Repurpose – How to upgrade tools and save resources

The present paper describes implementing the repurposing strategy in the circular economy for the tool and cutlery industry with particular emphasis on the material properties, primarily the carbide orientation on wear resistance. For this purpose, blanks for woodturning chisels were taken out of dull circular knives and integrated into conventional production. Subsequently, the repurposed woodturning chisels were compared with traditional standard and high-performance chisels in wear tests. The results showed that the repurposing strategy could increase the tool life by up to 5.7 times. Furthermore, carbide orientation plays a significant factor in the repurposing strategy, which influences wear resistance. In addition to the performance upgrade for the tools, it could also be shown that fewer resources are consumed during the production of the tools, as only the cutting edge of the tools had to be ground.