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V O L . X X V N O. X V I O n any given day, the 15,000-square-foot fabrica- tion facility at Lyman-Morse, the omaston builder of luxury yachts, is humming with the sound of industrial-scale machinery. e site is a few miles from Lyman-Morse's main boatbuilding yard. But the scope goes far beyond boats here. In fact, the shop was set up specifically to offer fabrication services for clients seeking applications for all kinds of products — food-grade conveyor belts, specialty winches, photovoltaic rack systems, architec- tural structures, components for industrial machinery and plastic holding tanks, to name just a few. Lyman-Morse's fabrication area represents an emerg- ing trend, as boatbuilders discover crossover applications of materials, techniques and expertise, commonly used in their industry. Given their expertise with aluminum, wood, fiberglass and advanced composites like carbon fiber, boatbuilders find they're particularly well-posi- tioned to create products for on-land use. From architecture to aquaculture At Lyman-Morse's fabrication site, General Manager Jonathan Egan points to a photo of a recently completed spiral staircase for a coastal Maine customer. It perfectly illustrates the application of boatbuilding materials to other uses. e framework was made from mirror- polish stainless steel and the treads from teak. "Teak is a common boatbuilding material and mirror-polish stainless steel is used on boat railings to help resist corrosion," says Egan, adding that teak is rot-resistant. Resistance to rot and corrosion are key components on a boat that's beaten on by wind, salt water and sun, but also for high-traffic stairs. "ere's a lot of carryover between the boat world and the architectural world, as well as food- grade items," Egan says. "Food-grade conveyor belts are not going on the ocean, but they're still subject to corrosion, which they want to avoid in the food- processing industry." Working with huge machinery like automated cutting systems and a giant plasma table that cuts through thick sheets of steel like butter, the site fabricates stainless steel, aluminum, bronze, steel, titanium and plastics. On a recent visit, jobs included construction of floats for the open-ocean aquaculture industry is expected to be a long-term job, given the grow- ing aquaculture market. (An unrelated job called for making parts for a specialty oven that tempers metal for the tiny components in hearing aids.) en there's urban architecture. e shop manu- factured a complicated canopy structure for Baruch College in New York City, using an innovative con- struction technique that sandwiches an aluminum core and stainless steel skin together in one panel, resulting in an ultralight and durable material. A 16-foot-tall spi- ral staircase for a 24th-floor Manhattan apartment was recently in production. When Egan joined Lyman-Morse in 2011, he drummed up business by knocking on the doors of contractors. "I had to help them understand that we weren't just a boatbuilding company," he recalls. "at was a bit of a hurdle. Contractors would immediately recognize the name 'Lyman-Morse' and their brains would go straight to luxury yachts. ey couldn't imag- ine us building rough structural steel components." Egan worked on getting out the message. "I'd show them the structural steel jobs we'd done, staircases and things like that," he says. "I explained to them that 68 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine Boatbuilders expanding their product line Complex technology is being applied to a range of industries B y l a u r i e s C h r e i B e r P H O T O / L A U R I E S C H R E I B E R P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F B I L L F RO E H L I C H P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F LY M A N - M O R S E Lyman-Morse, a yacht builder in Thomaston, is one of several boatbuilders that has expanded into fabrication to serve a wider range of industries. A spiral staircase is one of many products being built by Lyman-Morse's fabrication shop. I N N OVAT I O N / R & D Jonathan Egan is general manager of the Lyman-Morse fabrication shop, whose jobs go well beyond boatbuilding.

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