Creating Gutter Runs with Quality Staff and Equipment

We supply a variety of products that help keep our Calgary customers drier and warmer in winter, by leaving the elements outside where they belong. Our offerings include asphalt roofs, k-style eaves troughs and soffits, and sidings in vinyl, fiber cement, engineered wood, metal and aluminum materials.

Today we focus on one of our most popular pieces of equipment, the roll-forming machine we use to manufacture our k-style gutters on site. This may be something new to you, so we’ll explain how roll-forming works, and why it is important to use equipment in good condition.

How Roll Forming Works in Simple Terms

Did you ever use a cookie-cutter to shape biscuits when you were a kid, before you baked them to brown perfection? What you were actually doing was feeding the raw dough through a former, although you may not have thought about it that way.

Motor vehicle factories do something similar, when they press body parts into shape using profiles. An eaves trough roll-forming machine feeds a suitable width of continuous material through a succession of rollers.

These rollers progressively massage the material into a desired shape, in this case the familiar k-style gutter, and separate it with a cutter when it reaches the desired length. In practice, the sheet comes in a roll to make handling easier.

Factors Influencing the Finished Product

Several factors influence the finished gutter proportions, and help assure a consistent profile without noticeable material deforming.

• The rolled raw material must be defect-free, and of a suitable thickness.
• Feeding and forming rollers must manage the material as it passes through.
• The machine should run at an optimal speed so as not to stress the material.
• The cutter that lops off the finished section must be clean and razor sharp.

How Valiant Exteriors Meet These Challenges

We use a ‘New Tech’ gutter machine able to make both 5” and 6” gutter widths with k-style profiles. It can accommodate .3 mm to .6 mm painted galvanized steel, .5 mm to .8mm painted aluminum, and .5 mm to .7 mm copper sheeting.

The 24 gauge, nominally 6mm-thick galvanized steel is our preferred choice for larger installations where heavy hail is possible. Although we can’t promise our installations will tolerate severe weather, making insurance a priority.

Your Assurance of Quality at Valiant Exteriors

Our roll-forming gutter machine has a tubular steel frame, and is 8-feet long, 4-feet high, and weighs in at 1,000 pounds. This assures a rock-solid case, within which the polyurethane drive rollers, and stainless steel forming rollers can operate smoothly.

We leave nothing to chance at Valiant Exteriors in Calgary. We use best quality materials from reputable suppliers, well-trained, loyal employees, and a world-class gutter-forming machine. That’s because we believe quality counts in our home town of Calgary, and we would have it no other way.

More Information

Why 24 Gauge Steel Gutters Cost More

Fitting Gutters to Metal-Frame Buildings

Gutter Forming Machine Image ‘New Tech’