welding in the Midwest to support the mid-sized manufacturers, the large manufacturers,
and the national science and research labs,
such as Chicago-based Fermilab. Even
though his company already performed EB
welding in-house, he knew that to be competitive he’d have to invest in CNC
machines with greater capabilities. Though
the company might take a hit financially in
the beginning, Roark was certain that the
investment would pay off eventually if the
company stuck with its plan.
The company purchased a Sciaky VX. 4
six-axis, CNC EB welding system with a
138- by 108- by 107-in. footprint, one of
the largest of its kind in the country, and
with it, its first step away from ordinary.
“It just fits our expertise. Our niche was
to go for a larger [machine] so we could do
larger parts versus a smaller machine for
smaller parts. It’s a niche market, and that’s
the name of the game.”
The new, CNC EB welding capability
opened doors to projects from Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, Raytheon, Pratt &
Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Bell Helicopter,
USAF, and BAE Systems, just to name a
few. Other projects included fabricating
components for NASA’s Orion launch
abort system (LAS) as well as spare parts for
the military’s B-1 bomber and F110.
When Science and
Manufacturing Collide
One way C.F. Roark has found a way to
diversify its business is through a project
building niobium components for Fermilab’s
International Linear Collider (ILC).
C.F. Roark partnered with Michigan-based Niowave, a company that focuses on
superconducting particle accelerators, to
build components for the proposed electron particle accelerator, which the lab
hopes to construct in an effort to uncover
smaller subdivisions of the atom, helping
scientists further their research of the origins of various materials.
After finding out about the push domes-
tic research labs were making to find U.S.-
based manufacturers that could support
niobium fabrication, Roark aggressively
pursued the opportunity to contribute. But
there were risks.
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PRACTICAL WELDING TODAY 17
