Rapid Sheet Metal, Inc., specializing in rapid sheet metal® prototypes, has developed a rapid tooling system for custom sheet metal hinges. The tooling system’s flexibility permits most sheet metal fabrications featuring custom hinges to be prototyped in under two weeks for less than $1,000. "When it comes to rapid manufacturing, every day, every hour and even every minute really counts," says James Jacobs, President of Rapid Sheet Metal Inc. "By eliminating the long lead-times associated with punch press tooling for hinges, mechanical engineers and product developers can test and iterate their designs which incorporate hinges in weeks instead of months."
Traditionally, designers are limited to the hinge tooling that their production sheet metal fabricator has in inventory unless they are willing to pay up to $5,000 and wait 2 or more weeks for tooling to produce their specific hinge design geometry. Rapid Sheet Metal Inc recognized that this compromised the flexibility of its customers when designing sheet metal parts such as enclosures, boxes, doors and covers. After hearing multiple tales of frustration, Rapid Sheet Metal Inc investigated the feasibility of a low cost, fast turn custom hinge tooling system and in quick order, was able to implement it.
Custom hinge tooling can be manufactured for rapid sheet metal® parts made of aluminum, cold rolled steel and stainless steel. In addition, Rapid Sheet Metal Inc offers in-house powder coating of any design, which provides a durable, colored finish and out-sourced plating services.
Rapid Sheet Metal Inc focuses strictly on providing rapid sheet metal® prototypes and time sensitive short run fabrications to new product developers and engineers. Typical quote response time is under 24 hours and most parts are shipped in one to two weeks. A 48-hour fast expedite prototype sheet metal service is also available. Parts such as brackets, racks, housings, and enclosures are fabricated to data from Solidworks, Pro/E, Inventor, KeyCreator/ Cadkey, SpaceClaim and other 3D CAD data sources from stainless steel, cold rolled steel and aluminum.