Nautilus Turbines have been manufactured in the United States since 1985. Our current base of operations is in Greenfield, Massachusetts where we design, develop, and fabricate our complete line of turbines. Outside contractors are used for processes such as casting, laser cutting, or large sheet metal forming because of space limitations in our shop. However all final machining, welding, and assembly occur in house using high quality tooling and materials. All systems and parts must be reviewed to meet our standards before being shipped out, the lifetime of our turbines depends on this quality control. By building all turbines in house in the US, we are able to ensure that the quality of our products is consistently of high quality. Below you'll find images of different fabrication techniques and specific turbine models during manufacturing. Please check back from time to time as we will be continually adding new images.

This 20in propeller was first built by Nautilus in 1981. Three vertical open flume turbines were installed on 7ft of head under a mill in Lancaster County, PA. These three units were design to develop 7kW each and used a gravity operated cylinder gate for on/off operation.

The CMC-MH is a regulated Francis turbine based on a established design from the early 1900's. Nautilus acquired the manufacturing rights and all test results for the original designs in 1984. Since then we've improved upon materials, surface finishes, spatial consistency and bearings. The fundamental hydraulic design of the turbine remains unchanged. We are proud to have revived this time tested, moderate head turbine for modern applications. The images below show a series of different models from over the years as we have developed the gate mechanism and bearing housings.

The heart of any turbine is the runner. It is as much a work of art as it is a technological marvel. At Nautilus, we are proud to be one of the only companies in the world that manufactures Francis runners for small hydro systems. Using a variety of methods, from hand forming the buckets to lost wax casting. We are able to carefully control the quality of each runner during production. Below is an example of one of our hand built Francis runners. Flat developed bucket shapes are cut from plate stock and hand formed while hot over metal dies. The buckets are then placed in a welding fixture and welded to the hub. The outer band is added as final step. The runner is then finished on a lathe, drilled for balancing, and properly dressed to ensure a smooth operating surface. The runner shown in these images is for a T type turbine.

The T-MH is a key product in the Nautilus line. A turbine designed with the fundamentals of old school hydro for the modern day: simple, robust design with high power output and low maintenance. We manufacture the runner, bearing assembly, and top cover. The trapezoidal scroll case is an impressive feat of stainless sheet metal fabrication and once assembled the turbine is designed for a long life of quiet,efficient operation on as little as 6ft of head.