KR International is doing what it can to refurbish winding machines, and provide spare or redesigned parts and advise.
OK, so many of you already know that, it happened close to 2 decades ago. But, without buying a new machine, KR International can bring years of new life for the existing winding machines.
My biggest concern here is for those of you who are looking on the web to find more information. Yes a company in Sun Valley, CA was the final buyer. They sent most of the inventory of Barton Spare Parts to scrap. I wonder if they would even sell you a copy of a print. No one associated with E W Barton works there now. So good luck with that.
I have a source for the small remaining inventory that was bought up. We are developing parts for winders, KR international cannot rebuild winding machines without a source for wear parts. Makes perfect sense, right?
We really like what we do! Our customers who believed in us seem to agree.
I started to work for E W Barton Company in 1970 (Mr. Barton designed the very first automatic capacitor winder). As a matter of fact my family was a co-owner of the company. I was employed there through all the different owners and name changes. I was mostly occupied with Controls and building the Electrolytic Capacitor Machines for the most of my stay. And worked on the Traditional Capacitor Winding Machines a lot. First started as an apprentice machinist. Then moved on as a journeyman production machinist for both capacitor machines & aerospace. Did a lot of tool & die work and fixturing. They asked later to move me to the control building for the electrolytic line (the Dinosaurs of the past).
They just didn't believe they had to keep up with the competition when it came to Capacitor Winding Machines. They started to see a decline in business. The bitter end came to a forced buy out, with new owners wanting to ship about 10,000 machines a month. Well, nobody has ever reached that figure and never will. To them, it was quantity, not quality.
After the bitter end with another last buyout, a new owner wanted to make the equipment dirt cheap (with a high 300% price increase) with inappropriate tolerances and materials. With extreme objection and some relief, I parted the relationship. I moved on as a consultant in the Capacitor Industry finally creating KR International (website capacitor-solutions.com). The finality is bitter.