Capabilities

Cold Forming
Die Castings
Aluminum Die Castings
Zinc Die Castings
Metal Injection Molding
Plastic Injection Molding
Rubber Molding
Metal Stamping
Deep Drawing & Deep Drawn Metal Forming & Eyelets

Four Slide Forming
Sheet Metal Fabrication
Metal Tube Fabrication
Screw Machine Products
Brown & Sharpe Screw Machines
Davenport Multi-spindle Screw Machines
National Acme

New Britain Gridleys
Swiss-type Automatic Screw Machines
Swiss-type CNC Screw Machines
Springs
Coil Springs
Flat Springs
Wire Forming
Flat Stock
Round Stock

There is never a minimum quantity requirement as F.R. Male Associates offers “rapid tool” prototypes accompanied by short run production. From a single piece to a run of millions, our network of facilities is ready to assist your every need.

We welcome your projects. Our partner companies thrive on the most difficult and tight tolerance products. We’re interested in more than just the high volume products — challenge us to solve your most difficult requirements. If you have a requirement, we’ve got a solution. Connecting Manufacturers with Clients for over 35 years!

Cold Forming

Cold forming, or cold heading, uses forces greater than a metal’s elastic limit to form shapes without causing scrap material. Since raw material can be the most expensive aspect of a part, cold forming is often a lower cost alternative to screw machining and other manufacturing methods.

Specialty Bolts
Specialty Nuts
Specialty Screws

Die Castings

Aluminum Die Casting

Typically referred to as “cold chamber” die casting, the molten metal is ladled into the cold chamber for each shot. Aluminum die castings are lightweight, and offer high strength and rigidity for complex shapes and thin walls. These alloys can withstand the highest operating temperatures and possess high thermal and electrical conductivity and good corrosion resistance.

Zinc Die Castings

Due to its good flow characteristics, zinc die castings can be made to close tolerances with thinner walls than aluminum. Zinc die casting is often referred to as the “hot chamber” process as the pressure chamber is connected to the die cavity and is immersed permanently in the molten metal. This process allows for a fast fill, fast cooling and ejection. This translates to a short cycle time, which equals lower unit prices. