
12-10-2007, 03:17 PM
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| | | Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: USA
Posts: 1,622
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If the OEM has no tooling to offer, I too would get a bid from a wire forming house that might have equipment that would run these for a few cents each. For you to do a run of 300-400, if there is much custom tooling cost, that alone will add in $3-5 range each in tooling costs for such small run batches. Decent tooling to run them on a press or a brake could run 10,000+pcs to absorb that cost. If this is an on-going contract, then it is your call, but don't expect to break even until about the third run.
I think I would look for pre-heat treated material. See if you could request a variance to use 4130HT, presuming you could find 12ga that fit the tolerance. Heat treating after bending would take a special fixture to hold them in shape.
If I had to make them. I think I would make 2 at a time, mirrored at the joggle with a sheared knockout between. Wherein the progression cuts the proper length of material, drops in position, bending the ends, joggle and shearing them apart all in one stroke.
DC
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