Thorndike Corporation founded by James O. Thorndike Sr. opened its doors in 1946 and began manufacturing intricate and often delicate microwave dielectrics. Many companies could produce individual pieces by hand, but were unable to produce with close tolerances in the numbers that the industry needed. The founder of Thorndike took on the challenge of finding new methods of economically producing them in large quantities. He stated, “Never think of why it can’t be done, think only of how to do it.” Thorndike developed new and creative approaches to do the job. Over the years and now a third generation family owned business Thorndike’s methods and special array of tools, dies, forms and jigs have made us unique in the industry, and made it possible for us to economically mass produce parts that other companies have said could not be produced in numbers at any price. For the past 75 plus years Thorndike has been at the forefront of the microwave industry supplying military, aerospace, commercial, industrial, telecom 5G and automotive fields.
Another significant factor in the success of Thorndike Corporation has been that we produce our own raw material from which the dielectrics are made. We produce our material in our own Raw Materials Lab using our own formulations. Our materials are used in high and low power applications and are used in many components such as terminations, attenuators, mode suppressors, EMI suppressors, filters, couplers, and virtually anywhere microwave suppression is desired. They can be prepared to meet the customer’s specific needs using any of our 105 plus standard formulations or any range between these formulas. Thorndike raw materials meet NASA aerospace criteria and can be milled, bored, threaded, tapped and ground. It is available in bars, rods, sheet stock and custom injection molding to exact customer dimensions, holding tolerances within .00001”.
Thorndike Corporation is a leading design and precision manufacturer of microwave absorbing dielectrics supplying the military, commercial and industrial fields with over 75 years of continuous service. We manufacture our own line of high loss absorbers to fit hundreds of old requirements and customize parts for new designs. Our current formulas include the exact equivalents to the old standard materials used in microwave applications over the past 50 plus years. Our materials are used in many components such as terminations, attenuators, mode suppressors, EMI suppressors, filters, couplers, and virtually anywhere microwave frequency suppression is desired.
Customers
Our customers range from large world-wide commercial industries, military and government institutions, scientific companies, to private and small leading-edge entrepreneurs.
We manufacture based on the customer’s needs; from a one-piece sample prototype and finished product to a production run exceeding one million pieces. For new designs, prototypes, or engineering upgrades, we provide the electrical and mechanical design for many types of microwave products, from system specifications.
Machine Shop
The machining capabilities at Thorndike Corporation are extensive; many of which are housed on-site in our 25,500 sq. ft. facility.
At Thorndike we provide custom molding which allows us to eliminate excessive labor costs. This allows us to streamline the productions process and pass on these savings to our customers. In addition, we mold, machine, die cut and grind raw stock materials into precise engineering prototypes or full production runs. Our machine shop includes C.N.C. lathes, C.N.C. millers, lathes, millers, surface grinding, Blanchard grinding, 10 and 00 grinding and grinders capable of machine all types of dielectrics, plastics, and silicon carbide. We also can centerless grind rod stock to almost any length and diameter. Our machine shop manufactures to print, finished components using either our own materials or yours.
Engineering
Our engineering staff work with you designers to integrate the right material into your components. We provide the optimum shapes, materials and design for low and high-power applications, low cost, special frequency and wide band applications. Our products are designed into coaxial, waveguide, strip and coplanar waveguide applications. Calibration kits available upon request. Contact our technical support department for your particular requirements.
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