Steele Canvas Factory Tour

Founded in 1921, on Hamilton St. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Steele Canvas Basket has been leading the industrial basket manufacturing industry.  We paid a visit to the family-owned and operated facility in Massachusetts for a closer look at their processes. See who this 90-year old company has developed its operations to a modern-day factory while still staying true to quality.

Layout and Cutting Room

All of the canvas used is either Steeletex (vinyl-coated nylon) or leather.  The materials is first layed out and cut using an electric knife.

steele-canvas-furniture-ny-160511-0002

Stitching Department

The next step is to take the raw materials to the stitching department. Here is where all of the basket bodies, tote bags, and liners are stitched by hand.

steele-canvas-furniture-ny-160511-0053

Wood and Steel Department

Every basket needs heavy duty structure to hold as much items as possible. In the back of production facility is the wood and steel department where the appropriate frame is selected.

steele-canvas-wood-steel

“Slide-On” Process

Once frame is selected, the hand-sewn canvas bodies from stitching, as well as other basket materials, are put together.

steele-canvas-furniture-ny-160511-0019

Flash-Welding

The final step is flash-welding.  The basket rims are flash-welded on to each basket by hand. Factory workers operating this C-gun attach the rim to each of the basket’s u-rods weld by weld.

steele-canvas-furniture-ny-160511-0038

This is what a finished Canvas Small Basket would look like:

steele canvas basket
http://www.steelecanvas.com/

Start Working with Factories

Maker’s Row is home to over 10,000 American factories! Use our platform to start exploring your production options today.

10,000 american factories

Check Out Our Photo Series

Related Reading:  4 Reasons Why Manufacturers Should Consider Crowdfunding

Daily Digest

For blog posts directly to your inbox, sign up for the Maker’s Row newsletter.