News

The following is the most recent news regarding Arrow Gear.

Arrow Gear Expands Size Capability

Hofler Helix 800 Spur and Helical Gear Tooth Grinder
Hofler Helix 800 Spur and Helical Gear Tooth Grinder

Multi-million dollar expansion increases capacity for spur gears up to 36” – an increase of over 50%.

Arrow Gear’s ongoing commitment to growth and expansion can clearly be seen in the recent addition of new machine tools and manufacturing equipment. These additions will allow the company to produce significantly larger spur gears than was previously possible.

The investment which came to approximately $4.5M included the following key components.
Phoenix Cutters
(2) Gleason Phoenix 450 Spiral Bevel Gear Cutters
  • A Hofler Helix 800 Spur and Helical Gear Tooth Grinder
  • A New Gleason Phoenix Spiral Bevel Gear Tooth Grinder
  • Two Gleason #450 HC Phoenix Gear Tooth Cutters
  • A 36” CNC Doosan Vertical Turning Lathe (VTL)
  • A 36” CNC Springfield Vertical Grinder – which Arrow has completely retrofitted with new CNC controls
  • A new 36” quench press with specialty tooling – used in the heat treating process
  • A new Magnaflux machine – used for heat treat inspection
  • A substantial expense for the tooling required for machining and inspecting new work pieces
Phoenix Grinder
Gleason Phoenix 275PG Spiral Bevel Gear Grinder
The impetus for this investment was rooted in the opportunity for new project work on Sikorsky’s CH-53K and Blackhawk programs.

“When we were approached by Sikorsky, they wanted us to supply the gears for these helicopters, but we simply didn’t have the size capacity for spur gears this large,” stated Arrow president, Joe Arvin.
CNC Vertical Lathe
36 in. CNC Doosan Vertical Lathe

Faced with this opportunity, Arrow CEO James J. Cervinka made the difficult decision to borrow the money required for the expansion. Based on Arrow’s track record, taking calculated risks and making key investments has been an integral part of the company’s success over its 60 year history.
CNC Vertical Grinder
36 in. CNC Springfield Vertical Grinder

“Despite the fact that we were experiencing the worst national economic downturn since the Great Depression, Mr. Cervinka approved the purchase of the equipment we needed because he believes in the company and the people at Arrow,” Arvin said.

In the end, the expansion and the work that subsequently made its way to Arrow’s shop floor allowed for an increase in the workforce by 35%.
Quench Press
36 in. Quench Press with a variety of specialty tooling

Magnaflux
Magnaflux Machine used for the detection of surface
or sub-surface cracks.
However, there is more to the story. The background of Arrow’s expansion provides an interesting narrative of how the company tried to solicit stimulus funding for this “job-creating” expansion. To read more about the background of this project, please follow this link to an article featured in IndustryWeek which is entitled,
Arrow Gear: A Case Study in How to Improve the U.S. Economy.