Since its founding in the 1940s, Fine Tubes has continuously proven its excellence in engineering. Our timeline spans nearly eight decades in the manufacture of high quality precision tubes.
1940s
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1943: Fine Tubes Ltd. is founded in Surbiton, UK.
- 1946: Fine Tubes' first purpose-built factory in Surbiton employs 80 people.
1950s
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1957: Fine Tubes start to supply stainless steel tubing to Vickers Viscount Aircraft.
1960s
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1960: Construction of 51,000 sq ft production area in Plymouth, UK.
- 1962: Fine Tubes move into new factory in Plymouth, UK.
- 1965: Fine Tubes develop AM350 tubes for the Concorde programme.
1970s
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1977: Fine Tubes develops 20-25Nb nuclear fuel cladding and supplies for the UK’s first generation of Advanced Gas Reactors.
1980s
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1980: Fine Tubes’ factory is extended with three new bays and administration wings.
- 1982: Fine Tubes becomes first EEC producer of seamless titanium 3Al/2.5V tubes for hydraulic systems.
- 1984: Fine Tubes supply clean bore tubing to the semiconductor market.
1990s
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1998: Fine Tubes manufacture data logging tubes for the downhole oil and gas markets.
- 1999: Fine Tubes supply the Eurofighter programme with titanium tubing for hydraulic systems and EJ200.
2000s
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2000: Fine Tubes develop profiled implant tubing for medical applications.
- 2001: Fine Tubes are the first global manufacturer of seamless Ti 6AI4V (UNS-R56401) tubing giving the winning edge on high performance race bicycles.
- 2003: Fine Tubes manufacture super pressure instrumentation tubing operating at up to 60,000 psi (4,100 bar).
- 2004: Fine Tubes manufacture Ti 6Al/4V (B338 Gr5) tubing for femur and tibia bone nail implants.
- 2006: Fine Tubes qualify as supplier for new generation Airbus A380 with Ti3Al2.5V tubes for hydraulic systems operating at 5,000psi (350 bar).
- 2008: Fine Tubes supplies CERN with 130km cooling tubes for the Large Hadron Collider experiment.
2010s
- 2011: Fine Tubes change from VOC degreasing fluids to Solveco, an environmentally friendly solution.
- 2013: Fine Tubes developed the corrosion-resistant heat exchanger tubes for the steam generators of the solar power plant 'Gemasolar'.
- 2014: Fine Tubes supplied specialist titanium grade 2 tubing for the Chemical Propulsion System (CPS) of the Solar Orbiter project.
- 2015: Fine Tubes is acquired by AMETEK Inc.
- 2018: Fine Tubes reaches new heights manufacturing products for advanced space exploration programmes.
2020s
- 2021: Fine Tubes develops specialist Super Duplex tubing for corrosive oil and gas, and chemical process applications.