Velmex - On The Move

Celebrating 50 Years

Roots in the Industries We Serve

Velmex, Inc.'s roots are in the optics and photonics industries, both of which are still part of the myriad of industries we now serve. J.C. Evans (Jack) was a professor at the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. Before starting Velmex he also was one of the three original co-founders of Tropel. Tropel eventually was acquired by Corning and became Corning-Tropel as it's known today.

J.C. Evans patented the original UniSlide® design in 1960 for use at Tropel. Jack felt there was a broader use for the small positioning device and in the fall of 1967 he left Tropel to establish Velmex to manufacture and distribute the UniSlide® positioning stage.



Initially there were two linear series (or sizes) based on the width of the UniSlide Assemblies' base – the A1500, at 1 1/2" wide and the A2500 at 2 1/2" wide, along with a small manual turntable. The A4000 series at a 4" width quickly followed in 1968.

All the UniSlide series were designed and built using the same rugged dovetail configuration that is still in use today. There were also several 1st generation models of motor-driven UniSlide Assemblies early on.

Products Proliferate

Over the next fifty years, the product lines continued to grow. In 1971 the power stand was introduced, which was the precursor to the current Side Knob BiSlide Assembly. In 1972 an affiliate for us began manufacturing UniSlide stages in England for distribution throughout Europe.

1976 saw the UniSlide line expanded to include the A6000 series. The same year we introduced our 1st generation of Elevating Tables. In 1979 the 1st Rotary Table – the 4800 – was added to the offering.

In 1982 we built the 8200 Stepping Motor Controller followed by the B9000 Series UniSlide stage in 1983. The same year the first pre-configured XY table was introduced; built with Series A2500 stages.

We added another Rotary Table, the 5990, in 1991. The Tree Ring Measuring System was introduced to the dendrological community in 1992. It was designed for the purpose of researching tree ring growth and the associated climate and environmental implications.

In 1998 the first of our new linear stages – the BiSlide® Assembly – was introduced featuring a dual use base with interlocking dovetail ways.

In 2002 we added our VXM™ Stepping Motor Controller that replaced larger, more cumbersome previous models.

The smaller XSlide™ Linear Assembly followed in 2005. In 2013 we started to manufacture our own encoder readout – VRO™ Digital Readout.

And So We Grow

As the product offering grew, so did the building in the manufacturing and assembly areas. The original building was slated to be a restaurant, which never came to be. Jack acquired it and converted it into a production facility. We started with a garage addition in 1977 with about 900 sq. ft. An expansion in 1981 added 1,500 sq. ft. to the manufacturing floor and another 2632 sq. ft. was added in 1991. 2,500 sq. ft. was added between 1995 and 1996 to expand the area to build BiSlide and eventually XSlide Assemblies.

Almost 25,000 sq. ft. now comprises the facility which includes administrative, manufacturing and research and development areas.