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What is slitting?

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Let's get back to basics - what is slitting?  Slitting is essentially cutting, but has come to be assumed to mean cutting in a certain way.  Whereas use of the word 'cutting' might denote a cut being made in a material or object using a saw, a sharp blade or another method 'slitting' has come to mean to cutting using a blade.  I'm saying this based on my own experience of working in the slitting / converting industry, so naturally my perspective isn't exactly objective.  In fact it's difficult for me to answer the question 'what is slitting' without considering that (to me at least) the very word 'slitting' has become onomatopoeia!

But what does it mean?
If I was pushed to condense the meaning of 'slitting' into a single sentence (which I guess is the very point of this blog post) then I would have to say:

"Slitting is the process of making a slit (cut)."


As intimated above, to me slitting in the process of loading a large (parent) roll of material onto a slitter rewinder so that it can be slit down into smaller (finished) rolls.  But that's just because I sell slitter rewinders!
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