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California job shop prides itself on complex, high-quality weldments using a variety of standard and refractory alloys
Applied Fusion (AFI), a job shop in San Leandro, CA, has found its sweet spot at the intersection of advanced machining and complex welding, producing parts for heavy hitters in the aerospace, semiconductor, clean energy, medical and space sectors. "We're on the cutting edge of material joining using electron beam [EB] techniques. That's our forte," said Jeff Musgrove, company president and the son of the late founder, Ron Musgrove. "That's the thing that AFI really specializes in, marrying the machining and welding crafts."
Musgrove said his father, who founded AFI in 1972, was a visionary and the reason why AFI has the distinction of being one of the first shops in the United States to offer both electron beam and laser welding services years ago.
"He came from the Livermore National Laboratory as a designer and project coordinator. Back then, we built a lot of vacuum and pressure tanks for the government and other industries. In 1978, AFI bought its first tabletop EB welding machine. Then we started getting into lasers and branching out... He was constantly seeking practical solutions for difficult tasks. Today our high-voltage machines have very large chamber capacity [up to 64 m3] to allow EB applications on large components."
Electron beam welding is a popular choice for welding when there is a need for a high degree of repeatability, weld penetration and a demand for the highest quality of weld integrity possible. It is...