Wire forms are used in many industries, especially point of purchase displays and automotive applications. Wire forming companies seem to divide into these 2 markets, and we have both. Display racks might look like this: Automotive wire forms are more like these: In addition, springs and tube bending are a first cousins, and wire formers often do either, as ours do. Wire formers have support equipment for stamping, sheet metal fabrication, welding, finishing,… Read More
We have had several situations involving heavy parts that need machining. When the height of the part is relatively short, as is the case with heavy discs that eventually hold turbine blades, a vertical turret lathe may be the machining equipment of choice. With a vertical turret lathe the workpiece is set upon a horizontal rotating table and depending upon the equipment’s design, tools are applied from both side and above. Live tooling exists in… Read More
We are working to offer more choices for clients who need resources for smaller volume projects. These might be one-offs, prototypes, R&D experiments, repair parts, or spares for products no longer in production. Companies that seek prototypes or low quantity machining, whether repeating or not, may experience a lengthy search in order to find a suitable supplier. Naturally, most job shops seek customers with long and repeating production runs. But there are lots of circumstances… Read More
Materials are produced to either the customer’s specified requirements of a national accepted standard such as ASTM, ANSI, SAE, or to UNS. Depending upon your requirements, an independent laboratory will be used to perform and certify test data. This can include spectro chemical analyses, Leco carbon and sulfur, and wet methods traceable to NBS, Charpy impact, Microstructure analysis, scanning electron microscope analysis, and CMM dimensioning. In fact, these partners assure us they are not limited… Read More
Our ISO and ITAR spring source specializes in the design and production of extension and compression springs for industries where precision manufacturing techniques are of paramount importance. The company is able to offer rapid turnaround, and can economically manufacture both simple and more complex spring shapes, by the tens or by the millions! Completely new spring configurations can often be produced with no tooling costs! Categories include: Compression Springs: In production wire sizes ranging from… Read More
Some time ago we were contacted to help with a OEM’s problem finding a supplier of a precision molded plastic part. Fortunately, this turned out well for all sides, and if you need a molded plastic or polymer supplier, we have several excellent candidates. Among the available molding technologies are: -Closed mold compression molding, in which plastic or rubber material is introduced into a heated metal mold. The material is forced into mold cavities by… Read More
Some time ago we were involved in projects requiring plate forming and rolling. Our network now includes 3 companies with excellent capabilities for heavy fabrications, large parts and assemblies. Hydraulic and mechanical presses allow fabrication of parts up to 30’ long and 4” thick without splice welding or assembly. Plate to ¾” thick can be rolled up to 13 ‘ in length. This can be with multi-radius bends or flats between bends. Shapes are made… Read More
Many hand tools, levers, grips and a wide range of other items are made with plastic (plastisol) coatings. Dip molding is the technique for providing plastisol coating, and other applications include electrical insulators, caps, plugs and coatings for color coding. The process can produce both an external part coating or an item made inside a mold. Since plastisol is somewhat elastic, complex parts can be stripped from molds rather easily. Plastisol is a vinyl compound,… Read More
Parts assumed to require progressive dies and stamping presses may be candidates for fourslides—a common wire forming machine not routinely found in stamping companies. If you require a progressive die capability, it might be worthwhile to investigate the fourslide option. In general, set ups for fourslides are probably more complex, as the tooling is bolted onto the machine with timing accomplished via cams and slides. On the other hand, there may be less waste, less… Read More
