What’s the best way to organize a factory floor? Work centers are designated areas of a production facility where specific activities are performed. Each area is equipped with the tooling, machinery, and staffing that’s necessary to complete tasks efficiently, accurately, and cost-effectively.
For rubber manufacturers, examples of work centers include extruding and hydraulic pressing. Custom fabrication isn’t the same as rubber manufacturing, but Elasto Proxy also operates work centers that meet part tolerances – allowable variations in part dimensions.
Work Centers and Custom Fabrication
Here at Elasto Proxy’s headquarters in Boisbriand, Quebec, Canada, our skilled production personnel use state-of-the-art equipment in ten work centers.
- Cold bonding
- Film Splicing
- Molding
- Vulcanization
- Cut Lengths
- Waterjet cutting
- Taping
- Insulation
- Laminating
- Painting (i.e., waterproof coating)
This YouTube video briefly describes our custom fabrication capabilities.
Custom Fabrication and Rubber Part Tolerance Tables
As a recent blog entry called Part Tolerances for Rubber Seals and Insulation explained, manufactured and custom-fabricated rubber parts must meet required tolerances in order to ensure proper sealing. The Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) publishes a handbook with tolerance tables, and this reference provides a “common language” that the entire supply chain – including technical buyers – can understand.
In this blog entry, we’ll examine RMA part tolerances for spliced lengths and cut lengths, and connect these two RMA tables to several Elasto Proxy work centers. Hopefully, this exercise will provide you with an even better understanding of how part tolerances apply to your sealing and insulation solutions.
Spliced Length Tolerance Tables
Elasto Proxy offers four splicing solutions: cold bonding, film splicing, molding, and vulcanization. Each technique corresponds to a work center. The RMA Tolerance Table that appears below lists tolerances for spliced lengths of extruded rubber profiles by part dimensions and class, a measure of precision.
Depending upon your application requirements, our solutions providers may refer to this information and then share it with you during discussions about splicing.
Note: Tolerances may vary depending on the compound selected or the shape used.
RMA Class | 1 Precision | 2 Commercial | 3 Non-Critical | |
Drawing Designation | S1 | S2 | S3 | |
Millimeters | ||||
Above | Up to | |||
0 | 250 | ±3.2 | ±6.3 | ±7.1 |
250 | 400 | 4.0 | 7.1 | 8.0 |
400 | 630 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 |
630 | 1000 | 6.3 | 9.0 | 10.0 |
1000 | 1600 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 11.2 |
1600 | 2500 | 10.0 | 11.2 | 12.3 |
2500 | over | 12.5 | 12.5 | 16.0 |
Inches | ||||
Above | Up to | |||
0 | 10 | ±.13 | ±.25 | ±.28 |
10 | 16 | .16 | .28 | .32 |
16 | 25 | .20 | .32 | .36 |
25 | 40 | .25 | .36 | .40 |
40 | 63 | .32 | .40 | .45 |
63 | 100 | .40 | .45 | .50 |
100 | over | .50 | .50 | .53 |
Cut Length Tolerance Tables for Unspliced Extrusions
Elasto Proxy stocks over 700 standard profiles that our Boisbriand facility can custom-fabricate into specialty sealing solutions. As you may recall, Elasto Proxy has a Cut Lengths work center. Our custom fabrication facility also has a water jet cutting machine that provides tight tolerances and makes fine, fast cuts without tooling costs.
Depending on your application requirements, our solutions providers may refer to this RMA Tolerance Table about cut length tolerances for unspliced extrusions, and discuss the data with you.
Note: Tolerances may vary depending on the compound selected or the shape used.
RMA Class | 1 Precision | 2 Commercial | 3 Non-Critical | |
Drawing Designation | L1 | L2 | L3 | |
Length (in Millimeters) | ||||
Above | Up to | |||
0 | 40 | ±0.7 | ±1.0 | ±1.6 |
40 | 63 | 0.08 | 1.3 | 2.0 |
63 | 100 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.5 |
100 | 160 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.2 |
160 | 250 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 4.0 |
250 | 400 | 2.0 | 3.2 | 5.0 |
400 | 630 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 6.3 |
630 | 1000 | 3.2 | 5.0 | 10.0 |
1000 | 1600 | 4.0 | 6.3 | 12.5 |
1600 | 2500 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 16.0 |
2500 | 4000 | 6.3 | 12.5 | 20.0 |
4000 | 0.16% | 0.32% | 0.50% | |
Length (in Inches) | ||||
Above | Up to | |||
0 | 1.6 | ±0.03 | ±0.04 | ±0.06 |
1.6 | 2.5 | 0.03 | 0.05 | 0.08 |
2.5 | 4.0 | 0.04 | 0.06 | 0.10 |
4.0 | 6.3 | 0.05 | 0.08 | 0.13 |
6.3 | 10.0 | 0.06 | 0.10 | 0.16 |
10.0 | 16.0 | 0.8 | 0.13 | 0.20 |
16.0 | 25.0 | 0.10 | 0.16 | 0.25 |
25.0 | 40.0 | 0.13 | 0.20 | 0.40 |
40.0 | 63.0 | 0.16 | 0.25 | 0.50 |
63.0 | 100.0 | 0.20 | 0.40 | 0.63 |
100.0 | 160.0 | 0.25 | 0.50 | 0.80 |
160.0 | 0.16% | 0.32% | 0.50% |
How Can We Help You?
Do you have questions about part tolerances and custom fabrication? How can we help you? For over 25 years, Elasto Proxy has been helping partners in a wide range of industries solve sealing and insulation challenges. Please contact us for more information, or join the conversation on our social media channels.
Look for a post with a link to this blog entry on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Elasto Proxy has a YouTube channel, too. There, you’ll find our Capabilities video, as well as other informative content. Finally, please subscribe to our free e-newsletters. They’re a great source of information delivered right to your email inbox, and they provide links to blog entries like this one.