Gasbarre Products, Inc., through its divisions and subsidiaries, is a worldwide designer and manufacturer of a line of pressing and sintering equipment and furnaces for the particulate materials industries.

Gasbarre Products, Inc., through its divisions and subsidiaries, is a worldwide designer and manufacturer of a line of mechanical and hydraulic powder compacting and sizing presses, precision tool and die machining, continuous belt and batch sintering, annealing, steam treating and heat treat furnaces for the particulate materials industries. Established in 1973 by George Gasbarre Sr., the company started out repairing and rebuilding presses. The first Gasbarre 20-ton compacting press was designed and manufactured in 1974 and is still in operation today. Since that time, over a thousand new Gasbarre presses have been shipped throughout the world. In addition, the company has remanufactured or rebuilt hundreds of presses.

Gasbarre Products began in Falls Creek, Pa., with 9500 square feet of manufacturing and office space. As the particulate materials industry grew, so did the company. In March 1981, Gasbarre moved into a new facility in DuBois, Pa., where it is located today. Currently, Gasbarre has over 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space with the addition of a new building dedicated to rebuilds and larger tonnage presses.

The Sinterite Furnace Division

In the spring of 1989, the company expanded its product line with the acquisition of Area Electric & Fabricating, located in St. Marys, Pa., and later changed the name to Sinterite Furnace Division of Gasbarre Products, Inc. Sinterite is a designer and manufacturer of continuous belt furnaces for sintering, steam treating, annealing, heat treating and brazing. Pusher furnaces manufactured by Sinterite for temperatures above 3000∞F are licensed with C. I. Hayes, Inc. Sinterite also manufactures auxiliary equipment, such as the VersaCool Systems for sinter hardening and Accelerated DeLube Systems for in-line process enhancements. Fabrication work, such as replacement muffles and retorts, and powder handling equipment is also an important part of Sinterite’s product line. Over 50,000 square feet of manufacturing space is available at this facility.

Other Acquisitions

In 1997, Gasbarre expanded again with the purchase of McKee Carbide Tool Co., Olanta, Pa. Started in 1975 as a precision machine and tool shop, the company operates in an 18,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and primarily caters to the electronics and tantalum capacitor market. Precision grinding of powder metal components is a portion of McKee’s business.

As part of Gasbarre’s strategic plan to serve the particulate materials industry, PTX-Pentronix, Inc. was purchased in 1999. In operation since 1966, PTX-Pentronix manufactures a line of small tonnage, high-speed, high-precision powder compacting presses and a line of robotic parts loaders. In addition, PTX has ownership in SIMAC Ltd. of Rugby, England, and distributes SIMAC’s line of dry bag isostatic presses in North America. PTX operates out of a 15,000-square-foot facility in Lincoln Park, Mich.

Gasbarre Products’ most recent acquisition was that of Best Press Corp. of Castle Hayne, N.C., a designer and manufacturer of a complete line of small to large tonnage hydraulic CNC powder compaction presses. This purchase gives Gasbarre a complete line of compacting presses, providing the company with mechanical, hydraulic, or isostatic pressing; low (4 tons) to high (1200 tons) pressing tonnages; and conventional or high speed pressing capabilities. It also enables Gasbarre to provide equipment to all powder compacting industries, such as powder metallurgy, ceramics, carbides, plastics and others.

A Commitment to R&D

Gasbarre’s commitment to research and development and partnerships with other professional companies has resulted in products not previously available. The arrangement with C. I. Hayes, Inc. on the further development of the pusher furnace, the fluidized fill shoe with Matsys, the die wall lubrication system with ChemTrend, Inc., the TOPS warm powder feed system with Delphi, and other innovations are providing equipment users with more efficient and alternative processing.

For More Informing

For more information about Gasbarre Products, Inc., contact the company at 590 Division St., Du Bois, PA 15801; (814) 371-3015; fax (814) 371-6387; e-mail http://www.gasbarre.com.