Manufacturing precision partnerships.™

Manufacturing precision partnerships.™ Extrusion News Volume 1, Issue 2

IN THIS ISSUE

REMEMBERING GUITAR 1 Remembering Guitar LEGEND EDDIE VAN HALEN Legend Eddie Van Halen

How Pioneering Inventions and Aluminum 2 Minalex Precision Extrusions Extrusions Have Revolutionized the Music Play Important Role in World - and Our World Covid-19 Testing Globally

The recent passing of guitar legend 3 Custom Extrusion From Eddie Van Halen saddened rock Minalex Alive and Well at music fans worldwide. This is the Bronco Graveyard especially true for me as well as my brother, Michael. We grew up 4 For Minalex Extrusions, even listening to the great rock bands of the Sky's not the Limit the 80s, and Van Halen was among our favorites. Revered as one of the

greatest guitarists of all time, Eddie 5 Holiday Greetings with Van Halen had a significant impact Gratitude on our lives, inspiring an unwavering love of music that continues today. 6 Employee Milestones We remain dedicated rock music fans and concertgoers, and I still 7 Big News in 2021! love to play my electric and acoustic guitars whenever I have the chance. Continued on page 2... MINALEX Extrusion News | 2

...continued from page 1 REMEMBERING EDDIE VAN HALEN precision electronics. Aluminum also offers a neutral transmission of sound that helps create the exact aural effects and musicality that the artist envisions.

The Aluminum Advantage: Solutions for Any Industry

Minalex is experienced with many types of small custom aluminum extrusions, having manufactured quality, small-profile aluminum extrusions with tight tolerances and challenging specifications for more than 50 years. Our supported industries include military, computers and technology, data centers, aerospace, automotive, medical and electronic devices.

Among the custom electronics extrusions that we Eddie the Inventor: His Guitar Accessory Transformed routinely manufacture are: Rock Music • Electronics Communication (Wave Guides, Card Eddie Van Halen was more than just a rock legend Guides and Housings) known for his complex, high-speed guitar riffs and creative techniques; he also was an actual inventor! • Heat Exchange Devices (Heat Pipes, Heat Sinks and Like many of our Minalex clients, who use aluminum Header Bars) extrusions to pioneer problem-solving products, • Electronic Component Carriers (including Microchip Eddie developed a unique electric guitar accessory Enclosures) to help musicians. Attached to the back of a guitar, Similar to the aluminum components needed for the flip-down device rests against the player’s leg at a electric guitars, Minalex projects often require 90-degree angle. This stabilizing support plate allows extremely tight tolerances. Minalex’s precision is the guitar to be vertically positioned like a tabletop, accurate to +/- .001 in (0.025 cm) with walls as thin giving complete access to the entire playing surface as 0.018 in (0.4572 mm). If you’re looking to solve a and full use of both hands. Eddie Van Halen patented problem as Eddie Van Halen did for guitar players, and his part, revolutionizing how guitars and other stringed you require custom aluminum extrusion, Minalex can instruments can be played by creating new techniques, help create the solution. Give us a call to see how we styles and sounds. can help you create the perfect part. Perhaps your Aluminum Extrusions & Music: Creating Precision Parts partnership with Minalex will meaningfully impact and Signature Sounds others, just as Eddie Van Halen’s invention did for musicians and their fans. As I shared on social media Although not as revolutionary or invented by a Rock- shortly following Eddie Van Halen’s passing: and-Roll Hall of Fame legend, many critical electric guitar parts are actually made from aluminum extrusions. Among those commonly found in guitars are the bridge, knobs, tailpiece and a variety of tiny “MY LOVE FOR MUSIC AND GUITAR IS electronics elements. The advantages of using BECAUSE OF THIS MAN! THANKS FOR ALL THE aluminum extrusions in guitars are significant. YEARS OF GREAT MUSIC AND STUFF THAT I’LL Aluminum extrusions have the benefit of being strong yet lightweight. They can be manufactured to incredibly NEVER BE ABLE TO PLAY. REST IN PEACE.” small tolerances, which is critical for these types of Volume 1, Issue 2 | 3 MINALEX PRECISION EXTRUSIONS PLAY IMPORTANT ROLE in COVID-19 testing globally

Minalex Corporation is playing a pivotal role in shortening the time needed to process RT-PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 by supplying a component essential for the automation of the workflow.

