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Hardware That Can Be Plated

Hardware Lengths

Material Thickness vs Shank Numbers

Special Cases

Powder Coating

Silk Screening

Plating

Prototypes are riveted by punching, laser cutting or drilling a hole in sheet metal, and then using a handheld pneumatic rivet tool to insert and secure the rivet, which fastens prototype sheet metal parts together. Riveting can be used as an alternative to welding and clinching or when very high strength is required. We use different rivet systems such as pneumatic rivet setting tools are used at China Manufacturing Corp. Sheet Metal. Solid rivets, pop rivets and rivnuts are common types of rivets that China Manufacturing Corp. Sheet Metal implements into sheet metal prototype parts. The Cleco system is often used to fixture parts that will be riveted together. Cleco holes can be left or filled dependent upon the end users requirements.

We cater to the electronics, medical, lighting, dental, audio and consumer industries as well as defense contractors that need MIL Spec required welds and others that require custom metal weldments.

We offer the following single component welding methods: seam, stitch, and tack.

Seam Weld

Seam welding is simply a continuous weld along a joint and is typically the strongest welding method because it completely welds a joint. The main advantage of seam welding is the strength and durability of the weld. A common application for seam welding is in the corners of a folded-up sheet metal chassis. Seam welding the corners gives the appearance of a solid box and makes the chassis stronger.Other applications include brackets for load bearing, areas where there can be no gaps for contaminants to enter, and frame components that will be load bearing.

Stitch Weld

Stitch welding is a weld along a joint that is broken up into equal length and equal spaced welds, giving the weld a stitched look. Stitch welding reduces the amount of heat distortion and also is less costly than a full seam weld. Stitch welding is typically used when the strength or look of a seam weld is not needed.

Tack Weld

Tack welding is the use of small strategically placed beads of weld typically used to secure parts in place before final welding. Tack welding allows the parts or assembly to be adjusted and properly fitted for the final weld to take place.Tack weld can be used to weld where a spot welder cannot reach, for example in long chassis or metal boxes.

Working from your supplied 3D CAD data, we use press brakes to form your prototype sheet metal parts to the desired bend. We can form prototypes up to 60″ in length. Our press brake operators average over 20 years experience each, which translates into the forming of “impossibly difficult” sheet metal parts as a standard occurrence. We stock a wide variety of American and European style tooling, enabling the forming of complex features.

Punching requires more setup time than laser cutting, but production per piece is faster. This saves cost on higher-part volumes, but generally is more expensive for low volume runs. Punching also enables the creation of 3D features such as louvers and embossments at the punch press. Perforation patterns are better suited to be produced on a punch press as the holes can be clustered which means it is less likely that the 2D flats will “oil-can” or bend in the flat creation.

Laser cutting generates the first 2D flat of the sheet metal fabrication. Turnaround time for laser cutting is faster than punching, saving you time on shorter runs, and is more precise and consistent cut than mechanical cutting.