Valley Blades

New milling capability allows Ontario blade manufacturer to better serve its worldwide market

July 1, 2009

In 1962 Valley Blades Ltd. began as a small manufacturing plant in Cambridge, Ont. The small 6,000-sq.-ft. facility originally was used to manufacture carbon snow blades and grader blades for the local market.

Fast-forwarding to the mid-’70s, the small Cambridge facility was closed and the company relocated its headquarters to nearby Waterloo, Ont., where the manufacturing facility still flourishes today. In 1977, Valley Blades expanded its facilities and its market share by building a 15,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant in Edmonton, which has since grown to become an integral part of the Valley Blades manufacturing and distribution system.

Dale Baier, president and CEO of Valley Blades, purchased the company in 1974, when it was a six-person operation and with his hands-on approach to the business, has watched the company grow ever since. The Waterloo facility has grown to occupy more than 65,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and warehousing space.

In September of 2007 Valley Blades became ISO 9001 certified and in November of that same year, the company was awarded the IAPA (Industrial Accident Prevention Association) Level II Health and Safety Achievement Award for health and safety excellence in the work place.

Today, the company still manufactures cutting edges and snow plow blades for the heavy snow removal market but also manufactures wearing and cutting edges for any OEM machine servicing the construction and heavy machinery markets.

The number of products manufactured by Valley Blades is almost 36,000 different blades, wearing-edges, and parts for machinery from such companies as Caterpillar, Komatsu, John Deere, Case, Terex, and Volvo. These products are distributed to approximately 40 markets around the world, utilizing a worldwide dealer network, created by Valley Blades, which supplies its products and services to its customers.

New Machining Capability

Now, after months of planning and development, Valley Blades has added new machining capabilities to its shop floor. Historically, base edges for buckets were beveled using a torch. While this method was fast, according to the company, it left something to be desired in terms of tolerances and surface finish.

Valley Blades now uses new technology from machine tool builder Quickmill Inc. to machine bevel even the most complicated profiles. These new capabilities allow for the production of custom and OEM-spec base edges with very short lead-times. As part of this project, the company will also be stocking some common base edges and related components from various OEMs that will be available for same-day shipment.

Earlier this year, the company purchased its second machine from Quickmill following a 2001 installation of a CNC drilling machine in its Waterloo location. Now eight years later, another machine has been delivered and installed to increase capacity on the milling side of the business.

“We were so pleased with the quality of the gantry-style machine that we have recently purchased our second Quickmill machine, the Eliminator B series 1640 milling machine,” explained Baier. “We turned to them again for our solution as our experience working with a local Canadian company proved that Quickmill has responded quickly and effectively with our support and service needs, along with understanding the demand of the heavy equipment industry and just-in-time processes.”

The first machine, installed in 2001, is still being used for heavy drilling and boring of bolt-hole patterns in the wear components that are mass-produced for this type of industry.

“2001 was Valley Blades’ first acquisition of a CNC machining center, and the installation was complex but necessary to maintain the intricate accuracies of the machine,” explained Baier. “We are a 24-hour/6-days-a-week operation, and the Quickmill gantry-style machine has performed with minimal to no downtime, meeting the demands of the wear edge market and our customers.”

Adding CNC technology has allowed the company to eliminate a manual process.

“We were looking to add milling capabilities to a range of product lines that we produced using manual technology and we needed to compete using a more modern CNC machine,” said Baier.

Other Technology

In addition to CNC drilling and milling, the company also heat treats most of its blades and wearing-edge components in both the Waterloo and Edmonton manufacturing facilities, to produce products that are both impact-resistant and have a long wear life. The blades are heated and then rapidly cooled, or quenched. This process reorganizes the crystals in the metal’s microstructure, hardening and strengthening the steel, thereby greatly improving its wear life.

After quenching, the blades and wearing-edge components are very hard and strong; however, further heat treatment, known as tempering, ensures toughness and ductility in the material. According to the company, this three-step process yields the best combination of impact resistance and long wear life. 

Valley Blades also employs a range of CNC equipment in the manufacture of its blades and wearing-edge components. These machines are well-suited to high-production environments as repetitive tasks are carried out at consistent rates on a daily basis. The company uses many CNC technologies such as plasma and saw cutting, boring, and machining. Even the punching process of the blades and wearing-edges uses the benefits of CNC technology on the company’s shop floor.

Solid Modeling

Keeping up with rapidly changing technology in the field of CAD (computer-aided design) software has given Valley Blades the opportunity to design more geometrically complex products. These designs ensure that wear material is located in critical areas of the part, increasing wear life and reducing the amount of scrap.

For more information, visit www.quickmill.com and www.valleyblades.com.