Ellwood City Forge (ECF) has purchased two large vacuum arc remelt (VAR) furnaces. The first furnace, a new 40-in. Consarc furnace, will be a twin to a furnace already in operation by ECF, and the second furnace will be a 42-in. Leybold-Heraeus.
With these investments, Ellwood City Forge will triple its capacity of vacuum arc remelted materials such as 300M and 4340 VAR. According to company officials, the aerospace market is expected to increase dramatically over the next ten years, and Ellwood City Forge will be in a position to play a much larger role in this market.
Both furnaces are expected to be in operation during the first quarter of 2006.
In July of 2004, ECF added a 200-hp RD&D lathe to its machine shop. The lathe underwent an entire mechanical and electrical rebuild and was upgraded to CNC using a new Fagor 8040T controller. This lathe is capable of machining 26-in diameter forgings up to 360 in. long.
A second phase of ECF's machine shop upgrade will include the rebuilding of one of its existing machines. Its 150-hp, 11-meter Poreba lathe will be removed and completely rebuilt, and it will receive the same upgraded CNC controls. The Poreba lathe is able to machine 48-in. diameter forgings up to a maximum length of 432 in. The reinstallation is slated for February of 2006.
The combination of both horsepower and state-of-the-art control will enable ECF to machine quickly and accurately a wide variety of forgings from bars to step shafts, including tapers and both inside and outside radii.