Of men and machines

Walking the aisles of the manufacturer one tends to marvel at the high-tech everywhere: quite a bit for a traditional craft business where shaving brushes are being produced. There are about 30 machines, many of which were exclusively designed by and for MÜHLE, spread over 2,600 square metres. In fact it is exactly this mix of traditional craftsmanship and innovative machinery that is characteristic of MÜHLE and that makes for a high vertical range of manufacture. From parts for the handles to engravings: everything is made in-house.

The Ausputzmaschine: No loose hair

While there is a lot of digital technology in some machines that one can not see, it is different with this model bearing a somewhat unattractive name: it is quite obvious what is does. Developed in-house, it combs out loose hair of the brush heads and is used for the production of simple hair qualities. The high-quality badger hair is processed manually like in the old days: just the right amount of hair is weighed out with a fine scale. Here, this happens by putting the bundles of hair in forming cups. For further processing, the finished brush heads are taken from the cups (upper righthand corner of the picture). After that, they are affixed to a transport rail on which they “ride” to the combs. Now, the loose hair is removed. The robot arm singles the finished heads out and prepares them for further processing.

The Schlepp-Finisher: Let it shine

The Schlepp-Finisher is used to polish metal components until they shine brightly. Brass parts from brushes of the Kosmo series are depicted here. The parts are hauled through a mix of walnut shells and polishing wax for many hours. The advantage is that even heavier parts, that would otherwise move loosely around, banging against and scratching each other, can be polished automatically. To this end the parts have to be affixed to and removed from special holders manually.

The CNC-Lathe: No shape impossible

The CNC-machine is, due to computer based control, able to process workpieces with the highest precision. Here high-grade resin handles for the Classic brushes are lathed. Therefore the machine is programmed according to the requested shape. Now, the appropriate tool is mounted on the tool revolver – here a so called Wendeplatte, a common lathe tool.

The Laser Engraving Machine: Precise Traces

Affixed to a tray one can see the lower parts of the brushes from the Purist series. A laser beam engraves the Mühle emblem to the workpiece. It is possible to make the emblem appear to be carved into the workpiece. A machine is only as good as the human operating it, despite all technical support. Mario Klötzer, head of technology, is in charge: “We nickname him Super Mario”, says Andreas Müller.

This article first appeared in the fall 2018 print edition of 30 Grad.