TEK4

TEK4 is a UK maker of hole drilling machines for the aerospace and gas turbine industries. Its main products are fast hole drill EDM machines. These drill cooling holes in aero engine and industrial gas turbine blades, vanes and segments. The company is in Blaby, Leicestershire, and has a US office in Greenville, South Carolina.

TEK4 was founded by Jason Duffin in 2002. He still runs the business with a team of engineers. The site says the team has more than 30 people and that the company has over 40 years of experience in this field.

The EDM machines come in four sizes, called Aero, ST, XLL and GXL. A high speed version is called HSD. The sixth generation is described as having optional drill after coating technology, better shaped hole drilling and new breakthrough detection. A laser ablation head can be added to the machines to drill after coating.

The company also makes laser drilling systems for drilling, cutting and removing ceramic coatings. A third method is electrochemical machining, used for deep STEM drilling of complex cooling passages. The site also lists gas turbine and jet engine blade repair among the uses.

The drill after coating system uses a 100 watt high frequency fibre laser. It clears the non-conductive coating inside the same machine, so the process runs in one operation. The laser and the EDM system are lined up with a patented method that uses a probe.

TEK4 says its customers include global OEMs and top tier suppliers. The contact page has a form and lists both offices.