What ETS needs is a SWAP MEET board!

Sue

Well, I've hit a few dead ends. The process we want is called "deep drawing". You take a flat sheet of metal and stamp it into a cup shape. It seems in this undustry, a short run is "less than 60,000 pieces". Some companies have "standard" sizes, which means "we made it for somebody once". They don't stock anything, even for touchy-feely samples. Minimum lot sizes are huge.

Thseng:

Maybe they could be spun?

If you're not already familiar with it, "Spinning", or "Spin Forming" is forming a disk of metal over a mandrel on a lathe. It's difficult to describe, but once you see it, it makes sense.

The actual spinning starts in this Youtube video at about 2:33.

Do a search on "metal spinning". Maybe a spin former would be willing to do smaller quantities.

Bummer.

Thanks for the suggestion. Spinning is a close cousin to deep drawing in the way a flat sheet is shaped into a container.

However, it only works for circular parts, and I think we're looking for rectangular.

Or perhaps I missed something and there's a demand for a circular cup that's not available already?

You're correct, rectangular is what we are looking for.

Thanks... But then re-reading the thread I noticed that there was an interest in a lid for the space-saver cup...

Thanks for trying, Thseng! I was really hoping you could pull this off the ground.



Yes



I've been scouting for one piece (no seams) SS containers or container-like objects, and there's A LOT of cylindrical SS pots in all lengths and diameters available if you look for them. Particular if you think Dremel tools are fun.


Rectangular ones appear to be folded sheets of metal that are welded, stamped or soldered together. Call me paranoid, but I don't really want to heat that seam over a camp fire with my water inside.

Maybe something like the square ones here?
http://www.metalexportsindia.com/storage-containers.html
I don't know of any local sources for them offhand but I remember seeing them in some dollar stores.
The ones I saw were not very heavy gauge and I didn't think too kindly of the plastic lids but they were not really all that bad (I tend to be fussy).

Maybe if you check with a local discount store they could tell you the cost to source them for you.

Wups, yes, I'd overlooked that non-trivial detail.