Very Simple Part - Difficulties

[John3]

Anybody have any suggestions? I need to make/have made a simple rectangular part as follows;

1/8" thick +/- .010

1/2" wide +/- .020

1" long +/- .030

All edges and corners must be broken or have a small radius. The surface finish is not terribly critical, but the part is seen on the front of a piece of equipment so it should be reasonably good looking. It must be non-oxidizing / non-corroding. It cannot be painted or coated with something that would be removed or badly scuffed by light to moderate abrasion.

The part must be cheap, (Less than $.30 or so, $.50 max)

It must allow a magnet to stick to it, but it does not / should not be magnatized.

I was thinking a piece of 410 SST bar cut off and tumbled, but I can't find anybody selling 410 SST bar except McMaster Carr Unfortunately their price is about $18 per foot!!!!

Another choice would be 1018 CRS and have it nickle plated but I know nothing about plating. There are no holes in the part, so I wonder how it would be held for plating.

Any Ideas? - Thanks,

Once this is figured out, I need a hundred right away and then a thousand if it works properly.

John

[SMW Precision]

Originally Posted by John3 Anybody have any suggestions? I need to make/have made a simple rectangular part as follows; 1/8" thick +/- .010 1/2" wide +/- .020 1" long +/- .030 All edges and corners must be broken or have a small radius. The surface finish is not terribly critical, but the part is seen on the front of a piece of equipment so it should be reasonably good looking. It must be non-oxidizing / non-corroding. It cannot be painted or coated with something that would be removed or badly scuffed by light to moderate abrasion. The part must be cheap, (Less than $.30 or so, $.50 max) It must allow a magnet to stick to it, but it does not / should not be magnatized. I was thinking a piece of 410 SST bar cut off and tumbled, but I can't find anybody selling 410 SST bar except McMaster Carr Unfortunately their price is about $18 per foot!!!! Another choice would be 1018 CRS and have it nickle plated but I know nothing about plating. There are no holes in the part, so I wonder how it would be held for plating. Any Ideas? - Thanks, Once this is figured out, I need a hundred right away and then a thousand if it works properly. John

I would use mild steel easily cut with a cold saw, pickle, tumble and phosphate coat. Problem is to many steps for your price range with a small number. As you noticed stainless is out with just material cost.
While a simple piece to make labor kills with a small job. Setup and cleanup are the same to do a 100 or 10,000 of this type of part.

[John3]

Thanks for the reply Ken!

I don't know anything about phosphate coating.... What color(s) is it? Who is it commonly done by, platers, machine shops, metal fabricators?

Is my needed quantity of 1000 really to low to justify the fixed (setup/tear-down) costs at the price I need? Roughly what would those costs be do you think? Maybe I can up the quantity and put some on the shelf.

Also, I've heard of pickling, what is that and why would you do it before tumbling? Won't the tumbling take just about any surface finish off?

Thanks again,

John

Originally Posted by SMW Precision I would use mild steel easily cut with a cold saw, pickle, tumble and phosphate coat. Problem is to many steps for your price range with a small number. As you noticed stainless is out with just material cost. While a simple piece to make labor kills with a small job. Setup and cleanup are the same to do a 100 or 10,000 of this type of part.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by John3 ...It must allow a magnet to stick to it, but it does not / should not be magnatized....John

Have you done any research to find what material meets this requirement? Mild steels are totally ruled out by this simply because they can be magnetized. Many stainless steels are ruled out because a magnet will not stick. A magnet will stick to some stainless steels but the attraction differs between them and it is likely they also can be magnetized.

[carbidecraters]

Sounds like a part you have lasered out of stainless steel. Your pricing seem slike it owuld be for thousands of parts

[Kevin Taylor]

Might find a drop from some ones punch press and vib finish it to death to debur then plate black ox or phost. Ect. Alum would vib up nice Good luck Kevin

[SMW Precision]

Originally Posted by John3 Thanks for the reply Ken! I don't know anything about phosphate coating.... What color(s) is it? Who is it commonly done by, platers, machine shops, metal fabricators? Is my needed quantity of 1000 really to low to justify the fixed (setup/tear-down) costs at the price I need? Roughly what would those costs be do you think? Maybe I can up the quantity and put some on the shelf. Also, I've heard of pickling, what is that and why would you do it before tumbling? Won't the tumbling take just about any surface finish off? Thanks again, John

Phosphate is a Blue color or a Black oxide coating can be applied which has better rust prevention properties. Mild steel is commonly hot rolled and steel must be striped of surface coating before tumbling. Tumbling removes sharp edges and burrs but does not totally remove this coating from flat smooth areas. Steel must be clean for a finish coating to work correctly.
Lack of a hole in your part limits what type of finish can be applied. As part can not be hung. All the shops you mentioned may or may not do these types of coatings though they are common through out industry.