“Poly – Poly - Or What?”

“Poly – Poly - or what?” Part 9: “LACH DIAMANT GOes East …” – A pieCe of German history Horst LaCh, managing direCtor and CEO There was practically no brand competition of LACH DIAMANT, agreed to write an in East Germany – compared to the TeChniCal Information for Trabant: ongoing series of artiCles about the neighbouring West – and thus the citizens development of diamond and CBN tools and experienced long, cumbersome delivery Engine: grinding wheels in modern industries. times for everyday necessities. 26 hp For example, the wait time for a new washing Horst LaCh is known as a true industry Fuel Consumption: machine was three years, and up to 14 years veteran, and we are exCited to have this Up to 10 liters gasoline/oil mixture for pioneer of teChnology share some insights for a car. In the latter case, only the so-called 62 miles from his 59 years of professional experienCe “Trabi” (Trabant) and Wartburg were in the diamond tool business. In this available choices, both featuring only minor Top speed: episode, you Can aCCompany him to the enhancements over decades. It was certainly 62 mph East, to the very beginning of a German- not the fault of East Germany’s (desperate) German suCCess story. engineers. There were enough ideas within the automobile industry of the East: Starting No, this story does not begin with “once with a modern hatchback body to common VW engines for the East upon a time”, since it is far too serious, vivid rail Diesel technology. and full of unique facts for a fairy tale. The VW plants in Hanover and Salzgitter had Just a few years ago, there was a discussion two assembly lines for smaller engines. Both The German partition created different living whether East Germany (GDR) had invented were insufficiently utilised. Simply put, one conditions in both parts of Germany. the VW Golf – which, however, is not true too many – and the GDR needed one. Moreover, since August 13th of 1961, when a (Focus 10/2014). At the end of the 1980s, dividing wall was built, the citizens in the there were only approximately 200 cars per According to the magazine Spiegel 7/1984, Eastern part were deprived of any possibility 1,000 residents; in the West were twice as CDU politician and VW board member, to move to the West. Thus, living conditions many. It is not surprising that in 1977, the Walther Leisler-Kiep, initiated the deal with and priorities could develop in a contrary SED (Socialist Union Party of Germany) the GDR. Details of this plan, not requiring direction under totalitarian control. regime decided to buy 10,000 VW Golfs. VW payment in foreign currencies by GDR, came CEO, Tony Schmücker, hoped for on-going from the former VW manager Hahn. The The West successfully celebrated free business and follow-up orders. Not the case. initial offer and project were presented in market economy, the East fought more and June 1982 in East Berlin. When subsequent more for foreign currencies in order to experiments showed that the VW engines survive. Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski, the could easily be built into Wartburg and Trabi master of currency procurement, gave automobiles, this was a breakthrough and industrial plants, or rather the heavy the deal was on. According to the plan, VW industries which were selected for obtaining should assemble a complete production line foreign currencies, highest priority. for the GDR by 1988, with an annual output of 290,000 engines. In return, Wolfsburg would deliver a total of 15,000 VW transporters by 1993. All in all, it was only a 600 million Deutsche Mark business, but Hahn predicted “this will be a long-running deal”. Everyone was convinced that the Volkswagen group would now become the most important facilitator of the planned modernization of the East German automobile industry. Up to this point, both Wartburg, produced in Eisenach, and Trabi, produced in Zwickau – still featuring two- stroke engines – were completely out-of- date: Low performance, excessive fuel consumption, in addition to a negative environmental impact. Farewell to the Tuk-Tuk of Two-Stroke Rush Order for LACH DIAMANT Engines? Up to the time of the Leipzig spring trade From 1988 onwards, the assembly line, show in 1988, LACH DIAMANT had no delivered by VW, was meant to only built business connection at all with the former water-cooled four-cylinder, four-stroke GDR or any state-owned export-import engines into GDR cars. A newly built plant in collectives of the GDR – briefly called WMW Chemnitz should build the engines, Export-Import – a network of companies previously propelling the VW Golf, with 40 or directly controlled by Schalck-Golodkowski. 