Kleenair Products Co., Clackamas, Oregon, USA

Yesterday we had a “teaser” photo of an electrically heated aluminum drop bottom oven with the promise that we would give more details about the manufacturer. The builder is a company by the name of Kleenair Products Co., located near Portland, Oregon, USA and in spite of the fact that it has been in business since 1926 it is a name which doesn’t readily come to mind when it comes to drop bottom ovens. The name “Kleenair” comes from the fact the company originally made ventilation systems for ships before entering the industrial furnace business in the late 1950’s. While every furnace the company builds is custom their most common examples are “tip up” furnaces, car bottom style, box furnaces, sintering furnaces, some MIM vacuum furnaces and yes quite a number of drop bottom ovens over the years. This employee owned company does everything in house from start to finish and is currently run by the majority shareholder Mr. Steve Gee who can be seen in a couple of these pictures. While the company covers many industries their main focus is on the aerospace industry and with over 30 employees and roughly 30,000 square feet under roof they are probably the largest furnace builder in the US Northwest. Nice operation and obviously a company which quietly goes about turning out real solid equipment.

Steve Gee, President, Kleenair, Ben Grammer, Grammer Vacuum Technologies