View non-flash version
abroad) we?re actually going full force with our shipbuilding customers. And they?ve required us to go out to the yards to see what they are doing and so we do. There?s a lot going on ? at Newport News, Vigor, General Dynamics, Electric Boat, Portsmouth, Puget Sound, and much more than that. So, if you have a tool that can accomplish what they need, well, there aren?t a lot of companies that can do that.? Most of what Climax does revolves around boring, weld- ing, machining, milling and grinding. Corso says that stern tubes are a perfect application for all of that. ?Someone has to go in and make it round again and then, get the metal off by cutting it back out ? all to very speci c tolerances. And now that we have welding solutions, we can now go in and integrate the welding into our cutting solutions.? Within the last two years, two signi cant acquisitions have made all the difference for privately held, Oregon- based Climax Portable Machining & Welding Systems. Relatively small in size, the purchases have now allowed Climax to integrate welding, valve repair and testing tech- nologies into their already well-known machine tool appli- cations. For example, the integration of New Hampshire- based Bortech Corporation?s welding technologies into the Climax boring solution dramatically reduces time to complete any job while producing a high quality product. Separately, Climax brought valve testing, repair and tech- nology together in September 2013 when it closed on a deal to purchase Houston-based Calder Testers. Calder provides advanced equipment for testing industrial valves, hosing systems and specialty pressure containers. Founded in 1984, Calder serves oil & gas, power generation, valve manufac- turers and diesel engine industries. Corso explained, ?This means you now have access to valve repair and testing tech- nologies along with expanded technical support and rental capabilities from the Houston Location.? The Calder acquisition in particular greatly expands the Climax service suite. The key advantages of an integrated solution include speed, control and the capability to per- form boring in the exact same spot (without moving work item and providing precision) as the welding, simply by in- terchanging the two pieces of equipment. Integrated valve repair and testing solutions also compliment what Climax already does and everything, according to Corso, is built here in the United States. The number one tool in the Climax arsenal today has to be its new generation of linear mills. Particularly helpful for jobs involving offshore rigs, the new style of linear mills pro- vide cutting from a gantry style over a broader workspace and producing nishes that otherwise might involve one or two moves with a machine tool. Gary Corso adds, ?Porta- bility is the key. Transport the units to offshore rigs and tap into the local power source to do the work offshore on site, eliminating the need for the rig to come in for repairs. After the work is done, they can be taken apart and transported back ashore.? Indeed, and as the lifting of the offshore drill- ing moratorium came about, Climax got a rush of service business as operators and offshore exploration companies re- tooled for operations. This involved milling machines, bor- ing bars, gantry mills, linear mills, welding solutions. Another assignment ? this time in Viet Nam ? involved a challenging re-machining of four anges that were each 9 feet in diameter at the top of a ship?s tower. Not only were the workers constrained by the narrow work area, but the vessel was anchored alongside the docks and the waves made the job of achieving the tight tolerances quite challenging. Even while working in restricted space and at such a height, the workers were able to achieve 0.2mm atness on all four 3.002 meter-wide anges. For this project, the portable ange facer was hoisted by crane more than 100 feet above sea level and the technicians were able to resurface all four anges within required tolerances and within a 2 week time frame. CUTTING TOOLS(Continued on page 58)www.marinelink.com MN 47MN November2013 Layout 32-49.indd 47MN November2013 Layout 32-49.indd 4710/28/2013 3:53:39 PM10/28/2013 3:53:39 PM
