In order to give your profile its best chance for success, designing the profile to have a consistent wall thickness throughout is important.
No. There are materials that aren’t alike that are compatible with each other, such as PVCs with polyurethane. We would be able to help you with those types of decisions. In some cases, a tie-layer can be extruded between two dissimilar materials in order to create a bond.
Two of the most common coextrusion combinations are rigid PVC with flexible PVC and thermoplastic rubbers with polypropylene.
We have a continuous process which allows us to make any length as long as it can be handled and shipped.
It depends on the chosen length of the finished product, as well as, the material and size of the part. These factors will determine what type of cutter can be used. We use the latest cutting equipment to hold tight tolerances.
We do have some limitations due to machine size and the pounds per hour that they are rated for. We have gone as large as a 11.5-inch diameter tube and a 12-inch wide custom profile. The thickness of the part and the rate of the extrusion line also factor in.
Color does not matter. Typically, we would ask for you to provide a color chip or a pantone color number with which our supplier can make a color concentrate to match.
We can control the finish to a degree with process heating and cooling, in order to provide a glossy or matte finish. Some polymers are more controllable than others. If you are interested in a matte finish, we can also include certain additives to aid in the process.
There are several ways to control the bow, but depending on the plastic and the profile shape, bow can be controlled by additional heating or cooling, fixturing or through the process line speed.
We will work with you and our raw materials supplier to insure you achieve the physical properties you are looking for.
There are two costs associated with custom shapes and profiles. The first is the ram engineering and sample charge. This is a one-time fee used to create everything needed for all future production runs. Second, is the production costs associated with pumping plastic through the die.
The tooling remains the property of Spiratex. However, our customers own the part design and rights to the finished product. The parts we produce remain the exclusive property of our customers and are not resold to other customers without written permission.
The time, cost and effort it takes to produce a production quality part die does not allow us to make a prototype die to test a customer’s part concept.
Within reason, we are happy to produce part samples for testing from the tooling. There is a limit to how many samples we’ll produce as there is a point when a test run becomes a full production run.
Yes, utilizing our many years of extrusion experience, our sales people and engineers can work with you on your part design. However, since we are experts in extrusion not your industry, we do not offer full design services.
As much information as your willing to give regarding the use of the part, the business end of the part, dimensions of the profile as well as length and quantity.
