Northwest Aerospace News April | May 2019 Issue No. 8 | Page 25

One of a Kind
Machinists Inc. specializes in
manufacturing prototypes and other
unique hardware. As an example,
Grim cited Jeff Bezos’ 10,000-
year clock project, currently being
installed inside a mountain peak in
West Texas. Originally conceived
by Danny Hillis in 1989 both as a
working timepiece and a monument
to long-term thinking, the clock will
tick once each year. The “long hand”
will advance once per century, and
the cuckoo will sound at the end of
each millennium.
The Long Now is a non-profit
foundation that has coordinated
work on the project, and Machinists
Inc. is providing some of the
components that will help build
the clock’s finished mechanism
— which will occupy a 12-foot
diameter shaft dug 500 feet beneath
the Sierra Diablo mountain range.
“Those kind of one-off, job-shop
type projects are the biggest part of
our business,” Grim explained. “In
addition to the 10,000-year clock,
we have parts going into the new
Ford-class aircraft carrier. During
the Space Shuttle era, we developed
a technique to safely cut slots in
graphite composite pads for its main
external fuel tank.”
Among the company’s achievements
was manufacturing several of
the components used to safely
convey the Mars rovers Spirit and
Opportunity to the surface of the red
planet.
Large complex parts are manufactured by Machinists
Inc. One of many large precise parts for the 10,000
year clock.
Airframe Rotation Motor Platforms for 787 assembly.
Airbus A 380 landing gear. Precision hydraulic
cylinder machined to exacting aircraft specifications,
continuously delivered on a demanding schedule.
“We didn’t have any parts on the
rovers themselves,” said Grim. “But
we made sure that they got down in
one piece.”
APRIL | MAY 2019 ISSUE NO. 8
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