CM Furnaces 75th Anniversary: From Coils to High-Temperature Leaders
In 2021,ย CM Furnacesย celebrates itsย 75th anniversary, joining brands like the Cleveland Browns, The Estรฉe Lauder Companies and Goodyear. From the start, CM has kept itsย design and manufacturing in the U.S., and today it serves a wide range of highโtemperature furnace markets. For inquiries, you can emailย info@cmfurnaces.comย or visit the company website.
How CM Furnaces Started in 1946
Foundersย Seth Combsย andย James Murphyย launched CM Furnaces in January 1946. The business originally madeย coils and filamentsย for the electronics and lighting industries usingย molybdenum and tungsten wire.
Both founders came from theย refractory metal industry, so they understood moly and tungsten extremely well. To shape, set and clean the coils, they needed toย hydrogenโfireย them. As a result, CM began building its ownย hydrogen furnacesย to support the coil business.
These inโhouse furnace designs quickly stood out.ย GE, Sylvania and Westinghouseโthe three major lighting companies at the timeโnoticed the performance and asked CM to build furnaces for their operations.
From Coils to a Growing Furnace Business
As more companies heard about CMโs furnace designs, work from other industries followed. Furnaces soon became a larger share of the business, while demand for traditional electronic filaments slowly declined. At the same time, theย furnace business kept growing and expanding.
Because CM felt comfortable working withย refractory metal wire, the team moved early into theย wire industry. Initially, they focused on molybdenum and tungsten wire. Over time, they addedย copper, stainless steel, nickelโbased alloys and titanium. These applications then opened doors to furnaces forย tubing, rod and smallโwidth sheet.
Wire Annealing and Laboratory Furnace Expansion
Today,ย continuous wire annealing furnacesย form a very important part of CMโs business. These systems support highโprecision processing for many types of wire and alloy products.
The company also expanded intoย laboratory furnacesย for highโtemperature research. These systems handle a wide range ofย atmospheres and applications, helping universities, labs and manufacturers carry out advanced materials testing and development.
Serving 12 Major Industries with Standard and Custom Furnaces
After 75 years, CM Furnaces now servesย 12 major industries. The company designs and builds bothย standard models and custom unitsย for a huge variety of processes and temperature requirements. This broad base gives CM a strong platform to continue growing into new markets and applications.
The team keeps refining furnace designs to boost performance, reliability and ease of use. Because CM builds furnaces every day, it constantly gathers feedback from the field and uses that knowledge to improve each new system.
Why the Future Looks Bright for CM Furnaces
Many companies no longer have the internal resources to design and build their own highโtemperature furnaces. They may lack the specialized manpower, and they risk creating a โnewโ system based on older technology.
CM Furnaces, however, continues toย design, build and refineย furnaces fullโtime. Each new project adds to the companyโs experience and helps it enhance temperature control, atmosphere management and longโterm durability. With that momentum, CM looks forward not only to its 75โyear milestone, but also to celebrating itsย 100th anniversaryย as a trusted furnace partner.
