The Right Tubing
On Time.
About Us
The Right Tubing on Time.
K-Tube Corporation was founded in 1974 by Herb Karlinski and Brian Baldwin with the vision of introducing a lower cost needle to the dental market. They worked together to develop the laser weld technology that would eventually lead to a lower cost manufacturing process. Herb Karlinksi perfected the preliminary technology, purchased the needed equipment, and settled into a small manufacturing site in San Diego, California.
In 1980, the first small tube mill was designed, built, and put into production. This small mill, along with the original 1974 laser, enabled K-Tube to successfully produce dental needle tubing with wall thicknesses as small as .003 inch for 30 gage tubing (.012 inch OD). Two additional mills were added in 1981 that were capable of welding heavier wall thicknesses and the process for making needle tubing was expanded to include production of 14 gage thin wall tubing with a .008 inch wall thickness.
The use of a laser as a welding source enabled K-Tube to produce non-mandrel drawn tube to meet the standards accepted by the needle industry. The small heat affected zone produced by the laser meant that tubing could be manufactured quickly and efficiently with desirable cosmetic qualities. This original process was named K-Form and is known in the industry as welded and drawn tube.
In 1982, Karlinski responded to the needs of the market by developing a floating plug process to provide a smother ID surface finish. This enhanced version of the original K-Form tubing provided superior finishes for stylet and blood donor applications. By 1988, full coils of tubing, identified as Matte Draw and Brite Draw, were being manufactured in high volume. The floating plug process enabled K-Tube to become a full service provider for a wide variety of custom tubing applications in the medical and industrial markets.
K-Tube has continued to specialize in tubing and cutting production to meet the needs of an evolving marketplace. In 1996, K-Tube purchased additional cutting equipment that increased its capacity to satisfy the growing medical market. The growing need for laser welded tubing meant K-Tube was growing as well, and in 1999, K-Tube built a new, state of the art, facility in nearby Poway, California. It was designed with a high level of manufacturing efficiency and includes an enclosed, climate controlled laser welding room and plant wide environmental control systems.
In 2002, K-Tube obtained the rights to manufacture stainless steel encased optical fiber. This technology consists of a forming mill and laser to encase fiber optic strands in stainless steel tubing. This tubing, known as armor or jacketing, is manufactured in continuous coil lengths of up to 25 kilometers and placed on spools. Upon completion, the inner fibers are attenuation tested for signal presence and continuity. In the future, K-Tube expects to incorporate other elements into the tubing during the welding process such as wire and other tube alloys.
Today, K-Tube continues to provide innovative tubing solutions to the medical, industrial, and automotive markets. Our engineers work to design the best tubing solutions available and the Quality Assurance team strives to guarantee that each tube leaving our facility is manufactured to the highest standard in the industry.
