FandMmag.com |

Named for the four tool slides that perform stamping and forming operations, the fourslide process offers several benefits over the traditional power press when it comes to making parts. Among its advantages: the cost-effective manufacturing of complicated forms, reduced production expenses, speedier product delivery and wide latitude to modify forms without a steep monetary penalty.

Yet, just as you would never show up to a gunfight with a knife, neither can a process like fourslide excel within power press's proven milieu. The following considerations can help any engineer determine when to exercise this additional manufacturing option:

1. Production Budget

When seeking to keep project costs in containment, obtaining parts from a source that employs the fourslide process makes sense. The means by which so much money can be saved is best illustrated from a cursory understanding of the process itself.

Fourslide manufacturing begins with the raw material in flat strip form off a coil, which is stamped or blanked in the progressive die section of the fourslide machine. The strip is then fed into the forming section, where four tool-carrying slides approach the part from the four cardinal compass points, forming the material around a central tool or mandrel. The set-up of the machine cams determines the sequence, timing and number of tool strikes.

Because the four forming tools are simply tool blocks carried by the slides, and forming is accomplished by the ability of the tools to approach from a variety of directions, these tools can be machined for a fraction of the cost of complicated power press dies that must include actuators within the tool itself to perform these forming functions. As a result, tooling for power presses can cost tens of thousands of dollars, while fourslide tooling typically runs just a fraction of that, making the fourslide tool more easily justified.

"Given the current economy, there is a little bit of uncertainty within the manufacturing community," says Anthony Viggiano, co-owner of Autotether, Inc. (Rocky Hill, CT), which makes a unique, multi-functional wireless alarm switch for boating safety applications. "People become reticent about spending a lot of money on a tool because the pay-back could extend to ten years because of slow sales. But with the fourslide process the cost of the tool isn't that great, so your up-front capital investment isn't high. A power press tool could cost $40,000 to $50,000, whereas with fourslide you're talking just $4,000 to $5,000."

Such savings extend to material costs as well. Since the fourslide process typically starts with material the width of the finished part, less material is wasted. "To me, that's what it's all about, getting good parts at the lowest cost," states Don Schmidt, a manufacturing engineer with Lexington, Kentucky-based Kaba Mas, a leading manufacturer and supplier of high-security electronic locking solutions. "We have had situations where we've quoted a metal part with some forms, both from conventional stamping houses and from fourslide houses, and have always done better with fourslide in terms of cost."

2. Complexity of Form

"I always look at the complexity of the part, and for complicated forms and spring-type parts it makes sense to utilize a fourslide operation," remarks Schmidt. Because of its unique integration of compound forming operations, the fourslide process can execute multiple bends, bends beyond 90 deg, twists, cylindrical forms, and tapped holes before the part is ultimately ejected. This capability yields precision metal stampings, flat springs, wire forms, contacts and other complex forms for a wide range of medical, electrical, automotive, aerospace, military, consumer and industrial applications.

"You can't bend a part beyond 90 deg with an up-and-down power press, unless you add something resident within that tool that has actuating mechanisms," explains Jim Richards, director of marketing for Fourslide Spring and Stamping, Inc. (Bristol, CT), an ISO 9001:2000-certified parts manufacturer. "With all the extra cams, lever arms and cylinders, a power press tool can become overly complicated, expensive, and more costly to maintain. On the other hand, the fourslide process can easily perform additional bends with the second, third, fourth or even a fifth, slide, each of which is carrying a tool block."

3. Lead Time

The simplicity in machining fourslide tools, vs. the time-consuming complexity of power press tools, translates into a significant reduction of lead times approaching 50 percent or more. By the same token, the straightforward motion of fourslide tools simplifies laborious after-production adjustment often encountered with power press tools, further speeding the initial delivery of product.