Multi-Slide Stamping

Frontier runs two US Baird #28 multi-slides. If your part is made from wire or narrow strip and has bends going in several directions, this is very likely the cheapest way to make it — and it is a machine most stamping shops in this region do not have.

What a multi-slide does differently

A press works in one axis. The ram comes down, the tool does its work, the ram goes up. Every bend that is not in that axis needs either another station in a progressive die or another operation entirely.

A multi-slide works from four directions at once. Tools mounted on slides come in from each side in a timed sequence while the stock is held in the centre. A part that would need six stations and a complicated progressive die can come off a multi-slide in one pass, from a much simpler and much cheaper tool.

The parts it suits

Flat springs, wire forms, clips, retaining parts, stops, fasteners, hangers, latches, braces, clamps, collars and washers. Anything small, made in large numbers, formed from wire or strip, with bends in more than one plane.

It is also usually the answer for parts that would need secondary bending operations after a press. Every operation you remove is a handling step, a fixture, and a chance to introduce variation.

Why the tooling cost matters here

Multi-slide tooling is generally cheaper to build than an equivalent progressive die, which moves the break-even quantity down. Parts that could not justify a progressive die at their annual volume can sometimes justify multi-slide tooling comfortably.

That is worth checking rather than assuming. Send the print and the annual quantity and we will tell you which of the two your part actually wants.