Sanding Larger Than Life in The Big Apple
Miller Blaker’s culture honors old-school technique while embracing new-school technology. For over 50 years, Miller Blaker has been passionately serving some of the most well-known clients in the world from the heart of New York City, delivering woodworking solutions some can only dream of.
Miller Blaker’s culture honors old-school technique while embracing new-school technology. For over 50 years, Miller Blaker has been passionately serving some of the most well-known clients in the world from the heart of New York City, delivering woodworking solutions some can only dream of.
High profile jobs at the highest level require unmatched quality and attention to detail, but also require speed and agility in manufacturing to keep ahead of schedule. With every job being unique, Miller Blaker needed a machine to handle the diversity of their business.
“We are proud to have some of the most skilled craftsmen in the industry, however, time is never on our side “ explained Lee Miller. “And skilled labor is both costly and in short supply. We have always invested in technology to give ourselves competitive advantage. We knew we had to do something to further automate our sanding.”
Due to the nature of Miller Blaker’s business, they don’t get second chances on one-of-a- kind projects. As such, Miller Blaker has relied upon Heesemann for their wood and veneer finish sanding for years…but they needed to do more, and quickly.
Miller Blaker’s requirements included calibration, finish sanding, veneer sanding, sealer and primer sanding, high gloss sanding, brush sanding, texturing and effect sanding – all in 5’ width. With the volume of work, there was no time to change belts between jobs or run multiple passes to complete a workpiece.
To add to the challenge, Miller Blaker had a huge job which required this machine quickly. They were struggling to figure out how they were going to complete the project given the volume and variety of work. Rabin Ramcharan – Vice President, explained: “Sanding posed a major problem for us – especially with the variety of products and finishes, including some coatings which are very sensitive, we weren’t sure how we were going to do it.”
After looking at all the challenges and consulting with Miller Blaker on the right technology, Stiles, was able to provide the right solution that could meet both the rigorous technical requirements and Miller Blaker’s tight timelines.
“We had a tight timeline and a huge list of requirements. If it could be done, we knew it was Heesemann”
-Lee Miller, Owner
The solution for Miller Blaker was an 8 head, Heesemann MFA10 sander with a five-foot- wide working width, weighing in at almost 42,000 lbs. The machine includes a steel calibration drum, 2 cross belts, 1 combi head, 2 chevron belts all with magnetic segmented pads and liquid cooled servo drives, a quick-change brush head for texturing or brush sanding, and a planetary sanding unit for further brush sanding and edge breaking, texturing or polishing.
“Stiles and Heesemann came through in a big way and helped us keep our commitments to our customers while also achieving our goals. With our new Heesemann sander, we can sand anything with virtually zero setup time – and without burdening our team. Regardless of what a job requires, with the technology in the machine, I know we can always get the job done on time and at the highest possible quality.”
