North Fork Precision

Machining Quality In Powder River County

 

February 10, 2022

Kyle Copelan, owner of North Fork Precision in Broadus is pictured above, as a part is automatically being built to spec in the Haas CNC machine to Kyle's left.

Local residents are likely aware of a newly erected steel frame building on South Wilbur Avenue which went up quickly in late Fall of 2021. We recently spoke with Kyle Copelan, owner and proprietor of North Fork Precision, the machining business housed within the dark grey walls of Broadus' newest structure.

Kyle told us that North Fork Precision specializes in precision machine work oriented towards a commercial clientele base, and serving companies from all over the globe.

"The majority of what we make is aluminum, with a few plastic parts as well," he commented as we toured the 5,000 square foot facility.

The parts built by North Fork Precision may be used in the assembly of any number of machines and products, and Copelan tells us that he seeks out companies that will be a good fit for their level of production and particular skillset.

"We know what we're good at building, and focus on building those things as well as possible," he noted.

At this time no local machining work is being accepted.

The shop itself takes up 4,300 square feet of the building, with office space housed in the additional space. Kyle designed the shop with efficiency in mind, while also designing a structure he would like to work in long term.

Copelan walked us through the steps of turning a piece of raw billet aluminum into a finished part: "The building was designed so our raw material is delivered at one door, where it is prepped and then flows through our machining process, on to our anodizing portion of the building where the parts are finished. From there we package and label our products and send them out to our clients."

Parts are built on a pair of Haas mills, which use CNC technology to machine the product. The machines are quite interesting to watch as they automatically work through the process; the precision and speed at which a part is made is a significant step up for those of us who may have used a manually operated mill in shop class.

Kyle tells us that future plans are to increase the number of machines and integrate a robotic attachment which will increase productivity, allowing the shop to operate on a 24 hour schedule.

The building was designed to be a place where a machinist would be happy to work, with large windows to let in a lot of natural light. A positive ventilation system with an air exchanger pulls oil-soaked air out of the building, and the design leavese enough space around the Haas milling machines to allow a person space to work comfortably.

North Fork Precision was previously housed in Bozeman, where Kyle owned a shop since the mid-2010s. Copelan, a Great Falls CMR grad and son of Dale Copelan of Broadus, originally went to college in Helena for welding, but after taking some machining classes he realized that was his true passion, and he's been steadily turning bar stock into finished parts and chips ever since.

Copelan married Kate Riley of Broadus in 2021, and when the opportunity arose to move his operation to Broadus he jumped at the idea.

North Fork Precision's new facility in Broadus is pictured above.

"It was always our plan to invest in a future here in Broadus," he commented. "On January 1st of 2021 our plan was to move to Broadus and set up shop, and by the end of the year the building was completed and we were in business."

Kyle is assisted in his business by Matt Rodda, while Cathleen D'Arduini works in the front office, handling orders, invoicing, and paperwork. Copelan is currently seeking another person to work at North Fork Precision, where he tells us they will be working in shipping and receiving with an opportunity to train into the machining side of the business.

Additionally, Copelan plans to hold an open house at a later date for the community to come in and see what all is contained in Broadus' nicest new building and business.

 

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