The inspection of critical braze joints being analyzed within Solar's newly constructed brazing and assembly room.
Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania recently invested in a new Haas ST-10 CNC lathe.
Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania has completed construction of a new brazing and assembly room. Although built primarily to accommodate a large aluminum brazing project for a specific customer, the room will be used for other brazing and assembly work as well.
The temperature- and humidity-controlled room provides a clean environment for the critical assembly and alloying methods employed by Solar. All inventories of the clean components for final assemblies will be safely stored within the new space.
Bob Hill, President of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, said, "During successful development and prototype runs, our customer, along with Solar management, understood that in order to bring this critical aluminum brazing project to full production, a separate braze/assembly room would be needed. We worked together with our customer to develop the best space that is in close proximity to the vacuum furnace being utilized."
To support rapid growth within its mechanical testing department, Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania recently invested in a new Haas ST-10 CNC lathe.
The Haas ST-10's 6,000 RPM spindle features an automatic tool changer with a 12-station, bolt-on tool turret, allowing Solar's turning center to automatically change tools at the push of a button. This results in significant time and cost savings over Solar's original TL-1 Haas lathe, which requires up to five manual tool changes to produce one tensile specimen. The investment in an automated lathe results in a 50% savings in the production of a variety of round tensile specimens. The TL-1 lathe will be retained as back-up in the case of an unexpected breakdown.
The increased machining efficiency of the Haas ST-10 improves turnaround for the customer at the final stage in the thermal process, obtaining the tensile test results of processed materials. Previously performed by an outside company, the opportunity to bring this testing in-house saves the customer time and money. Hill said, "This new CNC turning center will ultimately support our overall goal of becoming Nadcap Laboratory Testing AC 7101 approved. We have learned in the past that keeping these processes in-house is a benefit not just to Solar, but to our customers as well."
For more information contact:
Solar Atmospheres of Western PA
30 Industrial Road
Hermitage, PA 16148
866-982-0660 / 724-982-0660
www.solaratm.com