Minalex Corporation is playing a pivotal role in The aluminum extrusion must be high-quality and shortening the time needed to process RT-PCR extremely precise so that it can withstand a large testing for SARS-CoV-2 by supplying a component amount of movement, chemicals and bodily fluids essential for the automation of the workflow. during operation. Once WPA receives the extrusion, it’s machined for final use in the testing machine Custom Aluminum Extruder, Minalex, manufactures and specially coated to help prevent degradation. a component used in PerkinElmer’s JANUS® G3 Primary Sample Reformatter workstation which provides safe and traceable barcode scanning and reformatting of samples for SARS_CoV-2 testing.

The JANUS® G3 Primary Sample Reformatter “MINALEX HAS A LONG HISTORY OF increases lab’s testing throughput globally while PROVIDING PRECISE ALUMINUM reducing human error. WPA Works LLC, a machine EXTRUSIONS WITH EXTREMELY TIGHT shop/production facility based in Addison, Illinois TOLERANCES USED IN MANY TYPES OF initially prototyped and developed machining MEDICAL EQUIPMENT,” NOTES FOUNDER processes for pathogen response and antibody AND CEO JIM CASEY. “WE’RE PROUD TO testing. It is widely used by research labs, SUPPORT THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY universities, hospitals and other related facilities. EVERY DAY, AND ESPECIALLY DURING THIS Minalex extrudes a part that serves as a piece of rail UNPRECEDENTED TIME.” and plate assembly that slides into the JANUS® G3 Primary Sample Reformatter. By significantly ramping up its production, Minalex is doing its part to fight the COVID-19 pandemic by helping eliminate equipment shortages which have been hindering labs abilities to process samples in a timely manner.

Prior to the pandemic, WPA purchased roughly 300 extrusions at a time from Minalex, on average, two to three times per year. Since March, WPA has purchased over 7,000 extrusions and currently has another 10,800 on order. MINALEX Extrusion News | 4 CUSTOM EXTRUSIONS FROM MINALEX ALIVE AND WELL AT THE BRONCO GRAVEYARD

Minalex custom miniature extrusions can be manufactured in virtually any profile and configuration. You will find them in SpaceX rockets hundreds of miles above earth’s atmosphere and in Nuclear Submarines thousands of feet below the sea. Here on land, some of the most interesting are the ones we create for Jeff’s Bronco Graveyard, a.k.a. “The Graveyard.” Started in 1985, The Graveyard is the world’s largest seller of Ford Bronco parts. It ships anywhere around the globe and counts Minalex as a long-time, valued “part”ner.

Operating from their bricks-and-mortar location in (no pun intended) on this limited information, we Brighton, Michigan, The Graveyard’s online store at produced a series of engineering production layouts broncograveyard.com serves the “cult” of thousands and through a series of calls with Jeff we were ready to of Bronco owners. The overwhelming love of the have the die created and start producing the part.” Bronco’s automotive lineage is still evident today in The part we produce is a piece of headliner trim that the incredible demand of its re-boot as part of Ford’s has to withstand a lot of stress and twisting in off-road 2021 lineup. Serving these ever-growing legions of environments to keep a Bronco’s headliner firmly in customers requires Jeff to build relationships with place. It’s sixty-four-inches long, one-inch wide, in a supply-chain partners who can deliver the highest solid “C” shape and receives a clear anodized finish. It quality products on-spec and on schedule. fits Broncos manufactured between the years 1966 (the first production year) and 1977. The Graveyard orders quantities of 500+ every few months, which is a perfect fit again, no pun intended with our short-run, fast-turnaround capabilities.

