64 / 131
Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2008
62
Fasteners
&
springs
Embedded as it is in the broader context of wire-making, spring-making
takes for granted the operator’s command of a staggering number
of basic procedures: feeding, forming, coiling, cooling, air cleaning,
edge conditioning, slitting, winding, straightening, paying off. The list
could go on.
The spring-maker also needs a sure understanding of material properties, and a grasp of
the subtly different behaviours exhibited in the course of a given procedure by, for example,
brass strip, phosphor bronze strip, beryllium copper strip or low-carbon steel strip. Again,
where the list stops is arbitrary.
The spring-maker may not be a graduate in metallurgy, but he is still a metallurgist. He also
has to be a master of finishes: annealed, bright, galvanized, galvannealed, tinned, and so on.
In addition to all of which, parts collection, parts storage and spring quality control are all
essential and challenging to manufacturers who produce springs so tiny that 100,000 will fit
into a square inch, or springs so large they will withstand pressures in the tons.
The vital suppliers to this sector are the companies represented in this section of
Wire & Cable ASIA.
Photo credit: Simplex Rapid Srl