Page 35 - MetalForming November 2022

FABRICATION
New Sheet and Tube Fabricator
HAS LOFTY GOALS
Pennsylvania manufacturer Fossil Industries, with new laser tube and sheet cutting machinery, seeks success in adding to domestic manufacturing capability.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
Having retired after 30 years of engineering and management in the oil and gas industry, and having run his own manufacturing business, Jim Rose ultimately “grew tired of laying on the couch,” he says. Jump off the couch Rose has, purchas- ing, in 2020, land in Hunker, PA, about 25 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. Today, Rose and his wife, also an engi- neer, run Fossil Industries in 36,000 sq. ft. of new manufacturing space, with plans to roughly double the space at an adjacent site.
“We do contract fabricating work to pay the bills,” Rose says, “but we
Prominent on the Fossil Industries shop floor, this laser tube cutter churns out product for playground-equipment manufacturers and others. Ultimately, owner Jim Rose hopes to transition the company from job shop to OEM of inhouse-developed products.
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plan primarily to be an OEM, manu- facturing our own products either direct to market or through wholesale channels.”
These products, under development with many patented by Rose, include residential fireplace inserts, residential and commercial pellet smokers, spray equipment, towing trailers and more for recreational pursuits such as hunt- ing, fishing and boating.
Whether as a metal-fabricating job shop or OEM, Fossil Industries boasts the knowhow and equipment to get these jobs done, including 3D CAD design, sheet and tube cutting and bending, and assembly. Sheet and tube material processed includes car- bon and stainless steel, with future work calling for titanium, copper and brass. Rose and 12 employees craft these materials into finished parts and products with an eye toward helping the United States reclaim its manufacturing-powerhouse title, he says.
Tube Laser Cutting the Workhorse Process
Front and center at Fossil Industries: a BLM Group Lasertube LT7 4-kW fiber laser cutting machine for tubes and profiles. The machine can process a variety of materials including alu- minum alloys and stainless and carbon steels, and shapes including rounds in diameters to 7 in., square and rectan- gular profiles, angle iron, channel, and flat bar to 15.5 lb./ft., according to BLM Group officials. Other stated benefits include cutting capability even on thick-walled steel for weld prepara- tions, and interlocking joints with a ±45-deg. tilt.
When processing tube, the machine features an internal suction probe that automatically catches debris and vac- uums out particles. And, its Active Scan feature automatically calculates any compensations needed to ensure tol- erances, regardless of misshapes or insufficient rigidity.
“It’s a good machine—repeatable