Domestic Fourslide Stamping to Save Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars



In the early 1980s, when Brunton Outdoor was stamping out compass needles on a 50-ton press using a conventional steel punch and die, the tooling was wearing out much too quickly.To get more news about Metal stamping parts, you can visit tenral.com official website.

"The chrome-cobalt steel alloy we are punching was really abrasive and wore out the tooling prematurely," explains Hank Iden, an engineer at Brunton Outdoor, a Riverton, Wyoming-based manufacturer of quality outdoor lifestyle equipment, with a history that dates back to 1894, when D.W. Brunton created the pocket transit, a compact precision compass that freed outdoorsman from the bulky equipment of the time. "We sharpened the tooling as much as we could, but it just didn't last. After 30,000 pieces the tooling was at the end of its life."

As a cost effective alternative that can expedite production, Brunton Outdoor, like a growing number of pro-active manufacturers, turned to an integrated stamping and forming operation called fourslide that is surprisingly efficient for light stamping jobs under one million parts and 25 tons.

"Since choosing the fourslide process for straight stamping in the early 1980s, I estimate that we've saved hundreds of thousands of dollars," says Iden. "Success is all the sweeter when it's all made and assembled right here in the U.S."

The fourslide part-making process was previously used mostly for complex work such as that with involved forming, multiple bends, or elements beyond 90-degrees on parts less than 2" wide and less than 0.075" thick. Now more manufacturers are choosing the process for "straight stamping," to profitably ramp up new part production, slash part tooling and revision cost, and flexibly improve quality and lead-time.

What makes the fourslide part-making process capable of cutting typical tooling costs to as little as $3,000, halving tooling lead times, and eliminating after-production adjustment to meet specifications is its unique integration of stamping and forming operations. The process 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, which is a fully functional but lighter version of the progressive die found in most power presses.Where high-speed power presses can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, fourslide machinery typically costs just a fraction of that, enabling greatly reduced shop rates. Fourslide production at up to 15,000 pieces per hour can be achieved depending on part size and complexity.

Iden relied on Fourslide Spring and Stamping, Inc., a Bristol, Connecticut-based parts supplier specializing in the integrated stamping and forming parts operation called fourslide. The supplier implemented a carbide punch and die so tooling would cut cleanly and last longer.

"With the fourslide carbide tooling, we got hundreds of times longer tooling life than with conventional tooling," says Iden. "The tooling made about one million compass needles for us before we retired that design. Another set of carbide tooling made in the mid-1980s served almost three decades before recently being retired."

Why would Brunton Outdoor choose the fourslide process for straight stamping of parts that extend to a million or more? "The fourslide parts are economical, easy to modify, made in the U.S., turnaround quickly, and meet our required design specs the first time," answers Iden.