Machines for brush deburring, edge rounding and face polishing of precision workpieces – from Lyss since 1955.
René Gerber AG
3250 Lyss (CH) · Werkstrasse 35New on Amplifa
Precision surface machining from Lyss
René Gerber AG is an owner-managed Swiss family company based in Lyss in the Bernese Seeland, developing and manufacturing machines for precision surface machining since 1955. The product portfolio includes brush polishing and deburring machines (BP Smart, BS Robo, BP Motion, BS Power, BS EcoX, BS Eco), face polishing machines (PP Compact, PP Power), thickness sorting devices, pneumatic presses and expanding mandrels under the Toraxor brand. The machines deburr, round and polish cutting inserts as well as turned, milled, punched, laser-cut and waterjet-cut parts made of materials such as carbide, CBN, PCD, ceramics, sapphire, ruby, steel, aluminium and brass. In addition, the SurfaceExpertCenter offers deburring, edge rounding and face polishing as contract manufacturing from single parts to large series, including radii from 5 to approx. 200 µm, flatness below 1 µm and roughness down to Ra 0.02. Further services include retrofit and overhaul of existing systems, customer service and the sale of brushes, spare parts and diamond pastes. The entire company is certified to ISO 9001:2015 and exports around 80 percent of its products to four continents, among other things via its own sales organisation in the USA.
- Site
- Lyss, Switzerland
- Processes
- Brush deburring (deburring), Edge rounding (rounding of cutting edges, radii 0.005 - 0.020 mm or 5 µm to approx. 200 µm), Brush polishing, Face polishing, Surface and cutting edge machining as contract manufacturing (SurfaceExpertCenter), Retrofit (mechanical, electrical and control-related overhaul of systems), Thickness sorting with thickness sorting devices, Presses for precision bonding of small parts (pneumatic presses)
- Materials
- Carbide, CBN, PCD, Ceramics, Sapphire, Ruby, Steel, Aluminium
- Certificates
- ISO 9001:2015
- Founded
- 1955
- Industries
- Watch and jewellery industry, Tool industry, Metalworking, Medical technology, Aviation, Precision mechanics
- 01
Engineering and in-house development of the machines
- 02
Machine building: brush polishing, deburring and face polishing machines
- 03
SurfaceExpertCenter: contract manufacturing (deburring, rounding, face
- 04
Commissioning, customer service and helpline
- 05
Retrofit and overhaul of existing systems
- 06
Sales of consumables (brushes, spare parts, diamond pastes)
Materials and processes
Carbide
Machining of carbide cutting tools and inserts during deburring, rounding and polishing.
CBN
Superhard cutting tools are deburred and rounded with process reliability.
PCD
PCD tools and components for rounding and face polishing in the micrometer range.
Ceramics
Hard, brittle ceramic components are machined gently and without secondary burrs.
Sapphire
Sapphire glass and watch or jewel bearings are face polished to highest flatness.
Ruby
Ruby parts, such as watch jewels, for face polishing with roughness down to Ra 0.02.
Steel
Steel and stainless steel parts such as turned, milled and punched parts are deburred and polished.
Stainless steel
Stainless steel components from medical technology and precision mechanics for face polishing.
Aluminium
Aluminium workpieces are brush-deburred, rounded and polished.
Brass
Brass and turned parts for deburring and surface polishing.
Diamond
Diamond cutting tools and diamond pastes for precision polishing processes.
Sintered material (e.g. Sm Co)
New sintered materials are face polished and finished, e.g. for the watch industry.
