Patent ID: 8033308

Claim:
A wear insert for a knife assembly, where the knife assembly includes a knife, a clamp, and a holder, where the wear insert is elongate and defines a centrally disposed, elongate axis EB, and a plane of symmetry POS of the wear insert, where the wear insert further defines a reference plane perpendicular to the POS, and where the reference plane and the POS intersect along the axis EB, the POS extending in a first direction above the reference plane and in a second, opposite direction below the reference plane, the wear insert comprising: a top-side surface for receiving the knife; a bottom-side surface for receipt by the holder, said bottom-side surface including a first holder-indexing feature that includes at least one of (a) a projection and (b) a recess for indexing the wear insert to the holder; a first wear surface at a first end of the wear insert; and a second wear surface at a second end of the wear insert spaced apart from said end, said first wear surface providing for a first impact angle in a first operably mounted position of the wear insert in the knife assembly such that said top-side surface faces in the first direction and said bottom-side surface faces in the second direction, and in which said first wear surface is exposed to chips being cut by the knife, said first wear surface defining a first impact angle, in said first operably mounted position, relative to the reference plane that differs substantially from 90 degrees, the wear insert being adapted for removal from the knife assembly and replacement therein in a second operably mounted position in the knife assembly in which said second wear surface, instead of said first wear surface, is exposed to chips being cut by the knife, said second wear surface defining in said second operably mounted position a second impact angle for the wear insert relative to the reference plane that is substantially equal to said first impact angle, wherein the wear insert is exchangeable between said first and second operably mounted positions by either (c) turning the wear insert end-for-end and leaving said top-side surface facing in said first direction or (d) flipping the wear insert so that said top-side surface faces in said second direction.