Is the winter of Wire and Mesh industry coming for China?

Even though the 12th Five-Year Plan put emphasis on the development of energy conservation, new energy and other industries, the upstream spare parts manufacture of these industries are optimistic. Companies expect state more support. At the same time, benefit that other types of parts manufacturers could obtain from the plan remains to be seen.

Although the wire machine machinery manufacturing enterprises in China in recent years are rapid developed due to the growing market demand, the profit is limited in the whole industry chain. 

According to industry sources, China's CNC wire machine enterprises take the production mode of purchasing spare parts from foreign manufacturers and for assembly, thus the sales price of complete machine is very low in domestic market, and therefore lead to the profits of Chinese enterprises much lower than foreign competitors. This situation tells us that we must strengthen the upstream industry of wire mesh machine manufacturing, among which the basic spar parts industry should be focused attention. 

As for research and development ability, recently companies mainly depend on their own investment in R & D, getting little support from the state. Many wire mesh machine companied are still waiting for a refined policy and specific implementation, they are expecting revive plans to be implemented.

A spare part is usually small, but often requires high technical level; our companies can not produce those components, so we must rely on imports. Some of China's basic components, such as hydraulic fittings, is still depends on the international market, its drawback is already appeared. In the first half of this year, sales of excavator has been in explosive growth, but the supply of spare parts can not keep up with demand, thus leading to a rapid decline in sales in the second half of this year. 

In addition, the current domestic production of bearings and other spare parts on a technical level have little difference with the imported products, but the misunderstanding has become a stumbling block for further development. Part of the wire machine enterprise should be overcome the stereotypes of imported spare parts are much better than domestic made ones.

3 Practical Tips for Quickly Making Wire Meshes

In the previous time, people produce wire products by hand, which costs plenty of time and energy, then the wire mesh machine appeared and it automates many of these wire making processes, taking some of the burden off human workers and improving the production efficiency. And the wire machine not only solves this problem, but also meets people’s demand for different kinds of wires.

The automation of wire mesh production line increases the productivity of wire machine to a great extent compares with traditional hand made method, but is there still some way to improve the working efficiency of this equipment? Maybe you can make some improvements from the following aspects.

1. Wire tension. High wire tension is necessary to maximize accuracy, and it will also reduce corner error, belly, vibrations and deflections of the wire induced by flushing forces. Actually, a higher tensile wire will better resist breaking in high performance cutting than a “softer wire”, but it is not absolutely true. You should find the proper limitation. It is experimented that A .010” wire with a tensile strength of 900N/mm2 will reach the best effect.

2. Wire diameter. A larger diameter wire, along with its associated higher current levels, will typically leave more corner error than a smaller diameter wire; and results in more cutting debris, a combination of work piece and wire material; it normally also result in reduced power feed contact life. So you know that the wires diameter is not as larger as better, you should also seek an appropriate degree.

3. Cutting rate. To achieve reliable working effect and shorten cutting time, you should pay attention to the running speed. It is common to see a wire machine operator “fiddling” with the cutting parameters to get the last bit of speed out of the process, only to have the wire break ten minutes after he leaves for the night, thereby losing a whole night’s burn. But this will not frequently happen and as long as it’s done when the 1st shift arrives, you need not to worry about the job schedule. But if the wire breaks and the job doesn’t finish, not only are the nighttime hours wasted but the subsequent daytime schedule is blown also.

Apart from the above mentioned factors, you should also take care of the crimped wire mesh product line and regularly does some maintenance work, so as to keep the machine at best working state that is also important to help you quickly produce wire products.

4 Efficient Methods to Improve Wire Machine Productivity

Wire machines can work automatically to produce wires, which takes some of the burden off human workers and saves much time. But most users still care about how to improve the productivity of the wire mesh machine to maximize their profits. Here we offer you the following tips.

Method 1: Always run the maximum wire tension

High wire tension is necessary to maximize accuracy. In single pass cuts, high wire tension will reduce corner error, belly, vibrations and deflections of the wire induced by flushing forces, especially in tall work pieces. In skim cuts, high wire tension assures maximum precision. However, not all jobs are +/- .0002” tolerance. For the numerous jobs with more relaxed tolerances, such as +/- .001” or larger, a lower level of wire tension will allow the machine to cut faster.

Method 2: High tensile wires are required for fast cutting

Many people think that a higher tensile wire will better resist breaking in high performance cutting than a “softer wire”. In many instances, this is simply not true, and in fact, quite the opposite. How much tensile strength do we really need? A .010” wire with a tensile strength of 900N/mm2 will support a static tensile load of 4,500 grams!

The most significant factor in wire breakage is not the tensile load on the wire, but the flaws created by the sparks which attack the wire’s cross-section. Extensive wire testing has demonstrated that half hard wires will cut significantly faster than full hard wires of the same type.