55 hp (1,100 or 1,300 cm3 cubic capacity); the same applied for a diesel version. How high the pressure on the state leadership – “We are the People” – must 190,000 engines were meant to be built for have been in mid 1988, that they tried to domestic demand, another 100,000 for VW. present a special treat for the people – a true Finally, in October 1988 – after the end of the highlight – at the autumn trade show in autumn trade show in Leipzig – the Leipzig. Four-cylinder engines for Trabant beginning of a new era for the GDR and Wartburg, made in Karl-Marx-Stadt automobile industry could take its course, as (now Chemnitz) and Eisenach. planned in 1984. It is quite comprehensible that In addition to delivery problems, noticeable simultaneously the procurement companies not only during plan realization for accessory became agitated in order to secure components, the industry was also behind production processes. On August 5th, 1988, schedule for the delivery of the old-style LACH DIAMANT received a rush order via models. On top of that, GDR citizens soon telegram for 1,310 PCD inserts, with delivery were disillusioned and disappointed after Polycrystalline cutting inserts, available in no later than November 30th. This advance the first cars with four-cylinder engines were the Western industry since 1973 (see “Poly – order also included an inquiry for delivered. A new engine simply does not poly – or what?” series, part 1), were either approximately 4,000 additional PCD inserts make a new car. unknown or, due to lack of foreign with the urgent request to provide an currencies, unavailable to GDR tool immediate quote via telegram. It is easy to The unproportionally high price for e. g. a manufacturers. Machining of non-ferrous imagine that this caused quite a bustle at Wartburg of over 30,000 East Mark also metals such as aluminium and copper, and LACH DIAMANT as well. discouraged many potential buyers. Most composites relied on available carbide tools could not afford this. Only the privileged or pressed diamond or CBN composite round The ordered and the additionally requested upper class, high officials or a few craftsmen blanks from the former USSR. PCD inserts could easily be associated with could purchase at this price. the currently used and implemented inserts However, these “cutting heads” had one for turning and milling tasks in VW’s engine fundamental disadvantage: Compared to the production. successful product “compax™” – at this time offered by the diamond manufacturer VW had requested LACH DIAMANT as sole General Electric – they could not be soldered supplier within the framework of their – the necessary “carbide base” for functional warranty to the GDR. At LACH successful soldering was missing (see “Poly – DIAMANT, Günter Hobohm, Dipl. Ing., and poly – or what?” series, part 2, composite Konrad Stibitz were immediately put in material Elbor). charge of the technical management of this order, which at the time was considered a As apparent from the attached research major project. Gerd Gottschalk (†), as export report, drawings and the case histories, the manager, had the equally difficult task to blade, (tediously) ground from the finalize the contract negotiations with WMW composite part, had to be either clamped Plauen and Berlin; this finally happened in into a holder or even glued! (Example: Fine my presence on October 25th, 1988 in drilling of gearboxes). Plauen, with two contracts resulting. In the end, the total contracted delivery was in the Therefore, it is not surprising that many amount of 560,000 DM. As agreed, the first natural diamond tools were still used in part of the order was delivered on time on New TeChnologiCal Insights addition to the USSR cutting material “SKM”, October 31st, 1988, and the rest on as it was known in the GDR, even for engine December 13th, 1988. Delivery and initial start-up of the VW- production. provided assembly line for the four-stroke “Poly” could now finally be also used in GDR engines gave both engineers and workers for In the late 1970s, when the Volkswagen state enterprises – not only as PCD tools for the first time broad-based technological group built the assembly lines for the four- machining non-ferrous metals, but also for insights which, up to this point, had not been stroke Polo engines in Salzgitter and furniture manufacturing which was accessible. Braunschweig, and increasingly favoured represented by no fewer than five furniture polycrystalline diamonds (PCD), LACH collectives in the GDR. Above all, as an example, the machining and DIAMANT was in great demand as pioneer cutting of aluminium in engine and accessory for the development and production of PCD This was another area where carbide tools production – which finally brings us to the tools; and according to documents available had been the dominating tool used for wood topics of “diamonds” and “Poly – poly – or to me, the sole supplier. and composites – with very few exceptions what?”. such as diamond trial tools, delivered by tool manufacturer Ledermann & Co.

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