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WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. – Weighing in at about 6,000 pounds, a metal faceplate for a CT scanner large enough for military security checks is the latest project of T. Bruce Sales.
Currently on the largest milling machine at T. Bruce Sales, the project requires the company’s expertise in engineering design and programming automated technology to transform the very specific specifications into machining directions.
Cut from a large square metal plate, the round metal frame is 120 inches tall, 147 inches in diameter and will have about 400 drilled and tapped holes, as well as pockets machined into it, according to Jeffrey Hogue, president of T. Bruce Sales, which has been located in West Middlesex, Pa., for 80 years.
“The tolerances on this particular project are plus or minus 10-thousandths in parallelism,” says Jeff O’Hara, senior project manager/engineering, about the preciseness necessary. “There’s a lot of tight tolerance to all the inserts and the apparatus that’s going to be bolted up to this particular piece.”
Based on a 3-D model, T. Bruce Sales uses software packages like SolidWorks, Inventor or Pro E, to transform the CAD Model into programmable data. A furrow arm will also digitize the project so the customer can verify the piece.
T. Bruce Sales’ largest CNC machine has the capability of working on a piece up to 12 feet high and 28 feet long. The 3000 RPM drill spindles can reach out 5 feet to create precision holes. Making sure the company has big and specialized equipment to do the jobs other machining companies cannot deliver has been intentional for Scotty Campbell, the current owner, according to Hogue.
The CT scanner plate project will take 10 to 12 weeks to complete, and O’Hara says they will be making two of them.
The CT scanner is not the only project slated for the large milling machine at T. Bruce Sales this summer. Hogue says the “job shop” company is always looking for its next job. The current machining job stemmed from discussions with the customer two years ago. T. Bruce often has a backlog of projects.
“Some of the time, it gets pretty hectic,” O’Hara says. “But what’s nice about that machine is it’s such a large envelope that once it’s set up, you don’t have to set it three or four times to move the actual part that’s being machined on. So it’s very versatile.”
T. Bruce Sales has more than 110,000-square feet of manufacturing space and the capabilities to create small pieces and some of the largest manufactured pieces in the area. Workflow can mean balancing up to 20 active projects, short-term and large-term at the same time. Hogue says the organization makes sure most of the machinists can operate all the mills in the machine shop.
An engineering department creates the programming, but operators have the ability to change or modify something in the program if they need to. O’Hara notes with the operators and engineering department in house, they can work together, share information and resolve any issues with the CAD file or dimensions.
T. Bruce Sales employs one fulltime engineer, has another professional engineer who formerly worked there to whom they outsource some projects and benefits from the knowledge of others, like Hogue and O’Hara, who both have years of experience.
Some of that expertise and real time troubleshooting capabilities of the team at the 25-acre machining business is being passed to the next generation this summer.
T. Bruce Sales is employing an intern, Hayden Landfair, a Youngstown State University incoming senior majoring in mechanical engineering. This is his first internship and Landfair says he has found the managers, engineers and operators at T. Bruce Sales all very helpful as he takes what he has learned in textbooks and classes and converts it into practical experience.
He’s been able to learn new applications and capabilities of some of the software programs he is familiar with from his YSU classes. And the hands-on work at T. Bruce Sales has allowed him to learn to program some of the actual machinery.
“I’ve definitely learned a lot more here than I have in probably the past three years of school combined,” Landfair says, adding that he’s built on the knowledge that he has obtained at school.
While finding new team members can be a challenge, O’Hara says they are seeing more younger people, high school graduates interested in working in the steel industry again, a good sign for the future. T. Bruce Sales currently employs about 50 team members in a variety of roles, working on projects on shifts 23 hours a day.
Landfair grew up in Hermitage and graduated from Hickory High School. While he was not previously familiar with the company, he says he is glad he found the internship at T. Bruce Sales.
“We’re hoping long term that Hayden will like it here at T. Bruce Sales and we have another addition to our engineering department,” O’Hara says.
T. Bruce Sales also is updating some of its equipment this summer, installing a new tank for carbon dioxide for the welding stations, gas that flows right through pipes and into the building. Investing in advanced equipment through the years has improved operations and expanded the company’s capabilities.
Bruce Campbell, an ironworker, founded T. Bruce Campbell Construction, a mobile crane company, in 1946. He later started T. Bruce Sales Inc. T. Bruce Campbell Construction continues under the leadership of Robby Campbell.
T. Bruce Sales has evolved as working with iron and metals has changed. Customers come from a wide range of industries and rely on the expertise and machining capabilities of T. Bruce Sales to deliver engineered, fabricated components and assemblies, meet critical schedules and solve complex challenges.
T. Bruce Sales offers a full range of metal processing and manufacturing services, including cutting and sawing, plate rolling and forming, welding and fabrication, CNC machining, stress relieving (thermal and vibratory), blast cleaning and painting, assembly, inspection and testing services.
A leader in custom metal fabrication and precision machining, the company is celebrating 80 years of operation as a family-owned business.
Pictured at top: From left are Jeff O’Hara, senior project manager/engineering; Albert Hammond, engineer; Hayden Landfair, mechanical engineering intern; and Jeffrey Hogue, president of T. Bruce Sales.
