Most Read
Most E-mailed
Print Article
Fabricator Profile
A Visioneer in solid surface
What began as a laminate cutting station has grown into a full fledged producer and fabricator of post-formed laminate tops, as well as solid surface veneer, 1⁄2-in. solid surface and solid surface accesories.
President Steve Aldridge, wth the help of his son, Travis Aldridge, as vice president, and his brother, John Aldridge, as vice president of sales and marketing, grew his business from a one-man laminate cutting station to a full-fleged manufacturer of a variety of products, including an inventive solid surface veneer that is poured and fabricated in-house.
Figure 1 - Sta-Care offers a hybrid of laminate and 1⁄4-in. solid surface that has many features of both products.
Figure 2 - Using the special grade of contact cement, the solid surface veneer is laminated to a particle board substrate, fitted with a balance sheet and moves onto a company-built core building machine that squares the sheet, applies build-down strips, creates an expansion joint and applies hinge tape for v-grooving.
Figure 3 - Once they have been laminated, the solid surface veneer slabs move into a nonconventional v-grooving machine, which the company built, to undergo v-grooving, glue-up and clamping as part of the same process.
Figure 4 - While the company still batch mixes its solid surface, it recently switched to a “continuous curing” line in which the material is conveyed through a curing oven and comes out the other side near-ready to fabricate.
Figure 5 - Since switching over to a continuous curing line Sta-Care has found it very easy to get into the production of standard 1⁄2-in. solid surface.
Figure 6 - Sta-Care now molds a number of specialty products, including 32 colors of sinks, vanities, shower pans and shower caddies.
For more information contact Sta-Care Inc. at Box 610, Portage, WI 53901, 800-444-8677, wsales@sta-care.com, www.visioneersolidsurface.com.
Editor Kevin Cole can be reached at editor@surfacefabrication.com.
