materials & tools LACH
materials & tools LACH DIAMANT ® – 100 Years Tradition. Passion. Innovation. part 13: LACH DIAMANT ® goes Saxony For the magazines “journal of hp tooling” and “dihw” Horst Lach created two series: “Poly – poly” and “LACH DIAMANT® – 100 Years”. In these series he describes the transition into a new era of material machining using PCD, CBN, etc. up to the latest applications. Horst Lach, born in 1940, runs the company LACH DIAMANT® – founded in 1922 by Jakob Lach – together with his son, Dipl.-Ing. Robert Lach. 1984 to the fall of the Wall – a German-German story, delightfully told by someone who set off from Saxony to Hanau In my article “Poly – Poly – or what?” published six years ago in 2019, I described the state of the automotive industry in the GDR, which suffered from a lack of polycrystalline diamond cutting tools for engine production. (also see part 9 “Poly – Poly – or what?” at www.lach-diamant.de) As early as 1984 a plan was made between VW and the GDR to build a complete manufacturing plant for 250,000 fourcylinder Polo engines annually by 1988, in order to finally replace the fuel-hungry, two-stroke engines of the Trabant and Wartburg. The problem: the Polo engine was an aluminum engine, which economically required machining with polycrystalline diamonds (PCD). Due to a shortage of foreign currency the GDR tool industry had to work with carbide tools or diamond composite blanks pressed in the then USSR, when working on non-ferrous metals like aluminum and copper – insufficient for mass production of the aluminum Polo engine. Before 1988 LACH DIAMANT® had no business relations with the GDR, so we were very surprised when on September 15, 1988, the telex printed out a rush order from the GDR’s Export-Import company over about 4,000 PCD indexable inserts. Urgent delivery deadline: end of November 1988 – just in time to announce the opening of the new engine plant at the Leipzig autumn fair. We owed this major order to a recommendation from VW, because we were the sole supplier since the late 1970’s for the production lines in Salzgitter and Braunschweig of the Polo engine. One year later the border fell. The time of reunification began. How would the former GDR economy continue after reunification? Together with product manager Mr. Gerd Gottschalk I tried to find an answer. First steps During this period of change we visited several industrial centers, starting in Suhl, then Karl-Marx-Stadt (now Chemnitz), The 3-millionth Trabant as a 4 cylinder photo taken 1990 in today’s August Horch Museum in Zwickau Rush order of approx. 4000 PCD indexable inserts 20 no. 3, September 2025
materials & tools German Goldsmith’s house in Hanau Zwickau, Dresden, Leipzig, Magdeburg and even went on to Quedlinburg. Our impressions, without going into detail, were mixed. But we had one goal – to give this long-suffering region a better and vibrant future. Including a competitive industry – and diamonds. Ultimately LACH DIAMANT® had laid the foundation by delivering 4,000 PCD cutting tools. But we also found out: in the entire former GDR industry, there were only TWO grinding machines capable of sharpening polycrystalline diamonds. One was a test machine at Heckert in Karl-Marx-Stadt, the other at Zeiss in Jena. Even just for servicing PCD indexable inserts for the metal industry – let alone future diamond tool production – the five existing furniture combines were completely insufficient. Therefore, in order to solidify our role as a diamond tool supplier in the new federal states, LACH DIAMANT® would need to support this with the establishment of a central diamond grinding center. Said and done. The first step: recruiting staff – and it turned out to be a stroke of luck: Bernd Straube. And now, let’s hear from him – how it all started from his point of view and how things went on. Let me now jump ahead to the year 2022, when LACH DIAMANT® celebrated its 100 th anniversary with many speeches at the German Goldsmith’s house in Hanau. One of them was delivered by Bernd Straube, and we don’t want to withhold it from you, dear readers: “Dear guests, I am now the last in the speech lineup For me, 32 years are coming to an end today. I have shaped and influenced 32 % of the company’s development path. I am somewhat proud that we managed this so well. The beginnings were difficult. The 32 years were not always filled with laughter, despite what one might think given the name. But they were definitely some years – interesting, instructive, good years, but also challenging ones. I’d like to take this opportunity to give a brief review of these 32 years. Much has been forgotten. For simplicity’s sake, I will do this in my mother tongue, as I come – clearly – from the beautiful Free State of Saxony. We no longer have a king, but we’ve preserved our language. Not everyone loves it, I know, but I always say: I find Bavarian and Swabian even worse. So, I ask for your patience over the next few minutes. In Saxony, malicious tongues say that we are stubborn. But I would say: we stick to our opinions, perhaps a bit louder than necessary – but in the end, all roads lead to Rome. A bit about myself: I studied mechanical engineering / manufacturing technology at the Technical University in Dresden from 1971 to 1975, specializing in machining technology. From 1975 to 1990 I worked as an engineer in the Electrical Appliance Plant – a research and development facility for various GDR companies producing household appliances like vacuum cleaners, mixers and kitchen machines. We dealt with electric motors and their development. Many of these appliances were exported to West Germany under the brand “Privileg for the Welle.” Because of this our factories received a small share of the profits and could invest in modern production lines. In Suhl’s electrical appliance plant, we had a machining system from Micafil (Switzerland), which used diamond tools for commutator machining. Our task was to replace the one-time supplied diamond tools with in-house production or regrind them for continued use. We received support from the Chemnitz Machine Tool Research Center. It was a difficult process. Regrinding a single turning tool took one to two weeks. There were only two or three suitable machines in the GDR: one at the Chemnitz research center, another in the Jena combine having a big export share. We had to replace these tools and also used so-called super-hard cutting materials from the USSR – but processing was becoming increasingly difficult. We managed it to a certain extent, but it was a tough job. Then came November 11, 1989. The Wall fell, the borders opened, and euphoria broke out. On July 1, 1990, the monetary union arrived overnight – and the West German economy too. But soon we noticed unfamiliar things: employment agencies, unemployment, short-time work. My company was affected. Orders dried up; businesses were no longer competitive with the Deutschmark. A certain existential fear spread. One day I read an ad in the newspaper “Freie Presse”: ‘LACH DIAMANT® tool manufacturer seeks sales representative for the new federal states.’ I knew how to spell “diamond” and had handled some tools before. I sent an application to Hanau. Shortly after, I received a telegram: ‘Please call. We would like to welcome you for a job interview in Hanau.’ That was easier said than done. In 1990, the average GDR citizen didn’t have a telephone – those were reserved for police, no. 3, September 2025 21