One well-known owner of an original 1966 Bronco is none other than legendary rock icon, tv host and famous outdoorsman, Ted Nugent. In fact, Ted has three of them among his extensive collection of more than a dozen “rides.” In addition to his tricked-up, frame-off rebuild ’66, is a 1990 model powered by a Roush Yates V8 with an amazing 860 hp! “On-spec” was something we found to be just a bit challenging when we started working with The Graveyard more than twenty-five years ago. The first request for a Minalex part came in the form of a GET IN TOUCH rough, hand-drawn pencil sketch on a piece of paper. If your needs call for a custom aluminum extrusion It also contained some specs, the overall dimensions give us a call and let’s talk about how we can create and not much more, but for us, that was all we needed the perfect part for you. It may not go into space or to get started. be used by a famous rock star, but we guarantee it After serving client needs for more than fifty years, we will perform exactly the way you want it to. weren’t concerned when we saw the sketch. Drawing  908.534.4044 |  minalex.com

Volume 1, Issue 2 | 5 FOR MINALEX EXTRUSIONS, EVEN THE SKY’S NOT THE LIMIT No, that headline isn’t a metaphorical twist on the well-known phrase. We’re being literal. And just in case you missed the recent blog posts about our aerospace achievements, here’s an opportunity to catch up and see exactly what we mean.

BLASTING CAPS BLAST OFF wind is slowed by the pressure of interstellar gas. Despite the vast distance, they continue to The particular blasting caps we’re referring to are communicate with NASA daily, still probing the final used to separate the stages of a space rocket. In frontier. achieving this, a tube expands and runs through the blasting channel like a fuse which separates the rocket WHY IS ALUMINUM “RIGHT FOR FLIGHT”? stages in the correct, measured way. Leading-edge At subzero temperatures, like the Voyager 1 & 2 companies SpaceX and Northrop Grumman use spacecrafts have been experiencing, aluminum by blasting caps that incorporate miniature aluminum itself is stronger than at room temperature and is no extrusions from Minalex to help propel advanced less ductile. Some aluminum alloys retain significant communications equipment into orbit around earth strength up to 500°F. Besides a high strength-to- and send exploratory payloads out into the farthest weight ratio and good formability, aluminum is highly reaches of the universe. Not long ago, Minalex desirable because it also has its own anticorrosion blasting caps were used on the Northrop Cygnus mechanism. NG-10 Rocket to transport materials and fuel to the international space station. A FORTY-YEAR VOYAGE WITH NO END IN SIGHT If there was ever a story that demonstrates the FUN FACT: THE “WRIGHT” STUFF performance and longevity of our Minalex miniature aluminum extrusions, this is it. They’ve been traveling THE WRIGHT BROTHERS ACHIEVED THE FIRST to the farthest reaches of our solar system at 38,026 POWERED FLIGHT BY UTILIZING A CAST miles an hour and withstanding temperatures as hot ALUMINUM ENGINE BLOCK TO MINIMIZE as +260 degrees Celsius and as cold as -270 degrees WEIGHT. WE’RE PROUD TO BE BUILDING ON Celsius for more than 40 years aboard the Voyager 1 THAT HISTORIC LEGACY, HELPING A GROWING and 2 spacecraft. Voyager 1 is in “Interstellar space” LIST OF AEROSPACE CLIENTS ESCAPE and Voyager 2 is currently in the “Heliosheath” — the EARTH’S GRAVITY! outermost layer of the heliosphere where the solar HOLIDAY GREETINGS with GRATITUDE

All of us in the immediate and extended family here at Minalex would like to express our appreciation for the opportunity to provide you with the service and parts that have helped you to weather the trying times we’ve experienced during the past year. We’re honored that you’ve chosen to partner with us, and rest assured, we will continue to earn your trust in the years to come.

Here’s to Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year!

Scott Wisneski Jewelia and Joyce EMPLOYEE Celebrating Recently completed MILESTONES 25 years quality courses.

Minalex gratefully acknowledges the following team members for celebrating special milestone anniversaries in 2020.

BIG NEWS IN 2021!

If you’re like us, you’re ready to sing “Auld Lang Syne” (Does anyone know what that title really means?) and turn the page on 2020. We’re particularly excited because we have some exciting things planned in 2021. We’ll be in touch with all the details shortly!

 25 Coddington Road  Phone: 908.534.4044 Whitehouse Station  Fax: 908.534.6788 NJ 08889-0247  Visit: minalex.com