Metal, wood, and plastic
A lot has changed in the course of the years. Brushing tools can still be made in line with specific specifications, but that’s where all comparisons with the end of the 19th century cease. Today, the company makes brushing tools for all sectors, especially for the surface treatment of metal, wood, and plastic. Exports accounted for 30% of sales in 2022. They export not only to Europe, but also to Canada, Thailand, China, India, and other lands. CardoTech has been ISO9001 certified since 2002.
Dominique Vittot gives us a tour of his company, which employs 15 people. He’s not only the president, but also the husband of Sandrine Chainard, fifth generation general director. In the medium to long term, they will both hand over the leadership to Bastien, the sixth generation, who has been working at CardoTech for four years as an apprentice engineer. During our discussion, Dominique Vittot, who is proud of how the company has developed, stresses that differentiation is achieved by giving clients added value, partly thanks to enthusiastic workers.

15 workers - 15 quality managers
‘Our 15 workers are all responsible for quality,’ he says. ‘And, yes, our primary goal is to offer the maximum added value which our clients expect from us. To do so, we ask separate questions. What do they want to achieve? Is it mainly quality, the lifespan of brushing tools, the total costs of the operation, or the training of operators to make full use of a brushing machine and the brushing tools? This approach requires a good knowledge of the brushed materials, the processes, and the apparatus.
‘Our design and production methods and tools enable us to adapt to a great number of variables which our clients ask,’ he replies. ‘That’s also why our production facilities are gradually being equipped with flexible and digital apparatus to improve our quality and productivity even more.’

The CardoTech method in four phases
The construction of each CardoTech project proceeds in accordance with a clearly defined logic. Four phases are considered in each project: ‘The first phase begins with the very first meeting. It’s then that we consider how we can take account of the need for added value for our client. At the same time, we examine the production environment with which we are involved. Then comes the pre-project phase, which leads to our proposal and the accompanying performance obligation. The third phase is the design and the production of the brushing tools in our workshops in Sainte-Hélène. The last phase of all is the installation of the brushing tools on to our new client’s apparatus, regardless of the make of brush, followed by testing until we achieve the required result. If necessary, this is followed by a training phase for the machine adjusters.’

Surface treatment of wood
Obviously, we’re most interested in the way in which CardoTech serves the wood industry. We know that CardoTech has been operating in the field of wood surface treatment since 1998. Clients come from all parts of the wood industry, such as saw mills, planing workshops, carpenters, fitters, joiners, house construction workers, and, obviously, parquet floor fitters. Brushing tools for the wood sector fulfil various functions e.g. structuring, ginning, and spreading coatings.
‘It’s important to note that we’re aware that our clients are probably operating in a rationalisation phase. And so, they’re looking for ways to stand out: through the type of floor, through quality or value for your money, by striving to increase productivity, and such like. The processes of structuring and ginning have to follow within these frameworks. That brings us to points like finer brushing results, higher speeds, higher mechanical loads, and higher temperature increases of tools and brushes, a required longer lifespan for tools and brushes, and so on.’

Structuring wood
Finally, we obviously want to know how CardoTech specifically sets about structuring wood. What should and shouldn’t you do?
‘You always have to consider that we open the soft grain of the wood. After that, we “process” it gradually until we have achieved the required structuring level. We can draw a distinction between different structuration levels : it goes from low, over intermediate to strong. To make things absolutely clear, when we talk about structuring wood, we at CardoTech aren’t talking about a brush on plastic hubs, which are equipped with only half as many threads as metal hubs. Also, we’re not talking about linear brush strips which slide into a cylindrical sleeve, or relief tools which ignore the natural wood grain. No, we’re talking about specific brushing tools made of a metal axis or hub, which we strip as soon as the brushing tool is worn out, and then we re-align and balance it again. The quality of the threads and sanding grains is also extremely important. For a few years now, we’ve been using self-grinding ceramic grains.’

‘Depending on the expected added value, we adapt the types of threads, the packing densities, the thread lengths, sometimes we mix two threads in the same brushing tool, and so on. When we start up the brushing tools on the brushing machines, we also adapt the speeds and rotation direction. The same applies to the feeding speeds of the blades in the brushing machine and also to the degree of penetration of the brushing tools into the wood.’