Project Success: Used Valve Grinder Wins Admiration of New Owner

CLIMAX Valve Grinding Machine

Project Success: Used Valve Grinder Wins Admiration of New Owner

Portability and precision are two key attributes that make CLIMAX products popular all over the world. But an industrial valve repair shop in Canada puts two other factors at the top of the list of reasons for loving their grinding and lapping machine: Durability and ease of use.

Five years ago, VanValve Service Centre & Sales, located in the heart of British Columbia timber country, bought a used CLIMAX VM5800 valve machine out of a defunct pulp mill on Vancouver Island. They have used it continuously since then, as a tilt table for grinding wedge gates.

VanValve Owner Mike Bartha describes the VM5800’s maintenance needs: “Nothing.”

“We run the machine regularly for 10 to 15 hours per week, and have for five years,” says Mike. “We haven’t had to do a thing for it in all that time.”

Mike is also effusive about the machine’s ease of setup and use. “We were shocked by how easy it is to set up. It has saved us much more time than we expected,” says Mike. “And the controls are fantastic. It’s easy to operate. A junior machinist can be trained to operate it in very short order.”

At VanValve, gate wedge grinding used to be accomplished by hand, with a plate and a drill; a typical job could take more than an hour to complete. With the VM5800, “we just set it up, leave it and go to something else,” says Mike. The operator can complete setup in about five minutes, then let it run, whether for 30 minutes or six straight days.

What’s next? VanValve is exploring ways to take advantage of the machine head that came with the VM5800. They plan to use it for overlay on wedges, saving time on cutting down welds when compared to grinding. However they put it to use, they know they can count on the VM5800 to perform.

Do you have a story about a CLIMAX machine has performed for you, year after year? Share your experience at www.climaxportable.com.