About
the company
Carbony
Our
Process
About The Company
Pipe
Makers Union, LLC was founded in 2006 by
Rob Gándara.
Rob is president, chief technical
officer,
musician, and the driving force behind the Carbony invention.
After working for many years in the computer industry, Rob redirected his engineering and music skills toward innovation in the musical instrument field. Rob's background includes a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering with a Certificate in Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems from Georgia Tech, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a concentration in Music and Psychoacoustics. He has been playing dozens of different instruments for over 30 years and currently plays with Ordinance, a Rock-influenced Celtic ensemble also based in Corvallis, Oregon.
Rob enjoys the broad appeal and
fellowship of
traditional instruments and music and enjoys meeting and working with
musicians and craftspersons around the globe. In his travels he has
developed travel skills in the Polish, Czech, Amharic, and Uzbek
languages, and has basic conversation skills in Spanish.
Carbony
Carbony is an innovative carbon fiber material for use in the fabrication of musical wind instruments. By adjusting components of the carbon fiber "recipe" carbony has been optimized for this application.
Carbony instruments are more sonically efficient than their wood conterparts, producing a quicker note response and greater ease of articulation. Carbony instruments are also
• Virtually indestructible - material will not crack, break or rot
• Geometrically stable - over all temperatures and humidities
• Stays as built - no warping or drying out over time
Our process
We
begin by fabricating high quality Carbony carbon-fiber tubes to serve
as the foundation for our instruments. This step is done with precision
molds guaranteeing interior bore dimensions that are precise and
repeatable.
The exterior of each instrument is then
hand
shaped, drilled, and crafted using our lathe and other typical
woodworking tools.
Final fitments, including trim and/or mouthpieces, are added to finish
and customize the instrument. These are generally made of aluminum
with an anodized finish or of polished stainless steel.
This process and material selection allow PMU to offer unconditional
lifetime warranties for all products we sell.
PMU is partnering with Real Carbon of Hood River, Oregon in the development and manufacturing of our Carbony materials. For more information about our carbon fiber, visit http://www.realcarbon.com/.
Carbony instruments play best with cane reeds from http://www.medir.org. All PMU reed instruments come with Medir reeds included.
Press
Ordinance and PMU in 8/24/2007 Corvallis
Gazette-Times Entertainer Section
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