Field Trip to Gator Millworks

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Field Trip to Gator Millworks

Thanks to George Lewis and George Campagna, this past April our club took a trip to Gator Millworks 72,000 square foot facility in Denham Springs. This company does work all over the country and their pride in their country and products is on full display. Austin Shelton, Vice President of Operations was kind enough to take time out to show us around. Throughout the tour, Austin described the history of the company and it’s path to full automation where possible.

Members are watching a newly installed planer/sander at work. This can remove up to 1/2″ of wood in a single pass, then move through 150 and 180 grit sanding before the wood exits the machinery.

A Gator employee is assembling and gluing draw boxes by hand, then puts them in a clamping machine that squares the boxes up and presses them until the glue dries. And yes, at times they still have to resort to manual machines such as the miter saw. For final touches the employee is passing the laminated pieces through the planer/sander to get to the desired final dimensions.

Here Harold is holding a diamond cutting head used in one of Gator’s machines to cut “V” shaped grooves. Harold said it was so sharp you could get cut just looking at it!
Austin describes their overhead dust collection system. The sanding belts go to a massive sanding machine that is undergoing maintenance. Austin was happy to answer any questions our club members had. We thank Gator Millworks and Austin for being so welcoming and generous with their time.