10/09/2021
For our dear followers and drilling enthusiasts alike,
Since last year we have been setting up a new location for our wire shaping company, McDowall Engineering! And this week we have a great success story to share.
What’s less commonly known is the wedge wire used in these screens are made here in
Australia by McDowall Engineering.
Bill Walsh is widely regarded as the founding father of wedge wire screen manufacture in Australia, having started the first Australian screen manufacturing company in the 1960’s.
After selling his screen manufacturing business, Bill started McDowall Engineering in 1985 as a general engineering and manufacturing business.
Not long after this, Bill found himself drawn back into the wedge wire industry when he met Paul Schmacker, a Toowoomba-based engineer working in the water well industry. It wasn’t long before
Paul commissioned McDowall Engineering to build a screen fabricator, and in 1993, Condamine Wellscreens was formed.
In 1995, Paul enlisted the help of his brother Mark and together they took control of Condamine Wellscreens.
The brothers very quickly formed a close friendship with Bill based on mutual interests in engineering, but particularly a shared interest in the wedge wire industry.
The next challenge the brothers encountered was that of sourcing the wire for their screen fabricator as importing was flawed with price and delivery issues.
Mark and Paul again commissioned McDowall Engineering to build a machine that could shape their wire.
Bill created a wire line with a unique design specifically for making nominally triangular shaped wire from round feed wire.
With the wire line completed, Mark and Paul suggested that Bill run the wire line for them, as they had their hands full growing their screen manufacturing company, and McDowall Engineering have been shaping wedge wire for Condamine Wellscreens ever since. It didn’t take long for the other screen manufacturers to find bill and his wire shaping capabilities, and wedge wire suddenly became a significant part of the McDowall Engineering business.
To cope wit the increase demand for wire shaping, Bill designed and constructed additional wire lines and associated equipment, most of which was built in house.
Over the years, this aspect of McDowall Engineering continued to grow and wire shaping suddenly became the focus of McDowall Engineering’s product offerings.
In addition to wire shaping, Bill also built several more screen fabricators and support equipment for Condamine Wellscreens, including one of the largest screen fabricators in the country.
McDowall Engineering was Bill Walsh’s pride and joy, and many will remember bill in his 80s, wearing his trademark shorts and braces with a cigarette in hand sitting beside a wire line six days a week. However, all good things must come to an end and eventually Bill decided that it was time for someone else to take the reins to ensure the longevity of McDowall Engineering and the invaluable industry support this business provides.
Bill approached his long-term associates and friends at Condamine Wellscreens and in 2016, Mark and Paul Schmacker took over as the proud owners of McDowall Engineering.
Bill remained an integral part of McDowall Engineering until 2018 when his health forced him to finally retire.
McDowall Engineering continued to operate from Brendale until 2020 when Mark and Paul decided it was time to relocate to a new home in Toowoomba directly opposite the Condamine Wellscreens’ screen factory.
Like many others, Mike was apprenticed to and mentored by Bill while working at the former Surescreens plant, which was Bills original screen manufacturing facility at Geenbung, Brisbane.
Mike’s industry experience has been combined with Mark and Paul’s engineering expertise to create a facility dedicated to manufacturing wedge wire and providing support to the screen industry. In addition to wedge wire shaping, Mike and his team also offer general engineering and machine services.
McDowall Engineering is the only Australian-owned manufacturer and onseller of wedge wire, and proudly boasts unique wire lines, machinery and equipment that have been made in house. These days, McDowall Engineering produces over 50 different profiles of wire and support rods in various grades of stainless steel.
The wire shaping process undertaken by McDowall Engineering is the first step in the manufacture of Condamine Wellscreens’ Australian-made wedge wire products.
Taking over McDowall Engineering has enabled Mark and Paul to operate a vertically integrated manufacturing business that is proudly 100 percent Australian owned.
Together, Condamine Wellscreens and McDowall Engineering have a dedicated team of over 20 staff across two factories that operate multiple screen fabricators, several wire processing machines, a water jet cutter, robot welder and various other general engineering machines.
The entire operation is only a legacy to Bill Walsh, but also to Australian-owned manufacturing and engineering businesses, and the ingenuity that comes with them.
For more information about a wedge wire profile for your application, contact McDowall Engineering on:
(07) 3881 3562
or [email protected]
Learn more about our screens here
https://www.condaminescreens.com.au/
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Give us a call or shoot us a message for more information
Condamine Wellscreens
0448099845
[email protected]
