Cambridge Heat Treating in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada just celebrated their 40th anniversary of being in business-a significant milestone for any company. Founded by Bob Robbins, the company has remained a very viable, healthy business under the guidance of Peter Robbins and his sister Cheryl Mortimer who are shown in this picture along with the matriarch of the family. For more details about Cambridge Heat Treating you can see a news item we did earlier this year where “The Monty Heat Treat News” visited Cambridge to do a company profile.
We at “The Monty Heat Treat News” have always found it fascinating to see the start up of a commercial heat treater and how it grows, changes and evolves over the years, this is the story of a fairly typical North American commercial heat treat, Cambridge Heat Treating. We say typical because like many in the industry it is family owned and run and in terms of sales it would be considered average or slightly above average by North American standards. The original founder was Bob Robbins and over the years his sons Don, Peter and daughter Cheryl have all had a role in the business. This is the timeline of the business combined with photos showing the history.
- Cambridge Heat Treating founded in 1982 by Bob Robbins, in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
- Small space (part time, days only)
- Two son’s help-Don works full time, Peter runs afternoon shift after school
- Out grow rented space, purchase 1 acre and build new plant on Cowansview Road
- Upgrade to vacuum furnaces (8 in total)
- Install lab & micro hardness equipment
- Upgrade from pack carburize to gas (nitrogen/Methanol)
- Upgrade to pit furnace carb & oil quench & also nitriding up to 12’ long
- Upgrade to 3 batch IQ furnaces
- Add plasma nitriding
- Add shot blast & paint 5,000 square feet-2 wheelabrator table blast, 1 blast booth & 2 cabinet blasters
- Switch from Nitrogen/Methanol to Endothermic generator
- 1992 Buy out competitor (Preston Heat Treat) which includes 6 acres of land
- Refurbish Preston HT which means a 40’ shot blast room, 40’ paint room, 12,000 square foot addition and a 9th vacuum furnace with new cooling tower. Also included in these ambitions plans were 7 batch IQ furnaces, a very large batch for gears, 2 endo generators, 2 more car bottom furnaces and additional shot blast room.
- 2007 amalgamate 2 facilities into 1 on 6 acres of land. Over the next few years changes include upgrading all of the vacuum furnaces, adding an 8’ diameter Wheelabrator, adding a 9,000 square foot two story office to the building, adding a dual base Rubig plasma nitriding system and a zero flow gas nitriding system from SECO/WARWICK
- 2021 Upgrades and additions continue to this day