Klingspor products top for toboggan, skeleton and bobsleigh

Aug 23, 2016

Olympic Champion Georg Hackl visits Klingspor in Haiger

Olympic Champion Georg Hackl visits Klingspor in Haiger

Technicians from the Bobsleigh and Toboggan Federation for Germany (BSD) visited the Haiger-based abrasives manufacturer Klingspor at the end of July. Klingspor has been cooperating with the BSD for ten years now and supports the Association of Ice Channel Sports with high-quality abrasives.

Georg Hackl, also known as "Hackl Schorsch", is one of the best known and most successful former German luge athletes. He won several gold and silver medals at the Olympic Winter Games and the World Luge Championships. He ended his career in 2006, but remained true to his sport. As a technical trainer at the BSD, he can pass on his knowledge to German luge athletes. Through his years of experience, he knows how important the right grinding tool is for forming the runners and how much it contributes to success.


The runners and runners for toboggans, skeletons and bobsleds are sanded by hand to their final shape. All three types of runners are processed differently and therefore require different grinding materials. Klingspor has an extensive assortment that is designed for all possible materials.

For the BSD technicians from the fields of luge, skeleton and bobsleigh, the information and training measures were interesting and informative. They were able to gain an overview of what has changed and improved over the past few years in the field of grinding technology at their cooperation partner Klingspor.

 

„Hackl Schorsch“ starts with sandpaper

During the factory tour, the BSD technicians were amazed at what Klingspor has to offer. "We often see customers coming to our training centre and saying 'We didn't think Klingspor was so big'. We don't just produce abrasive material here. We also develop and build our own machines," explained Wolfgang Kaiser, Klingspor Testfeld und Service. Georg Hackl and his colleagues were particularly enthusiastic about the numerous innovations in the abrasives sector: "That's why I'm here to find improvements," said the former luge athlete.

At the Klingspor training center, Wolfgang Kaiser demonstrated some of his abrasive papers. At the latest there was no stopping the "Hackl Schorsch": "Yes mei, I'd like to try something like that. That fascinates me." In the company's own workshop, the BSD technicians were allowed to process their own runners and runners with Klingspor products.

The importance of cooperation

Skeleton mechanic Wolfram Schweizer initiated the cooperation a decade ago and is delighted that the information visit with workshop has also been so well received by his colleagues from other sports: "We now want to go to Klingspor in Haiger every year. The constantly new components and innovations and the test workshop were very inspiring for all of us. We still have so many other ideas and problems for which the specialists from the industry can support us," reported the Sauerland sled expert.


This cooperation is also extremely important for the former luge athlete and Olympic champion Georg Hackl: "We would like to thank Klingspor and the employees from development and production. These are the experts for everything that is cut and ground by hand or with machines. We were able to bring our own skids and carry out grinding trials. For us as the workshop delegation of the BSD, this cooperation is so important".

Wolfgang Kaiser und Besucher des BSD

Wolfgang Kaiser with the visitors of the BSD during the factory tour.

Georg Hackl Schleifmaschine

Georg Hackl could hardly wait to grind his tracks for the luge in Klingspor's workshop.
 

Besuch BSD Gruppenfoto

Had an interesting and informative day at Klingspor: Christian Tuhner, Georg Hackl, Alexander Wagener (Klingspor Marketing), Wolfgang Kaiser (Klingspor Testfeld and Service), Wolfram Schweizer, Marco Stahnke and Bernd Steinecker (l.t.r.)

Besuch BSD Produktwand im Schulungszentrum

The product wall in the Klingspor training centre shows the variety of abrasives and inspires the BSD technicians.