Tarpey Harris celebrates 50 years in the business

Tarpey Harris has announced that it is celebrating 50 years in the business this year.

The company was established in Denby, Derbyshire originally as a precision engineer and toolmaker. Over time, it became involved with the casting die industry making dies and tools for aero engine blades and industrial gas turbine components.

In 2005 the business moved into a new facility to supply wax patterns. Over the following ten years, the business doubled in size, and in January 2019 the business was acquired by the Morvern Group as part of a management buyout from Garner Holdings.

Today, the business is well-placed operating from its state-of-the-art wax injection facility. Tarpey Harris supplies multiple blue-chip companies with full wax injected parts and ready to shell assemblies. Its cutting-edge capability has been achieved through significant investment in recent years, including three new wax injection presses which has allowed the company to achieve strong long-term demand for its wax consumable products for both the aerospace and industrial gas turbine industries.

Operating from a dedicated 14,000ft2 factory, which is a fully climate-controlled workspace, the wax shop has a large range of injection machines. These range from 20 to 100 ton with side, top and bottom feed configurations.

Tarpey is a fully-accredited AS9100 Rev D facility. As part of its commitment to quality control and assessment, it employs filmless digital X-ray capabilities for detecting internal pattern defects on cored parts and Panametric’s ultrasonic equipment for wall thickness measurement after the injection process.

The company uses a LK Integra coordinate measuring machine for pattern and component measurement to ensure conformity to specification and proper aerospace safety parameters. This also ensures full accountability and traceability in the production process. It also has two Suregrave Engraving machines, which are used for accurate part serialisation and identification.

The manufacturing facility has over 30 assembly stations equipped with gas and electric soldering tools for all aspects of pattern dressing and cluster assembly, specialising in Equiax, DS and SX assemblies. Many stations also have manipulator arms to cater for larger parts.

Specially-manufactured trolleys are used to transport the finished assemblies to the customer using one of a fleet of climate-controlled vans – each equipped with its own tail lift for ease of delivery to the point of use.

Throughout the years, the Tarpey Harris business has continued to employ and train skilled personnel to manufacture well engineered wax products and assemblies that are prevalent in many UK and European casting facilities. Managing director, Steve Roe believes the company’s most important asset by far is its workforce, most of whom are time-served craftsmen and women who have learnt their trade through many years of service with the company.