawing to a family.
Machines and stations
The application is a filter cutting station, identified by its machine, its module and the drawing revision. Aftermarket suppliers list filter cutting parts across Hauni, Molins and G.D equipment, but a category listing is not a part for every machine from those manufacturers. Hauni is the historic machine brand; the company is Körber Technologies.
One machine family can carry more than one knife variant, and the OEMs do not publish which variant belongs to which revision. The module and part revision are recorded on the quotation, so a repeat order returns the same knife to the same station.
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
A thin circular knife in this duty is changed on the criterion the station already applies — cut quality at the filter face, a limiting diameter after re-sharpening where the station sharpens, or a fixed interval. Public sources do not establish one removal point for every filter cutting module, so we agree the criterion with you from your line's records and the machine instructions and write it into the order.
Filter construction matters here as much as the knife: an acetate rod and a paper-based rod do not present the same material at the cutting edge, so tell us what the station is running.
Materials and hardness
Aftermarket supplier Konetool lists solid tungsten carbide versions for cutting finished filter rods into tips, and Arkote's cork and filter knife category includes carbide, high-speed steel and ceramic options. Those ranges show what the market offers; they do not establish which material suits your station, and we do not carry a standard filter knife specification of our own.
The material for your part is agreed from the drawing and the worn knife and stated on the quotation. For a steel knife, machining, heat treatment, grinding and finishing are done in our own plant. Where a material, hardness or edge detail is missing from the drawing, we propose it and agree it with you before production.
Made to your drawing — quality and documents
The approved specification carries the circular knife's diameter, bore, thickness and edge detail for the order. A worn knife is a workable starting point: we measure it, propose the features wear has removed, and agree the drawing before manufacture. The part revision stays with the order, so the knife you evaluate is the knife you can reorder.
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 process and Supplier information describe the inspection and qualification arrangements.
Trial batch and comparison on one machine
A paid trial batch is quoted for the defined filter knife, with quantity, price, lead time, acceptance criteria and the number of cycles agreed in writing. It is not a free sample, not a guaranteed result. The proposed measure is accepted cuts or pieces between replacements, with the rod construction, wrapper, operating speed and removal criterion held on the same basis for both knife types. Rejects, interruptions and any change of filter material or station settings are recorded, and you receive the comparison in writing under our single-machine comparison protocol.
What to send for a quotation
- Machine manufacturer, model and filter cutting module, including the revision where known.
- Drawing or a worn knife; outside diameter, bore, thickness and bevel.
- Filter construction and wrapper specification, with the required cut format.
- Current material specification, speed, sharpening arrangements where applicable and removal criterion.
- Output between replacements, knife or set quantity and required documentation.
Frequently asked questions
Yes — that is the operation this family covers. Aftermarket suppliers list circular knives for it separately from cigarette rod cut-off and tipping-paper knives. For an individual order, the station and the approved drawing define the knife, including its diameter, bore, thickness and edge geometry.
No. Konetool lists solid tungsten carbide versions, while Arkote's cork and filter range also includes high-speed steel and ceramic. We quote the individual part against an agreed material specification, and where the drawing is silent we propose a material and say so explicitly.
Outside diameter, bore, thickness and bevel, plus the mounting details the station specifies. A worn knife is enough to start if the drawing is incomplete. The geometry we propose for manufacture — including edge features lost to wear — is agreed before production.
Only about the rods actually tested. A change of filter construction is a change of conditions, so for a new substrate we agree the comparison conditions and the acceptance criterion again, keeping the knife specification unchanged.