can you lance 12 ga sheet metal?

[sadrok]

This is more of a design question than a "Pro" question. We want to lance 12 ga sheet metal to slide wire ties through rather than install screw-in wire tie brackets. Is it possible to lance something that thick, or is it based on the capibility of the shop that will do the lancing?

 

[roninB4]

I'm not sure what you mean by "lance" but any thickness of sheet metal can be pierced. The size and shape of the opening are what determines how easily this is accomplished. The shop performing this work may/may not have the equipment to do what you're asking and canadvise you what they can do. If it's just a roundhole then there's many options to getting it done. If it's a slot then that changes things.How is the proposed shop going to do thisin thepress as part of a stamping die? More info needed.

 

[tomlewis]

My Amada turrets have lance tools for 12 gage both SS and
CRS. It is possible but it is a function of height of form,
thickness of material, material type and how much you need
to stretch the material to acquire the desired shape. Like
roninB4 stated, "More info neded."

 

[sadrok]

I'm not sure what the requirements are yet, that's why I was vague on the details. Right now we use screw in tie wrap holders. To save cost, the manufacturing facility wanted to know if they lanced the steel to make a "loop" that the tie wraps could slide through instead. As far as the size of the lance and material stretch... I don't have that yet. I just thought I'd throw it out there because of the large thinkness of the material. I didn't want to say "OK" when it wouldn't have been within reason.

 

[roninB4]

OK the shops I've worked in always called that a "bridge", so it's just a matter of semantics that caused my lack of understanding to your original question. Sure you can "lance" the material but there will be parameters that will define a minimum size for this so you'll have to determine if this meets your goal. If this is to retro into an already exiting stamping die then it's likely just a matter of some wire work to insert a die section, punch holder, and stripper plate insert. If it's stand alone tooling then you'll have to work with what your shop advises for equipment capabilities. If it's just for a wire tie you could use a loop/tabbed washer (for the wire tie) attached to the machine with pop rivets or something along those lines. Just a suggestion.

 

[r.decker]

In various jobs I have worked with a few tooling manufacturers. What you want should not be an issue. Just contact the tooling vendor for the critical dimensions of the form, and you will need to specify material type, thickness, machine specs, etc. If your sheet metal parts come from an outside vendor just specifythe form dimensions and the shop should take care of the tooling.