With a recent trip to the Plastics show in Orlando Florida, I spoke with most of the granulator manufacturers. While they encourage their customers to get OEM blades from their website, it is more of an afterthought than a business model.

The stark reality is that a lot of OEM's do not manufacture their very own blades. Blade sizes and configuration are far more one factor of machine design and utility. Besides, if you'll need a new car battery, you will likely to go a reputable battery manufacturer than to go back to the vehicle brand where it comes.

How about the question of how to keep the blades. In the end, you will need to take into account the cost of the blades and how to get the most out of them. Granulator blades are thought Industrial Knives. Industrial Knives cover a wide selection of industries that use specialized knives, or blades, in their respective process. As a result, you need to locate a specialist in the Industrial Knife business with a great reputation of quality and integrity.

Another important consideration is material. A high grade tool steel will provide you with the longevity for your particular process. The most standard material used is D2. D2 is also referred to as tool steel and is just a high-carbon, high-chromium steel. D2 could be hardened to 64rc giving it the hardness for endurance and impact resistance. It can be worth mentioning that there are a limited number of business'available that have the correct equipment to grind and or sharpen this material. So preferably you intend to choose someone who will also maintain the blades to factory specs.

Material and hardness are key factors in wear ability. You can find other treatments that lend themselves to situations where abrasion resistance is needed. Cryogenics and carbide treatments are some examples.

Although it does work that there are a myriad of suppliers for good quality granulator blades, it's key that you have a vendor/supplier that has your back (so to speak). Do you have a supplier that will maintain the blades to factory specification? Do you have a supplier with manufacturing capabilities that understands the correct tool steels and hardness characteristics? Understanding that the OEM doesn't make the original blades which are used in the new machine, who'd they outsource to? More often than not it comes down to price, keeping the price of the machine down.