Symmco Incorporated • 40 South Park Street • Sykesville, PA 15865 • 814-894-2461
If you're thinking about converting to powder metal, know that the decision won't be one you make alone. Our Engineering Department will ensure that powder metal is the right fit for your company before conversion and how the powder metal conversion can save you time and money.
A jointly-approved production plan will be developed and implemented to meet your exacting requirements on schedule.
Case Study #1 – Helical Gear
Prior to working with Symmco, the customer paid a premium price for machining solid blanks into helical gears, and each part alone yielded over 50% scrap (350 grams).
Through a powder metal conversion that produced this gear at near net shape, Symmco eliminated costly scrap and machining expenses and helped to reduce lead times and shipping costs (since the customer no longer had to pay to ship material that would be wasted).
Case Study #2 – Helical Gear
Making minimal modifications to the design of the gear set above (which began as very expensive off-the-shelf pieces requiring full machining), Symmco was able to develop a powder metal gear pair molded exactly for its intended use.
A conversion review starts with the part as it is made today, whether that is machined from bar, cast or stamped, and checks it against what Symmco's presses can form. The press fleet runs from 5 to 750 tons, and the Dorst presses in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, along with the Osterwalder presses in Pennsylvania, produce parts with up to 7 levels, which is what allows a gear, a flange or a stepped bracket to come off the press near net shape rather than being machined into that form afterwards. The envelope runs from parts as small as 0.050" in outside diameter and overall length up to 6.00" wide, 12.00" long and 1.00" thick, and weight is not a constraint on its own, since it follows from the density and the size.
The second question is material. Symmco presses bronze, iron-copper, iron, steel, stainless steel and soft magnetic composites, and runs the majority of MPIF Standard 35 materials, so the engineers match the strength, wear and magnetic requirements of the existing part to a powder-metal grade rather than the other way around. Parts that need higher sintering temperatures than Symmco's furnaces run are identified at this stage, when alternatives are discussed with the customer, so nothing is quoted that the plant cannot sinter.
Tooling comes next. Where the customer already owns tooling, it can be transferred to Symmco for quicker production, and where the part matches one of Symmco's standard sizes there is no tooling charge at all. Once the review is complete, bearing quotes turn around in one day and structural quotes in less than one week. The Tool Transfer page covers what a transfer involves, and the Tooling and Terms page sets out ownership, maintenance and lead times in full.
| What the review checks | Symmco's envelope |
|---|---|
| Press tonnage | Press sizes ranging from 5 to 750 tons |
| Part complexity | Up to 7 levels on Dorst presses in Pennsylvania and Tennessee; Osterwalder presses in Pennsylvania also run 7 levels using mechanical and hydraulic technologies |
| Smallest part | 0.050" outside diameter and 0.050" overall length |
| Largest part | 6.00" wide, 12.00" long and 1.00" thick |
| Part weight | Not a constraint; it follows from density and size |
| Materials | Bronze, iron-copper, iron, steel, stainless steel and soft magnetic composites; the majority of MPIF Standard 35 materials |
| Sintering temperature | Parts that need higher sintering temperatures than Symmco's furnaces run are identified at quoting, when alternatives are discussed |
| Dimensional control | Sizing tolerances as tight as 0.001" |
| Existing tooling | Tooling a customer already owns can be transferred to Symmco for quicker production |
| Standard sizes | No tooling charge on any standard tooling product |
| Quote turnaround | One day on bearing quotes and less than one week on structural quotes |
When a converted part needs custom tooling, the customer owns that tooling, and once the original set of tools has been purchased Symmco maintains all of it and replaces any broken tools at Symmco's expense, so the customer buys the tooling once and does not pay again for maintenance or for replacing broken tools.
Tooling typically takes 3 to 5 weeks to be delivered, and a brand-new part takes six to ten weeks to manufacture once the tooling is received. There is no minimum part quantity on custom work; the only floor is a $1,000 minimum manufacturing cost on non-stock products.
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