First, to punch that array of holes requires special cluster tooling that not only is expensive but takes time to make. More than that, the tooling you make will be limited in its use to a specific material and a narrow range of thicknesses because of clearance requirements between the male and female tool components. If the type and thickness of the material for the part changes, new tooling will be needed.

Second, punching all of those holes with a cluster tool, just as the name implies, permits punching just a small "cluster" of holes with each stroke of the press. The machine time required will make those holes very expensive, indeed.

Third, maintaining accuracy in the placement of the holes and uniformity in their spacing will prove difficult because of the distortion in the work piece that occurs with every press stroke.

Fourth, when the part comes out of the punching process, it will be distorted and need flattening. Without a roller leveler, you will need to send the part out to be put back in shape. This means even more time and money and, at this point, your Quality Control people may be beginning to hyperventilate along with your cost controller.

Better let Hendrick Manufacturing Co. put those holes in for you... or, better yet, make the part completely. Here are some good reasons why.

Hendrick Manufacturing Co.'s entire production process is dedicated to perforating metal and its related operations. We have a highly specialized production resource that requires a heavy capital investment in extremely fast and accurate perforating presses surrounded by state-of-the-art peripheral equipment all controlled by well-trained, experienced people. Our modern, high-speed electronically controlled presses can make holes as fast as 300,000 per minute, all with extreme accuracy. It's no trick for us to produce patterns that include predetermined blank areas and special margins. The tolerances we can hold are extraordinary.

These capabilities permit designers to lay out patterns of perforations that can be perfectly matched to subsequent manufacturing operations such as bending and joining. All of this we can do in nearly every type of material in thicknesses from foil to 1 1/2" plate. Sheet sizes as wide as 60" are readily accommodated and coils up to 20,000 lbs. efficiently perforated and rewound.

Because we are a specialist, we have accumulated extensive banks of tooling capable of perforating round holes, square holes, rectangles, triangles, slots and a wide variety of odd-shaped holes in hundreds of patterns. Hole sizes can be as small as 1/64" to 12". We will even make tooling to your specifications..

We have the necessary follow-up operations, too, of which roller leveling is one, that remove the distortions, burrs and oil that the perforating process leaves behind. And, we can do the secondary operations that will finish your part such as bending, welding, painting and plating.

Compare your costs; these are some you need to consider:

  The cost of tooling
  The time it takes to make tools
  The set-up changes on your turret press
  The production cycle of your pressMachining time
  Roller-leveling, de-burring and degreasing
  Quality considerations

When you consider them all, your decision should be an easy one. You can use Hendrick Manufacturing Co. exactly as you would use any other manufacturing department under your own roof. And we'll produce your work faster, at lower cost and to tolerances and other standards of quality that you'll be surprised to discover go well beyond "acceptable."