What is a Slitting Machine? | Slitting Machinery

Slitting machines, also known as slitter rewinders, are used in the converting industry to cut large rolls of material into narrower rolls of material. In this article, we will look at what a slitting machine is, how slitting machinery works and outline the various types of slitting machines on the market today in the UK.

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What is a slitting machine?

A slitting machine, also known as a slitter or a slitter rewinder, is an important piece of slitting machinery that the converting industry uses to process various materials. The main purpose of a slitting machine is to slit these materials into smaller rolls for later use.


There are three main components to a slitting machine: the unwind, the rewind and the slitter itself. A large roll of material, such as film, is fed through the unwind. Once the roll of material is unwound, it is cut by the slitter into specific widths before being rewound again with a narrower width.

There are many everyday examples that showcase the work of slitting machinery. For example, receipts from retail stores originate from a much larger, master roll before going through a slitting machine. The final receipt you receive after shopping has been cut into a smaller roll from the master roll by a slitting machine.

Types of slitting machine

There are many different types of slitting machines that offer specific features and functions. Finding the right slitting machine for you will largely depend on your budget and the materials being processed. Below, we have broken down the most common types of wide web and narrow web slitting machines and highlighted their key features.

Wide-web slitting machines

Diamond Wide-Web Duplex Slitter Rewinder

The Diamond Duplex Slitter Rewinder is a slitting machine that offers a blend of quality and affordability. Perfectly suited for projects that are set to a fixed budget. It can slit most materials.

Sapphire S2 Duplex Slitter Rewinder

The Sapphire S2 Duplex Slitter Rewinder is renowned for its versatility and fast outputs. Available in three different rewind diameter configurations of 600mm, 800mm and mm, this slitting machine is robust and suitable for most types of material.

Sapphire S2 Duplex Slitter Rewinder

The Sapphire S2 Duplex Slitter Rewinder is renowned for its versatility and fast outputs. Available in three different rewind diameter configurations of 600mm, 800mm and mm, this slitting machine is robust and suitable for most types of material.

Solitaire Wide-Web Duplex Slitter Rewinder

The Solitaire Wide-Web Duplex Slitter Rewinder is a slitting machine that can handle a wide range of products. This slitting machine has been developed to slit and rewind narrow web materials.

Onyx Wide-Web Duplex Slitter Rewinder

The Onyx Wide-Web Duplex Slitter Rewinder is a great option if you are working with flexible packaging products. It is an easy to use slitting machine that offers a lot of functionality without breaking the bank. These are ideally suited for start-up companies.

Sapphire S2T Wide-Web Duplex Turret Slitter Rewinder

The Sapphire S2T Wide-Web Duplex Turret Slitter Rewinder is a premium slitting machine that offers optimal productivity and next to no downtime. Features include automatic turreting technology which lets you work on cycle times as low as 15 seconds to ensure optimal productivity and output.

Diamond T Wide-Web Duplex Turret Slitter Rewinder

The Diamond T Wide-Web Duplex Turret Slitter Rewinder is a compact, efficient slitting machine that uses turreting rewind technology in a similar way to the Diamond duplex slitter rewinder.

Jade Secondary Film Slitter Rewinder

The Jade Secondary Film Slitter Rewinder is designed with film manufacturers in mind. The Jade is suitable for multiple types of material including BOPP, CPP, BOPET, PA, metallised or coated films.

Jade Primary Film Slitter Rewinder

The Jade Primary Film Slitter Rewinder offers high-quality winding at high speeds which adds more flexibility to the slitting machine setup. These are perfectly suited for slitting and rewinding plastic films of up to 343 &#; in width.

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Jade Wide Web Labelstock/Paper Slitter Rewinder

The Jade Wide-Web Labelstock/Paper Slitter Rewinder is an excellent slitting machine based on the Jade series of slitters. It features centre surface capabilities that allow the machine to wind with individual rewind stations, full-width differential rewind shafts or an airshaft.

Emerald Wide-Web Rewinding / Doctoring Machine (Salvage Rewinder)

The Emerald Wide-Web Rewinding/Doctoring Machine is designed with minimal wastage in mind. It can handle badly wound rolls and transform them into quality, finished rolls.

Narrow-web slitting machines

Opal Standard Narrow-Web Label Inspection Slitter Rewinder

The Opal Standard Narrow-Web Label Inspection Slitter is a multifunctional slitter rewinder that can be configured in a multitude of ways. It is perfectly suited to process all of the materials needed for a narrow web converter. It is also very simple to set up.

Opal EC Narrow-Web Label Inspection Slitter Rewinder

The Opal EC Narrow-Web Label Inspection Slitter Rewinder is an entry-level slitting machine that offers a wide range of functionality. The Opal offers a lower price point, and this slitting machine is capable of slitting and rewinding all types of labels thanks to advanced PLC control and AC brushless motors.

Opal ISR Narrow-Web Label Inspection Slitter Rewinder

The Opal ISR Narrow-Web Label Inspection Slitter Rewinder is a modular slitting machine that offers a blend of high speed and quality production. Featuring a wide range of features, this is an excellent all-around narrow-web slitting machine.

Opal Narrow-Web Label Inline and Offline Turret Rewinder

Designed with the self-adhesive label industry in mind, the Opal Narrow-Web Label Inline and Offline Turret Rewinder are fully automated to streamline processes and provide non-stop production.

Opal Narrow-Web Label Converters & Converting Lines

The Opal Narrow-Web Label Converter and Converting Line are used to produce blank labels and non-die-cut labels. It is an excellent slitting machine that offers a good amount of functionality and control.

If you are interested in any of the slitting machines discussed in this article and would like to know more, please contact our specialists today at Ashe Converting Equipment. Our team are industry experts when it comes to slitting machinery, so if you have any questions please don&#;t hesitate to get in touch.

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Rolls loaded into a slitter rewinding machine go through programmed stages that convert the roll into smaller, narrower rolls. The master rolls enter a staging area before being loaded. Once loaded in the rewinding station, the machine cuts through the core&#;s tails and tucks them into the core before unwinding and slitting the roll. Finally, the machine rewinds the rolls, seals the tails, and transfers the finished products to an exit conveyor.

Although all slitter rewinding machines perform the same general functions of unwinding, slitting, and rewinding, they use different techniques to slit the material. Razor blade cutting is the most economical, drawing the material against a fixed razor blade to slit cleanly through paper and film. However, razor blade cutting cannot be used with heavy or abrasive materials, and it may cause polymers to bend as the blade heats up.

A more versatile option is shear cutting, which is more accurate and can accommodate tougher, thicker materials. This technique uses rotating blades that slit from above and below to create a smoother cut through heavy materials.

Some machines use score cutting, especially older machines or machines used for adhesives. This technique involves cutting a film between a dull blade and a hard table. Although fast and affordable, it can cause quality problems such as cracking and stretching.

Another distinction between rewinding machines is the level of automation. Automation allows users to obtain unmatched uniformity and precision, while interchangeable blades and dynamic blade spacing accommodate specialized designs. Some slitter rewinders are fully automated from feeding through unloading, requiring minimal intervention from an operator. Others are only semi-automated, although these machines still offer substantial time savings and accuracy improvements compared to manual models.