Locations
Lyss
CHHeadquarters, production, development, SurfaceExpertCenter (contract manufacturing), customer service
- Part weight / size
- Components up to Ø 250 mm, thicknesses 0.1–150 mm
- Lot size
- Single part to large series
- Materials
- Carbide, CBN, PCD, diamond, ceramics, sapphire, ruby, sintered material, steel, aluminium, brass, stainless steel
- Brush polishing machines (BP Smart, BS Robo, BP Motion)
- Through-feed brush polishing machines (BS Power, BS EcoX, BS Eco)
- Face polishing machines (PP Compact, PP Power)
- Thickness sorting devices
- Pneumatic presses
- Toraxor expanding mandrels
Products and machined components
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brush deburring (deburring)Surface | – | Component up to Ø 250 mm × Component thickness 2 - 150 mm | – | Single part – Large series | Steel, Sintered material, Carbide, Ceramics, Aluminium, Brass, CBN, PCD, Sapphire, Ruby |
| Edge rounding (rounding of cutting edges, radii 0.005 - 0.020 mm or 5 µm to approx. 200 µm)Surface | Flatness < 1 µm; parallelism < 2 µm · down to Ra 0.2 | Diameter from 1 - 220 mm × Thicknesses from 0.2 - 110 mm | – | Single part – Large series | Carbide, CBN, PCD, Diamond, Sapphire glass, Ruby, Ceramics, Steel, Aluminium, Brass |
| Brush polishingSurface | – | – | – | Single part – Large series | Steel, Aluminium, Brass, Carbide, CBN, PCD, Ceramics, Sapphire, Ruby, Stainless steel |
| Face polishingSurface | Flatness < 5 µm; parallelism < 10 µm · down to Ra 0.02 | Diameter from 1 - 120 mm × Thicknesses from 0.1 - 50 mm | – | Single part – Large series | Sapphire, Ruby, Carbide, Ceramics, CBN, PCD, Diamond, Stainless steel |
| Surface and cutting edge machining as contract manufacturing (SurfaceExpertCenter)Surface | down to Ra 0.02 | up to Ø 250 mm | – | Single part – Large series | Steel, Sintered material (Sm Co), Carbide, Ceramics, CBN, PCD, Sapphire, Ruby, Aluminium, Brass |
| Retrofit (mechanical, electrical and control-related overhaul of systems)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Thickness sorting with thickness sorting devicesInspection | – | – | – | – | Small parts made of various materials |
| Presses for precision bonding of small parts (pneumatic presses)Joining | – | – | – | – | Small parts for the watch and sapphire industry |
11 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brush polishing machine | René Gerber AG BP Smart | – | – | – | Lyss |
| Brush polishing machine | René Gerber AG BS Robo | – | – | – | Lyss |
| Brush polishing machine | René Gerber AG BP Motion | – | – | – | Lyss |
| Through-feed brush polishing machine | René Gerber AG BS Power | – | – | – | Lyss |
| Through-feed brush polishing machine | René Gerber AG BS EcoX | – | – | – | Lyss |
| Brush deburring machine | René Gerber AG BS Eco | – | – | – | Lyss |
| Face polishing machine | René Gerber AG PP Compact | – | – | – | Lyss |
| Face polishing machine | René Gerber AG PP Power | – | – | – | Lyss |
| Thickness sorting device | René Gerber AG | 4 apparatu | – | – | Lyss |
| Pneumatic press | René Gerber AG | – | – | seit 1999 | Lyss |
| Expanding mandrel (brand name Toraxor) | René Gerber AG Toraxor | – | – | seit 1972 | Lyss |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality
The entire company is certified to ISO 9001:2015 (SQS/IQNET, Reg. No. 46375) – including machine building with commissioning & service, surface treatment and sales of consumables. Contract manufacturing documents flatness below 1 µm, parallelism below 2 µm and roughness down to Ra 0.02.
| Evidence | Lyss |
|---|---|
| ISO 9001:2015 |
History
- 1955
René Gerber buys an old business and starts manufacturing machines and apparatus for the watch industry with 6 employees; first exports of brush polishing machines to Italy, France, Germany and India.
- 1970
The sole proprietorship becomes René Gerber AG.
- 1972
The first expanding mandrels are manufactured under the TORAXOR brand name.
- 1990
Stefan Gerber takes over management in the second generation.
- 1999
Design and construction of pneumatic presses, mainly for the watch and sapphire industry.
- 2000
First brush polishing machine for rotational parts.
- 2003
First brush deburring machine for through-feed operation is delivered.
- 2005
Own sales organisation founded in the USA.
- 2017
Marc Schori takes over management as new shareholder effective 1 April.
- 2018
Go-live of the new modern website.
- 2022
Winner of the Innovation Award at GrindTec; introduction of the world's first machine for freely programmable edge rounding.