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FAQ

Below you'll find some of the most common questions people ask about Fine Tubes. If your query is on the list below just click on it and you'll be taken to the answer. However if you can't find the information you're looking for, try using our website's search facility at the top right or get in touch via our Contacts page.

 

We are a leading engineering company supplying high precision metal tubes to a variety of industries.

Fine Tubes manufactures high quality tubes made from stainless steel, nickel and titanium alloys. We make them in straight lengths or coils and in various sizes and profiles. In addition to selling tube, with our expertise and experience we can also help you with things like materials selection, production, certification, testing and delivery. Whatever we do, quality and reliability are our highest priorities and we aim to exceed any customer’s expectations.

Our products are manufactured in our tube mill based in Plymouth, on the south coast of England.

We have offices all over the world. For exact details, please go to Sales Office 

We currently have around 310 members of staff who are mainly based in our headquarters in Plymouth, UK.

We ship worldwide to over 35 countries on five continents.

No. We have a multi-lingual sales team and can work with you in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese.

Our main markets include the aerospace, oil and gas, nuclear, power generation, chemical process and medical device industries. However we are also developing products for emerging sectors like desalination, geothermal energy, sports and the automotive industry. We are continually innovating, so if you require tubing for other applications please get in touch and we’ll be happy to discuss your requirements.

Please call us on +44 (0) 1752 876 416, or send an email to sales.finetubes@ametek.com.
You can also send us a fax on +44 (0) 1752 733301 or visit one of our Sales Offices 

No. We manufacture at an industrial scale and have minimum order charges. Unfortunately we aren’t able to offer our off-cuts for sale. Spare quantities are passed on to our customers, or we recycle the materials and use them in new projects.

Minimum order sizes depend on various factors including the availability of raw materials and the size of the finished tubing you require. Our minium order fee is £10,000 which covers machine set-up, raw materials and tooling costs.

No, we manufacture to order. However for customers with long-term contracts we can ensure that a steady supply is maintained by making sure safety or buffer stocks are available.

The availability of raw materials, how busy our plant is, the amount and length of tubes required and the technical specification of your order all play a role in determining how quickly we can deliver. A typical lead time is 10 to 12 weeks, but in some instances our turnaround can be as little as three weeks.

Yes, our technical teams can review the specifications and application of the tubes you require. We develop and test solutions that add to existing international specifications in various industries as well as creating tubes intended for use in entirely new areas.

Fine Tubes started as a division of Moray Engineering to specialise in the production of nickel cathode sleeves for electronic valves. We later officially became Fine Tubes in 1943. Since then we’ve expanded and now provide high quality precision tubing for a range of specialist industries

We are unique in that we can manufacture both seamless and welded tubes in a wide range of materials all under one roof. As experts in the processing of stainless steels, nickel and titanium alloys we are able to cold-work certain alloys to quality standards and sizes that very few other mills are capable of achieving.

Fine Tubes is privately company which is owned by AMETEK, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices.

Fine Tubes sells to both the end user and stockists, whilst always ensuring that our product is supplied at a competitive price.

We are constantly looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment. One recent major improvement has been our switch-over from trichloroethylene as a degreasing fluid to an environmentally-friendly non-VOC solvent. The new fluid retains all the cleaning properties required and Fine Tubes continues to hold ISO 14001 accreditation.

If you are interested in a position at Fine Tubes, please email your CV and covering letter to claire.baker@ametek.com or steve.tomlinson@ametek.com

For Direct Production Operator vacancies please contact our preferred recruitment agencies:
Mego Recruitment | Tel: 0844 801 6666 | www.mego.org.uk or
TQR | Tel: 01752 252533 | sam@tqr.co.uk |tqr.co.uk

Payment terms vary from Cash with Order and Documentary Credits to Credit Terms and are determined following the review of credit checks made on all new customers.

Our sales staff are highly qualified in their respective markets and can answer any questions you may have about specific materials and products. Our engineering and metallurgy experts are also on hand to solve specific issues and manage product trials and new developments.

When placing an order simply inform our sales team of your bore requirements. Fine Tubes can offer tubes down to 0.40 microns Ra as drawn and 0.20 microns Ra with electro-polishing.

Fine Tubes can produce precision tubing down to 0.3mm OD, equivalent to 0.012 inches.

A wide range of information can be found on the Products pages of this site. We also offer products conforming to a number of key international specifications such as ASTM, ASME, EN and TuV. If you have further technical enquiries, please contact us on sales.finetubes@ametek.com or call us on +44 (0) 1752 876416.

We supply tubes in a variety of standard shapes including circular, oval, rectangular and square. For more information please contact our sales team on +44 (0) 1752 876 416.

Yes, we will cut it to specific lengths designated by our customers.

The maximum length we supply straight tubes in is 20m, however coiled tubing can be supplied in much longer pieces. We can supply coils up to 10,000m long, depending on the width of tubing.

BS EN 9100
ISO 9001:2008, AS/EN 9100:21009
ISO 14001:2008
TUV AD-2000 Merkblatt W0/TRD 100
P.E.D. Pressure Equipment Directive
NADCAP Approval of Ultrasonic Testing, Welding, Heat Treatment facilities, Chemical Processing, Fluid Distribution Systems.
Rolls-Royce Sabre
Rolls-Royce Deutschland
Messier-Dowty PRIDE
Westland Supplier Approval
Fine Tubes is also listed on the IAQG Oasis Database.
You can find a list of our quality approvals on Quality Certifications

Yes, we always give our customers reactive support.

We have several including ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and NADCAP Ultrasonic Testing, Heat Treatment facilities, Welding accreditations, Chemical Processing, Fluid Distribution Systems. We are also proud to manufacture tubes that meet a large range of customer-specific standards.

We can produce tube coils up to 10,000 m long.

When you speak with our sales team they’ll discuss your requirements with you and ask if you have the UNS number or specifications of the tubing you need. We consider parameters such as the material being used, Outside Diameter (OD) by Inside Diameter (ID) in mm or inches or OD by wall thickness in mm or inches, the length of tubes, the quantity required, whether seamless or welded, as a straight length or coiled, and further quality, testing or finishing specifications.

All tube reduction operations are performed cold, thus maximising the potential for microstructure and hence mechanical property control.

We supply tubes as straight lengths or coils.

They’re made using drawing, cold working and reduction techniques as well as using premium flat strip stock, which is roll formed to precise dimensions and then fused together with a laser. Subsequent drawing and cold working will 'sink' this welded stock to the desired dimensions. Both processes are used to deliver absolute performance.

A seamless tube is extruded and drawn from a billet while a welded tube is produced from a strip that is roll formed and welded to produce a tube. A welded tube is less expensive than seamless tube and is readily available in long continuous lengths.

We specialise in a wide range of stainless steel, nickel alloys and titanium grades.

Our tubes can be tested in a variety of destructive and non-destructive ways including eddy current, ultra sonic and pressure testing. For more information of our testing procedures please see here Testing.

Our raw material sources are fully audited, tested and approved before use. We take a quality-first approach, keeping in mind that manufacturing advances around the world will, in time, bring further benefits for our customers.

We mainly supply our tubing in wooden crates with protective caps placed on either end of the tubes, and always ensure our packaging is sufficient to protect the product during storage and transit.

We do not bend tubes, but regularly outsource this to a third party company.

Yes, you can order samples from our sales team. Depending on the quantity and material required this could be subject to a small fee.

Something that is cannulated means "affords a passage through its interior length for wire, thread, etc". An example would be a cannulated suture needle.

Our Terms & Conditions of Sale and Terms & Conditions of Purchase can be found here Terms & Conditions 
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