tube bending,pipe bending,tube bending fabrication,exhaust tube bending,pipe bending fabrication,bent elbows,Woolf Aircraft Products


Enjoy a Plant Tour of Woolf Aircraft On behalf of Woolf Aircraft, I welcome you. We will begin through the entrance to the shop in the main office.
1. Assembly Area - Main Office Hallway Here you can see pictures and a display along the hallway to view as we get your tour guide. In the office we quote the prices for parts and take orders. We then buy materials and schedule production as well as prepare shippers.	2. Tube Rack -We begin by purchasing straight tubing in 12' - 24' lengths. In these racks and on the receiving floor is the tubing from which we will make our assemblies. We stock 1,200 sizes and types of tubing. Some are not available anywhere except here.

3. Cutting Room - We cut the tubing to length with cut off saws or horizontal band saws. Two automatic deburring machines are available to remove burrs. We also trim some tubes to final lengths after bending.	4. #6 Pines - After the tube is cut it's bent to shape. Our largest #6 Pines bends up to 8" diameter tubing or solid bars up to 4 ". It's one of only 50 ever built. Most are in the large aerospace companies.

5. #4 Pines - These 4" benders bend up to 6" tubing. One bends clockwise and the others counter-clockwise so we can fit the bends close together. There are only about 70 matched sets of these machines in the world.	6. Big Bending - 2" benders - Our most common bends are formed here with bending tools. Think of it like bending around your knee with your knee being the bend die. Your first hand is similar to the bend clamps and the follow up bar is like your second hand holding it against your knee.

7. Degreasing - We wash the heavy oil and grease off the parts. The first tank removes about 90% of the oils & dirt. For final shipping we use the Ultrasonic center tank. It uses sound waves underwater to vibrate the part. This causes the dirt and oil to move away from the surface allowing the soap to soak up the oil. Parts are then rinsed off in clear water as needed.	8. Press and End Forming - We form the ends by adding beads, flares, flanges or expansions. The beads allow hoses to be installed with a clamp and not come off. The ends can be made in many shapes and sizes.

9. Fitting Department - This area takes the bent tube and cuts it to fit closely to a second tube. These parts are then welded together.	10. Rotary Tube End Forming -These machines also install beads, flanges and flares to the tubes similar to the Vaills, except the process is roll forming. Size goes up to 6 inches.

11. Small Bending - It is easy to follow the fabrication process since most operations including bending and flaring are done here in smaller sizes, up to 5/8 ".	12. Machining & CNC Machining - This area is used for CNC & heavy machining

13. Pressure Test - We add air pressure to the inside of tubes to ensure that they don't leak. We can also use hydraulic oil for higher pressures.	14. Inspection - We use first piece, in process and final inspection methods to insure our parts conform to requirements. Here the diameter of a set up piece is measured and then analyzed using Statistical Process Controls (SPC).

15. Tool Crib - We keep shop supplies here as well as build tube lines for aircraft. Think of this area as the Company Store.	16. Toolroom - We build our own fixtures and machine complex parts. It takes about 4 years to become a journeyman. We have provided local college classes for employees to learn the math necessary for this and other areas.

17. Brazing - Brass or silver solder is melted when using a torch to heat the metal parts. Their heat melts the solder, not the flame directly. A flux is used to keep the joint clean. It is different from welding because the parent metal is only heated, not melted together.	18. Welding - Do not look directly at weld - It is bright like the sun! We weld as thin as 4 thickness of newspaper, in steel, stainless, aluminum, inconel and titanium. Woolf provides local college classes to employees in order to learn Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding and uses the latest Miller welding machines.

19. Zyglo - Here we check welds or material for cracks and other defects. A dye soaks into the crack. A developer then draws that dye out to expose the defect.	20. Inventory - Finished and in process parts are stored here waiting to be released. Most customers want only a few parts at a time. This area is for expansion and will become future office space as we hope to build for the future.

21. Shipping - Many of our finished parts travel thousands of miles shaking in the back of a semi-truck. Some might be used on airplanes, large trucks or for race cars. We count, protect and give them a final look for their journey.