Field System Machining recently completed on-site portable field machining on a pressure vessel at the Kennametal Engineered Products Group in Rogers, Arkansas. The scope grew as the project continued because the pitting in the pressure vessel was deeper than the client originally believed. About three times the material quoted needed to be removed, which then also required additional extensive radius blending and lapping not originally anticipated. Field System Machining, to save the client outage duration time and money, manufactured a custom lapping tool at its South Elgin, Illinois, headquarters while opting to simultaneously manufacture the necessary modified tool holder at the client’s shop.

Where is the fearless part? There is no way to view the machining of this vessel in progress – this machining, like many of our portable machining projects, was completed entirely blind – the machined area was not visible to the field machinists while they machined this pressure vessel.

Field System Machining is committed to finding the fastest way to complete our clients’ on-site machining needs. The faster we complete an on-site portable field machining project, the sooner our machinists can begin another on-site portable machining job or return to our 23,000ft² Chicago area machine shop to resume work on the large volume of non critical-path machine shop work we also undertake. Field System Machining, in order to staff the largest on-site machining crew possible, performs an extensive volume of non-emergency shop machining projects for manufacturers across the country. This is one of many secrets to our continued success as one of the nation’s most prolific on-site portable field machining companies – keeping a large staff of men employed as full time employees during the off-peak periods of the year, so that we can respond in volume during the critical on-peak industrial outage seasons.

From President’s Day through Memorial Day, and again from Columbus Day through Thanksgiving weekend, most on-site machining companies scramble for people. These two periods are the prime industrial outage and maintenance turnaround seasons for power plants and other large manufacturing concerns. Thanks to our large volume of machine shop clients shipping large dimension machining projects to our shop from all parts of the US, we are able to afford a larger year-round staff.