To quote a custom snow plow cutting edge to drawing, the factory needs a dimensioned drawing with tolerances, the base material and wear-layer specification, hole layout and hardware details, quantity per size and per year, and the operating conditions the edge will see. Everything else — price, MOQ, tooling, lead time — follows from those inputs. This page lists what to send, in the order we ask for it.
1. The drawing package: what “to drawing” actually means
A sketch on a napkin is not a drawing package. To manufacture a cutting edge that fits first time, we need geometry that can be inspected against a gauge, not interpreted. Send native CAD where possible (DXF, DWG, STEP); a dimensioned PDF is acceptable for simple profiles.
- Overall profile: length, width, thickness, and any punch or bend. State whether dimensions are before or after forming.
- Edge geometry: bevel angle, bevel depth, and whether the wear edge is straight, serrated, or segmented. Show which face is the pavement side.
- Tolerances: general tolerance block plus critical dimensions — hole pitch, edge straightness, thickness. If you have no standard, say so and we will propose one for your approval.
- Marking: part number, logo, or traceability code, and where it may sit without interfering with the moldboard or hardware.
- Revision control: drawing number and revision letter on every file. Mixed revisions are the most common cause of a wrong first article.
2. Material and wear-layer specification
The cutting edge body and the wear layer are separate decisions. A boron-steel edge and a carbide-tipped edge can share a drawing but not a price or a life expectation. Tell us the ground you plow — asphalt, concrete, gravel, interlocking pavers — and the truck class, because that sets the load path through the edge.
| Item | What to specify | Why the factory needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Base material | Grade or hardness range (e.g. boron steel, carbon steel, or “equivalent to your current supply”) | Sets formability, weldability, and hole quality |
| Wear layer | Carbide grade family, tip or insert geometry, braze or mechanical fixing | Drives tooling, cycle time, and inspection method |
| Hardness | Target range and test location (base metal vs. wear zone) | Determines heat treatment route and sampling |
| Surface | Bare, painted, or coated; coating on which faces | Affects masking, fixturing, and packing |
| Hardware | Plow bolts, nuts, washers — supplied or not; grade and finish | Prevents fit issues at the moldboard |
Where you have no fixed specification, describe the duty instead: hours per season, road mix, and whether the fleet also runs on gravel. We will propose a range and mark it as a proposal on the quotation.
3. Hole layout, hardware, and fit at the moldboard
Hole layout is where custom edges fail in the field more often than at the wear edge. Countersink angle, hole diameter versus bolt shank, pitch, and edge-to-first-hole distance must all be on the drawing, not assumed from a sample.
- Confirm bolt type and size (plow bolt head style, shank diameter, thread).
- Give hole diameter, countersink angle and depth, and whether holes are punched or drilled.
- Give hole pitch and the distance from each end and from the wear edge.
- State hole position tolerance and whether it is checked with a gauge or a sample plate.
- Send one used edge or a moldboard interface photo if the original drawing is unavailable — we will reverse-dimension it for your sign-off.
- Confirm whether the edge is reversible and, if so, that the hole pattern is symmetric.
If your fleet has had strike damage at the edge-to-pavement interface, the checks in edges and in-pavement lights strike checks are worth reading before you freeze the hole pattern.
4. Quantity, sizes, and the commercial picture
Custom cutting edges are a tooling-and-setup business as much as a steel business. The commercial terms depend on how many distinct part numbers you need, how many pieces per number, and whether the order repeats. Nothing below is a quotation — treat it as the shape of the conversation.
- MOQ: depends on part number count and whether new tooling is required; mixed-size orders are usually easier to place than a single short run.
- Tooling and setup: punch and drill fixtures, bend tooling, and first-article inspection are one-time costs per drawing revision. A revision change can re-open them.
- Lead time: depends on material availability, heat treatment queue, and first-article approval. First orders run longer than repeats; plan the approval step into your season.
- Total cost: weigh piece price against wear life and change-out labor. A longer-lasting edge that costs more per piece can still lower cost per plow-hour — but only if the hole pattern and thickness suit your fleet.
- Specification risk: an underspecified drawing shifts risk to the buyer. Tolerances you did not state are tolerances you cannot reject against.
For the carbide-tipped route specifically, review the geometry and fixing options on the carbide snow plow blade page and mark on your drawing which variant you are specifying.
5. First article, inspection, and approval
Every custom edge should pass a first-article inspection before the run continues. Agree the inspection plan with the quotation, not after the parts arrive. A typical plan covers dimensions on the drawing, hole gauge check, hardness sampling by batch, and a fit check against your sample plate or moldboard.
State who approves the first article and in what form — signed drawing, photo report, or physical sample. Approval by email against a marked-up PDF is common and workable; verbal approval is not. Keep the approved first article as the reference for repeat orders, and note that any drawing revision restarts the approval step.
6. Packing, shipping, and documentation
Cutting edges are heavy, sharp, and easily damaged at the wear layer in transit. Tell us the receiving constraints early: pallet size, max weight per pallet, container or LCL, and whether mixed part numbers may share a pallet.
- Edge protection and interleaving for carbide-tipped edges.
- Bundle marking matching your part numbers and PO lines.
- Commercial invoice, packing list, and certificate of conformity or material certificate if your QA system requires it.
- Incoterm and destination port or warehouse — this affects quoted freight, not the ex-works price.
7. What to send in one email
Consolidate the package so the quotation is not built on a partial picture. A single email with the items below usually shortens the first quote cycle by a week or more.
- Dimensioned drawing, native and PDF, with revision number.
- Material and wear-layer specification, or a description of duty.
- Hole layout and hardware details.
- Quantities: per part number, per order, and expected annual volume.
- Operating conditions: surface type, truck class, hours per season.
- Packing and shipping constraints, plus required documentation.
- Target date you need the first article approved.
Check the drawing and hole layout on the product page before ordering, and confirm that the revision you send is the revision you want manufactured.
Quick summary
A workable custom cutting edge order rests on four inputs: an inspectable drawing with tolerances, a defined material and wear layer, an exact hole layout, and honest quantity and duty information. Price, MOQ, tooling and lead time are outputs of those inputs and are confirmed only in a formal quotation. Send the full package in one go and agree the first-article plan before the run starts.
Sources checked on 2026-11-11: SENTHAI Tools internal custom-order intake checklist; customer drawing and first-article approval workflow; standard plow bolt and moldboard interface references. Quotation, MOQ, tooling cost and lead time are subject to formal quotation.
Three more perspectives
Workshop: The most common delay is not machining — it is waiting for a decision on a tolerance nobody wrote down. A drawing with a general tolerance block and three marked critical dimensions runs faster than a drawing with forty untoleranced ones.
Purchasing: Compare quotes on the same revision and the same inspection plan. A lower piece price with an undefined first-article process usually costs more by the time the season starts.
Field: Edges that fail early usually fail at the holes or the bevel, not the middle of the plate. Record where worn edges actually break or crack and feed that back into the next drawing revision.
Limits
This page is an intake guide, not a specification, quotation, or warranty. It does not state wear life, cost per hour, or lead time for any specific part; those depend on material, duty, quantity and tooling and are confirmed only in a formal quotation. Nothing here replaces your own engineering approval of the drawing.
