The management of The Manufactory has a philosophy of continuous improvement. We strive every day to make every visit by a member better than their last. We do this through.
- Being member driven, you are our most important asset.
- Improving the quality of information provided to our members.
- Improving our educational program based upon feedback.
- Upgrading our equipment by adding accessories that make them easier and/or safer to use.
- Adding new equipment in response to member feedback.
Recent improvements and
works in progress
A BIG oven!
You asked for it and we got it. This stainless steel oven was recently moved into place in the finishing room. No, it is not so you can bake 100 pizzas at once, it is for powder coating. Powder coating uses electrostatically charged powder instead of paint. It is more environmentally friendly and provides a superior finish to solvent based paints. The process is simple:
- Clean your metallic part thoroughly.
- Spray positively charged powder onto your negatively charged part.
- Bake the product in an oven to fuse the powder.
Laser exhaust system
We recently upgraded the ventilation system on our laser engravers by installing a larger blower and improving the piping. The system is automatically actuated by all 3 of our laser machines. It turns the blower on and opens the appropriate blast gate (we designed and built our own). After lasering is complete the blower remains running for a few minutes then turns itself off. These changes have been a big win-win, lowering energy consumption while at the same time making the machines easier to use and improving the removal of fumes.
Studio spaces
Three 10 ft x 10 ft studio spaces have been constructed. These spaces allow members to have a private lockable space to work on and store projects and tools. They can be rented monthly and the cost is very reasonable.
Horizontal mill
We availed ourselves of the opportunity to purchase this machine a few months ago. Tom has used his machining skills to add power feed to this machine which will make it much better for our members. Horizontal mills have a big advantage over their Bridgeport style brethren when it comes to removing a lot of metal fast. If you need to surface a plate or cut a long slot, the the beefy structure of the horizontal shaft and cutter driven by a large motor significantly reduce machining times. Since the cutters rotate like a saw blade instead of a drill, they have a more efficient cutting action and are stronger, therefore, they can withstand more pressure than end mills.
Kiln
Numerous people have asked if we have a kiln, now we can say, “Yes!”. This large kiln is designed for pottery and ceramics but can also be used for other purposes such as heat treating, lost wax/PLA mold making, enameling and other processes requiring high temperatures.
The Kiln will be installed in our new “Hot Shop” which will also house our blacksmith’s forge and foundry furnace.
Screen printing
We recently acquired a 3 color, single station screen printing press as well as a special exposure unit for making the screens. Screen printing is the most versatile printing process there is, it can be used to print on almost anything! More than just T-shirts, you can print on glass, plastics, metals, wood, even resist for circuit boards . . . the list is almost endless. We plan on having the printing equipment ready for use sometime this summer.
Welding fume extraction
A flexible extraction arm and exhaust system has been added to the welding shop. The arm can be moved to where you are working to effectively remove welding fumes.
The system has also been connected to the plasma table to help remove fumes not captured by the water table.
Sheet metal equipment
We have added a 24″, 16 gauge, Diacro finger brake to our collection that includes 48″ and 120″ brakes. A finger brake, or box and pan brake, has moveable segments that provide gaps so you can bend pieces that have previous bends in them.
A new, larger, stronger, 48″ Jet slip roll has been added to our sheet metal area.