Video Transcript

Narrator: This video is brought to you by 3M Performance Abrasives. Grind less, weld more. If you're looking for real-world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hi everyone, and welcome to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary, and I'm so glad you joined us today. Before we get started, let's go ahead and hit those Like and Subscribe buttons so you don't miss an episode from MSC and our industry partners. Today we're tackling one of the biggest productivity challenges in welding and metal fabrication: the amount of time operators spend grinding, prepping, and finishing instead of actually welding.

I'm excited to welcome back Mike Eggert, a Senior Portfolio Manager from 3M Abrasives, to discuss how the new 3M Cubitron 3 flap disc 1169F is helping shops reduce grinding time and keep welders focused on what they do best. Mike, welcome back to Tooling Up and thanks for joining us today.

MIKE EGGERT: Thanks, Toni. It's great to be here again.

TONI NEARY: So Mike, one of the challenges for shops right now is finding ways to improve productivity while also navigating these labor shortages and the growing skills gap, which is really where this whole idea of grind less, weld more comes in, right?

MIKE EGGERT: That's right. If you think about it, welders spend fewer than 10 minutes of every hour actually on arc. The rest of that time is spent prepping the surface, cleaning, beveling or cleaning the weld afterwards, or leveling that weld. If we can reduce the amount of time they spend on those steps, they have more time to actually be on arc welding.

TONI NEARY: And that's what matters to manufacturers, because arc time is where you're generating revenue. So if you can help shops get more productivity out of the skilled welders they already have, that's a huge advantage.

MIKE EGGERT: 100% Toni.

TONI NEARY: So, Mike, before we get too deep into the technology side of things, like, let's take a step back for a second and talk about flap discs themselves. For somebody who may not be familiar, what exactly is a flap disc and where does it fit into the workflow?

MIKE EGGERT: So there are many types of right-angle abrasives. The common one is a fiber disc, which is a single layer, but a flap disc actually has literally many flaps together. And that makes it very versatile and forgiving. So it can do a number of jobs. It can clean, bevel, level a weld, but it's easy for operators with a broad range of skill sets.

It's very forgiving. So you can give it to someone who's new at the job, and they're less likely to damage a workpiece.

TONI NEARY: So aggressive enough to remove material quickly, but also easier to control.

MIKE EGGERT: Exactly.

TONI NEARY: And these really show up everywhere. We're talking shipbuilding, heavy equipment, oil and gas, general fab. You're seeing these all over?

MIKE EGGERT: Yes, everywhere. And in addition to those, stainless steel fabrication, everything for the food and beverage or pharmaceutical industry, where those stainless walls are really important. You see flap discs there as well. And I was even in a packaged food facility. It was huge. And it had a big maintenance shop, and that maintenance shop used flap discs. You can really find them anywhere you find a right angle grinder.

TONI NEARY: So let's talk about what actually makes this flap disc a little different.

MIKE EGGERT: So this is part of our 3M Cubitron 3 family of abrasives. And Cubitron 3 abrasives are made with our latest generation precision-shaped grain, which is designed to cut very fast. It actually slices through the metal due to the sharpness, as opposed to plowing through like more traditional abrasives. And as a result, this particular flap disc, 3M Cubitron 3 flap disc 1169F, is much faster than you typically see in a flap. People like the versatility of flap, but they usually give up a little bit of cut rate. Not so much with this one. It's amazingly fast.

TONI NEARY: And faster cutting means less heat generation, right?

MIKE EGGERT: Absolutely. And in fact, you'll see that when it removes the metal, your spark shower is actually less bright because the metal swarf doesn't get as hot, and therefore it's not as bright. It's a different look. And operators notice that. In fact, I was in a shipyard recently, and an operator was grinding. He did a job with a depressed center grinding wheel, and it took him one minute. He was grinding under an old school welding helmet with a flip-up lens, so I couldn't see his face. But when he did it with our new Cubitron 3 flap disc, he knocked it out in 30 seconds. He paused. He flipped up that old school shield so I could see his face, and he said, wow. And that happens over and over because it's so fast and efficient and easy on the operator.

TONI NEARY: Now let's talk about one of my favorite new phrases, spark shower. And it makes it sound glamorous. But grinding is really tough on the operators. So let's talk about friction resistance, vibration, and fatigue.

MIKE EGGERT: Yeah, that's a huge point. As sales professionals, sometimes we'll go run a five-minute demo, but that's not the same as running a grinder for a shift or running it every day for a living. It's very hard on the arms, elbows, shoulders. Even operators find they have back muscles they didn't even know that were there that are talking to them at the end of the shift.

If we can give them a product that cuts with less pressure and sends less vibration back to the operator, it's easier on them. And at the end of the day, they feel better.

TONI NEARY: Now, Mike, one of the things that we haven't talked about yet is the backing technology. And I don't think a lot of people put a lot of thought into the backing. And it's a pretty big part of the story here too. Let's talk about that technology.

MIKE EGGERT: That's a great point. A flap disc is a three-dimensional abrasive, and like any three-dimensional abrasive, you want it to erode or wear away just fast enough to expose fresh mineral. We've designed this to give nice, even controlled wear, so you would get great cut rate consistently. And you can wear this all the way down to the backing plate.

TONI NEARY: And that's important from both a performance and cost standpoint, right?

MIKE EGGERT: Absolutely. And, in fact, a great way to learn about that is what I call dumpster diving. When you go to the customer, look in the trash can. What do the flap discs look like when they're being thrown away? If they're being thrown away with a lot of sandpaper still on the backing, backing plate, that means there's an opportunity here to get them a product with more controlled wear, so they get better abrasive utilization and greater efficiency.

TONI NEARY: And Mike, I think this is a really important part of the conversation, because grinding and welding prep probably aren't the most glamorous parts of the job either.

MIKE EGGERT: No, we like to speed that up, and we like to improve the ergonomics for the operator so it's easier on them. And they notice it. Many, many times, we go to a demo, and the operator takes the abrasive. They touch it to that workpiece for just a second, and they stop, and they look up with this just shocked, surprised face because they can't believe how much cut they get with so little pressure.

They're very excited about how it makes their job easier. It takes less of a toll on their body, it makes them more efficient.

TONI NEARY: And that really affects everything all the way down from morale to retention on the shop floor as well.

MIKE EGGERT: It certainly does.

TONI NEARY: And I think this is huge, because this really speaks to the fact that 3M is more than just an abrasive supplier.

MIKE EGGERT: Indeed. So, we offer a full line of personal protective equipment around keeping that operator safe and comfortable. Head, eye, face, hearing, respiratory, especially our 3M Speedglas welding helmets and our 3M Adflo powered air respirators. These are really the cream of the crop when it comes to personal protective equipment. When operators have that system, they're much more productive, much more efficient, and they just feel better.

TONI NEARY: Today, we've covered everything from productivity and operator comfort to the technology behind the Cubitron 3 flap disc. And I think the biggest takeaway is that when you can reduce grinding time, you're helping skilled workers spend more time doing what they do best. Mike, thank you so much for joining us. It was great to have you back on Tooling Up.

MIKE EGGERT: Thanks, Toni. It's been great being with you today.

TONI NEARY: It was so great having Mike with us today. To learn more about the 3M Cubitron 3 flap disc 1169F, visit www.mscdirect.com/products/cubitron-flapdisc.

And don't forget to subscribe to our channel so you never miss an episode. Thanks, and we'll see you next time on Tooling Up.

Narrator: Want more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level, and subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.