Eugene, Oregon

Based on customer demand, Willamette Valley Company’s Precision Technologies Division has introduced a complete line of coating application equipment for the wood products industry. This line includes OSB, LVL, and Plywood Spray Booths; OSB, Plywood, and Lumber Stencil Application Systems; and LVL Brush Coaters.

According to John Murray, WVCO vice president, the new line reflects innovation driven by customer complaints with existing technology. “Our spray booths lead the industry, utilizing airflow dynamics in conjunction with advanced gun moving technology to accomplish higher transfer efficiency rates which result in a lower cost to the customer base.”

WVCO’s first OSB spray booth and stencil application systems were installed in June 2000 at Voyageur Panel in Barwick, Ontario. The WVCO coating application systems replaced existing equipment installed when the plant was built in 1996. John Kehler, Voyageur Panel Process Improvement Team Leader, explained the reason for the booth replacement – the existing equipment was only capable of achieving a 50 to 60 percent coating transfer efficiency rate with their OSB edge seal. The remaining 40 to 50 percent was lost as waste through over-spray, either in liquid form or as airborne particulate that made its way out of the booth enclosure into the workspace environment. Mr. Kehler also stated the maintenance needs of the old equipment were extremely high. “With the old spray booth, a millwright and/or electrician would get called in on almost every shift to address problems.”

WVCO’s spray booths are capable of achieving an estimated 75 to 80 percent transfer efficiency rate. What little waste remains is collected within the booth enclosure as a dry waste material that can easily be discarded into the normal refuse system. “The ability to increase transfer efficiency rates while eliminating liquid waste is a huge environmental positive for the industry,” states Robert Pitts, sales manager for Precision Technologies. Mr. Pitts also stated that the spray booth would pay for itself, over time, based on improved transfer efficiency, lower maintenance costs, and reduced liquid waste disposal fees.

Increased transfer efficiency is achieved using airflow technology in conjunction with advanced gun moving technology the automotive industry has utilized for the last 30 years. WVCO has applied these concepts to develop a booth that creates an environment conducive to producing higher transfer efficiency rates and containing overspray. Increased efficiency leads to improved coating application on any given substrate. The end result is a maintenance-friendly, environmentally-friendly system producing a unit that looks better to the consumer and costs less to produce.

The Automated Self-cleaning Stencil Application System is very unique, in that it delivers a consistent, sharp stencil application from unit to unit, shift to shift, and operator to operator. James Boileau, former Capital Projects Manager for Voyageur Panel, states that the old system required an operator to manually clean the stencil plate after every 4 to 5 units to prevent build-up on the stencil surface. If build-up occurred, the resulting stencil application had runs and drips that were not appealing to the consumer. He also stated that from shift to shift, different operators ran different fluid pressures resulting in variations in appearance. The WVCO stencil system used at Voyageur Panel automated the cleaning and application processes, thereby eliminating the need for manual cleaning and the problems with fluctuating fluid pressures. According to Mr. Boileau, “Now every unit in the warehouse looks exactly the same, but more importantly, every unit going to our customers looks the same.”

The WVCO stencil system employs a unique water wash chamber that passes around the stencil plate where water jets clean both sides of the stencil simultaneously between loads. The wash chamber also houses squeegees that wipe the surface of the stencil plate. Following the squeegees is a customized air knife that directs airflow into the bottom of each stencil cut-out. This directed airflow keeps any paint build up from occurring, thus keeping the elements in the stencil plate very clean. This results in consistent stencil applications from the first unit to the last. The WVCO stencil system is adaptable to any stenciling needs (i.e. OSB, Plywood, and Lumber).

Willamette Valley Company will soon be introducing a Brush Coater for the LVL industry. This innovative system employs a pair of horizontal rotary brushes to produce a consistent appearance and wet mil coverage on the flat surface of LVL billets. Coating thickness is controlled by the following variables: brush speed, brush height (the amount of bristle deflection), coating fluid pressure, and billet line speed. As the billet enters the booth, coating is applied to the top and bottom surface of the LVL billet. The billet then passes through the rotary brushes to apply a consistent, uniform coating level. The excess coating is brushed off the billet surface into the bottom of the booth, where it is collected, filtered, and sent back to a day use tank. According to Mr. Pitts, “This brush coater provides the highest transfer efficiency rates in the industry. Lab studies indicate that we can achieve 90-95% TE, where the 5-10% waste factor is filtered out of the product and can easily be discarded into the refuse system. From a cosmetic standpoint, this system provides a very appealing and consistent look across the billet surface. From a coating protection standpoint, this system applies a very uniform coating level, which should relate to being able to decrease coating usage.”

John Harrison, WVCO President and CEO states, “Since our first days in business nearly 50 years ago, Willamette Valley Company has thrived on challenge. As a small company distributing mill supplies to the wood products industry, we learned early on the importance of understanding our customers’ day-to-day way of doing things. When we began to anticipate what they might need in the near future, we began to grow. Being open to the idea of ‘what’s next’ has created opportunities at every turn – opportunities that have taken our company in many exciting directions.

Today, Willamette Valley Company could best be described as a highly collaborative team. Technically speaking, we are a research and development driven manufacturer of chemical products and application equipment for customers who are working to meet their own ever changing manufacturing demands. Our chemists, engineers, and technical support team balance their creative energies with all the good disciplines of science and bottom-line sensibilities of the marketplace.”

[Back to the top]