Metal Stamping

The simplest way to describe a multi-slide, 4-slide or four-way is a horizontal stamping press that uses cams to controls tools. The key difference is instead of an “up and down” motion like in a punch press, the multislide machine works on right angles. Its moving slides that have tools attached, which strike the work piece to form it.

These slides are driven by four shafts that outline the machine. The shafts are connected by bevel gears so that one shaft is driven by an electric motor, and then that shaft’s motion drives the other three shafts. Each shaft then has cams which drive the slides. This shafting arrangement allows the part to be worked for four sides, which makes this machine extremely versatile. A hole near the center of the machine is provided to expel the completed work piece.

Examples of multi-slide parts we produce are flat springs, spring clips, brackets, collars, limiters, shunts, shims, connectors, friction plates, retainers, and terminals.

They are basically the same machine. A multi-slide simply has a bigger bed size than a fourslide. CAR Engineering has 12 multi-slides and one four-slide. Shown on this page is a video of the actual Multi-Slide and Four-Slide stamping presses from our factory.

At CAR Engineering we built all of our own progressive die tooling on site in our fully staffed tool room. Our journeyman tool and die makers are the best in the industry. Because the die in a multi-slide works on right angels and can “attack” the work piece from many directions, the die is often more complex than a progressive die built for a punch press.

There are many cost-effective reasons to consider a multislide versus a more traditional production method. Often material usage can be reduced dramatically by manufacturing parts with a multi-slide. With a punch press, material is needed on either side of the strip in order to carry the part through the die.

However with a multislide the material can be purchased slit to width, less material means less cost per work piece. It is especially important to consider a multi-slide stamping when the part is made out of expensive red metals such as copper or brass.

The various motions provided by the die head, such as forming slides, vertical stripper mechanisms, and a range of auxiliary units, afford the DFM engineers at CAR nearly limitless opportunities for tool and die manufacturing of stampings at considerably lower part cost-per-piece by eliminating secondary operations and handling. Because of their versatility, our multislides can be modified for simultaneous feeding and processing of multiple strips to complete an assembly.

In addition, prefabricated parts can be hoppered, positioned, and fed for automated assembly as part the production metal forming process. A fourslide can tap without having to purchase expensive in-die tapping equipment or needing a secondary process.

CAR’s multislide machines can perform assemblies such as riveting studs into a metal stamping, which also lowers costs by removing additional processing.

Again CAR has both punch presses and four slides so our engineers will quote the best production method depending on the nature of your part. Typically a multi-slide tool takes longer to set up than a punch press tool. The multislide tooling is often more complex than punch press making the lead time to design, build, and debug a multi-slide tool a little longer, typically 2-3 weeks of additional development.

We are currently manufacturing parts in this department with the following materials: stainless steel, cold rolled steel, aluminum, copper, brass, beryllium copper, phos bronze, spring steel, and delrin/plastic.

Yes, in order to justify the cost of a progressive die tool, CAR likes to see an estimated annual usage of at least 10,000 parts. Our typical order quantities are 100k up to 20 million pieces per year. CAR is able to produce product samples or prototype parts in our tool room.