Here at Arrow Manufacturing, we use a wide variety of technologies to produce springs for a range of clients – including medical, aerospace, and automotive. When we’re talking to a new client, one option that often comes up is four-slide stamping, which allows us to custom make different spring designs to a customer’s specifications, while also reducing waste and costs.
Far more economical than a custom die, four-slide stamping can often produce the same results whether you’re looking for flat metal spring clips or custom wire forms. Instead of a series of vertical presses through which the material needs to be moved, the four-slide uses a combination of tools moving laterally. This, in turn, means we’re able to shape the piece from all four sides at once, which eliminates the separate dyes we would have to use otherwise.
The four-slide process helps keep down costs by using less steps, but also by using less material, as multi-step die processes often require extra width. The four-slide machine in our Bristol, CT workshop can produce parts with a minimum of 2” width and up to 17” long. We work with metal thicknesses starting from .062.”
Four slide stamping is also a great option if you need a custom spring or metal piece at speed – it’s a quick and efficient way to develop and test a prototype. Because we have a wide variety of tools we can attach to the cams there are lower upfront costs and time invested in tool and die design. Fewer design constraints, low costs, and a fast turnaround means four-slide stamping is often an attractive solution for many customers looking for precision metal stamping.
When Are You Better with Multi-Step Transfers than Four Slide Technology for Custom Springs?
Four slide can’t be used for every design of custom springs, and if you need some particularly large or small springs, you’re probably better off with a more traditional power press stamping process. Our Connecticut-based team of engineers and designers can help you with that too, and will always tell our customers if we think they’re better with one method or another for their custom engineered springs and coils.
Fourslide can only generally do shearing or bending movements, and common issues arise if you want a piece with an inside radius greater than the thickness of the piece, or if holes, slots, or other narrow sections are less than 1 1/2 times the metal thickness. In any of these cases, you’re probably better off with an alternative die method, as the efficient, simultaneous movements of the four slide tools will create too much stress for the metal and could make it weaker in the long run.
Custom Spring Design Solutions
If you’re in Connecticut (or anywhere else in the country!) and looking for custom springs and multi-slide stamping we can probably make your piece, whatever you need. We regularly work with stainless and carbon steel, rare metals, and with strips as well as wire.
Our design team can work with you to develop and analyze a 3D model of your pieces to advise on the entire process, from materials, production methods, economical run sizes, packaging, and stocking. And while we think four-slide is great for a lot of purposes, we also have plenty of other tools in our workshop we’re passionate about, including coilers, torsion tools, grinders, deburrers, and quality assurance.
Email or call us today to manufacture, advise, or help design your custom spring prototype.