Method 3: A larger wire always gives more economical performance

Many users today are running .012” wire in their machines to increase cutting speed. Some machines even utilize .013”, .014”, and even .015” wires to obtain record breaking performance. However, in many cases, .012” wire is not necessarily the best choice. Because a larger diameter wire, along with its associated higher current levels, will typically leave more corner error than a smaller diameter wire; and results in more cutting debris, a combination of work piece and wire material; it normally also result in reduced power feed contact life.

Method 4: The fastest cutting rate means the shortest cutting time

It is common to see a wire machine operator “fiddling” with the cutting parameters to get the last bit of speed out of the process, only to have the wire break ten minutes after he leaves for the night, thereby losing a whole night’s burn. But most night burns don’t burn all night, so what difference does it make whether the cut finishes at 2:00 AM or 6:00 AM, as long as it’s done when the 1st shift arrives. However, if the wire breaks and the job doesn’t finish, not only are the nighttime hours wasted but the subsequent daytime schedule is blown also. Reliable unattended burning is always more productive than unreliable attended fast burning!

Several Secrets of the Wire Machine Product

Now days, wire products like welding electrode, weld mesh, heat treated kitchen baskets, automobile spark plugs and exhaust valves etc. For manufacturing all above products, wire is used as primary element and is to be processed to different sizes, shapes and lengths. For these sequential operations, wire machine is used.

Wire mesh machine automates many of these wire making processes, taking some of the burden off human workers. The device can be automatic or semi-automatic type which provides precise wire and cable cutting. The machine has benefited a lot from some substantial technological advancement recently, and they can be a boon to anyone who does this kind of work.

The primary function of any wire processing machine is cutting cable. When you have thousands of cables to cut to specific lengths, a programmable cable cutter is a godsend. Just program in the number and length of cables you want cut, insert the free end of the spool or feed box into the machine, and watch it go to work. This equipment works by feeding the wire in on a reel, marking the wire with inkjet or hot stamp printing mechanism then cuts and coils the finished product on another reel or stacks it in a guide channel. For cutting insulated cable, it also often includes a slitting or stripping machine which slits open the cable insulation without damaging the cable's shielding.

In addition to cutting, wire processing machines are also capable of straightening, stripping, crimping, terminating and labeling cable and connectors of all types. Straightening is the apparent elimination and removal of stresses induced into the material to be straightened during its manufacture due to force and torque related influences. This applies to wire straightening, tube straightening, cable straightening, strip and profile shape straightening.

The roll straightened, consists of a series of rolls that are offset and which bend the wire beyond the elastic limit a number of time in two or more planes as the wire runs through. The rolls are adjustable and the straightness obtained depends upon the skill of the operator making the adjustment. This method is generally restricted to shaped wires such as hexagons, squares and flats except for minor straightening of round wire for removing coil bow before further forming.

Any electrical professional knows just how much of a pain these jobs are. Time consuming and often repetitive, these tasks have been ripe for automation for years, and modern wire machines have stepped in to fill the role.

How Does a Straight-Line Wire Machine Work?

Straight-line wire machine is widely used to extend wires from a roll or coil in order to straight and to cut. The machine is offered with extensive features requiring diverse applications. Some machines are configured for straightening and cutting all kinds of cold drawing wires and other nonferrous metal wires. They may cut the wire as per requirements in the required dimension and thereafter, work continuously.

These wire mesh machines are complied with three different processes such as feeding, straightening and cutting off. These machines are available with various features such as different diameter size wires for straightening, different cutting lengths and standard multi-power motor for both straightening and cutting of wires.

The machine has basic parts like paying off, feeding, straightening and cutting head with cutting off unit.

In paying off unit, the wire may be paid off from a process such as a draw block or by more usual method employing a reel. Reel may be vertical or horizontal spindle. The vertical spindle should be used for wires up to approximately 2 mm to 4 mm in round.

In feeding unit, feeding of the wire is usually done by grooved feeding rolls or “pinch rolls”. This mechanism is power driven and pinches or squeezes the material so that the wire is either pulled and/or pushed through the machine. The feeding pressure to the rolls can be applied by hand through cams or spring.

The roll straightened, consists of a series of rolls that are offset and which bend the wire beyond the elastic limit a number of time in two or more planes as the wire runs through. The rolls are adjustable and the straightness obtained depends upon the skill of the operator making the adjustment. This method is generally restricted to shaped wires such as hexagons, squares and flats except for minor straightening of round wire for removing coil bow before further forming.

“Cutting off” or shearing process is followed by the straightening process. There are two general classifications of cut off mechanisms; one being the stationary shear where in the wire is actually stopped during the cutting cycle, and the other the “travel-cut” or flying shear in which the shearing mechanism moves along with the wire during the cutting cycle. The flying shear cut off is superior to the stationary shear type; for many applications using soft wire or small diameters. However, the stationary shear will give satisfactory results. When running hard wire or alloy through a high speed rotary arbor, flying shear is necessary, since if the wire were stopped for cutoff in the arbor, it may become overworked and overheated and break could result.