Starting a business on solid ground

The Paolo brothers are craftsmen through and through. Keath cultivated an expertise in metal fabrication and machining. Deven discovered a love for drafting in high school shop class and completed engineering coursework while pursuing his degree in business management. Combining their skills, they founded a custom metal fabrication company in 2007 in McMinnville, Oregon called Solid Form Fabrication. In 2009, they purchased a high-performance OMAX 80X abrasive waterjet that would allow them to precision cut speciality metals, and the investment paid off. With the cutting capabilities of the OMAX 80X, Solid Form Fabrication could now cut stainless steel, titanium, zinc and copper. The business immediately expanded when they took on orders for accurately trimming titanium blanks for a nearby machine shop. It was a mutually beneficial partnership. With the cutting capabilities of the OMAX 80X, Solid Form Fabrication could now cut stainless steel, titanium, zinc and copper. The business immediately expanded when they took on orders for accurately trimming titanium blanks for a nearby machine shop. It was a mutually beneficial partnership. The machine shop was using waterjet to cut net blanks, but the parts weren’t very accurate and needed secondary finishing operations. Solid Form was able to improve the machine shop’s quality and productivity by offering accurate waterjet-cut net blanks with no defects and no heat-affected zone. Any jobs involving sheet or plate metal cutting at Solid Form Fabrication are done on the OMAX waterjet. With the OMAX 80X, Solid Form purchased a Precision Optical Locator for doing secondary machining operations, and a Terrain Follower accessory. In addition to all types of metals, the OMAX can cut glass, granite, ceramic, carbon fibre, foam and virtually any other material with exceptional quality. The high-precision cutting of the 80X machine matches the high-quality standards held by the Paolo brothers. “With the OMAX waterjet, we can make nice, clean parts that look great. With hand-cutting and drilled holes, the products just don’t look as good,” says Deven.

For more information on Starting a business on solid ground talk to Aquajet Machining Systems Ltd