Now That’s a Furnace-Americarb
CFC furnace fixturing has always been quite popular in Europe for a number of reasons including its light weight, lifespan and the fact that it doesn’t distort, however it has never caught on to the same extent in North America although it is slowly growing.The fact that it is growing lead us to accept an invitation from Americarb, Inc., the only North American producer as far as we can tell to visit their manufacturing facility in Niagara Falls, NY, a visit which took place just last week. As it turns out it was fascinating to see how the material is created from scratch and turned into a finished product suitable for fixturing parts in either a vacuum or atmosphere furnace-this is how the company describes themselves;
“Americarb, Inc. is a family owned, American manufacturing company based in Niagara Falls, NY. Since 2002, we’ve produced some of the most advanced carbon fiber, carbon/carbon, and graphite materials in the world. Our value proposition is making customized materials, components, and fixtures with lead times unheard of in the industry. We make it happen by engineering, sourcing raw materials, molding, heat treating up to 2900C, machining, and assembling in our vertically integrated, world class facility. Customer communication and ISO9001 quality is a source of great company pride.”While the company has a number of reasons to be proud, one of the main ones is their 16,000 cubic foot carbonization furnace which is shown in these photos. The system is capable of 850C temperatures and furnace cycles are measured in days or even weeks as required. To give you a feel for the size of the furnace we would point to the one photo which shows Gord Montgomery (“The Monty Heat Treat News) and Matt Reineke (Owner Americarb) standing inside of the furnace, a second photo shows the outside of the furnace.
If you have an interest in CFC fixturing and find yourself in Upstate, NY we would suggest that the fellows at Americarb would be happy to give you a tour.
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