The problem
A decorative lighting manufacturer was having ¾ closed hollow balls with 8-1/4” diameter spun out of aluminum, but were having multiple problems.
Besides being costly, the dimensional accuracy was poor. The surface was also rife with spinning marks which had to be buffed out (at further added cost) in order to be concealable by subsequent powder coating. And so they approached Tripar to see if these could be made by using the deep drawing process.
deep drawn hollow lighting balls
The solution
The customer was able to capitalize on existing tooling and employ Tripar’s manufacturing processes, which were to first deep draw 20 GA (0.036”) flat steel pieces into hemispheres, followed by a secondary proprietary process to close the open end, forming a perfectly consistent and finely finished ¾ closed hollow sphere.
The customer then placed these on a 5-axis CNC laser to cut almost random holes in the sides, followed by an automotive quality paint finish to produce unique light fixtures.
The results
- The client got superior parts at reduced cost, without tooling charge.
- Multiple customers have ordered over 45,000 ¾ closed hollow spheres in 7 different sizes.
- All sizes use existing Tripar tooling: 3″, 3 5/8″, 4″, 5″, 6″, 7 1/2″ and 8 1/4″.
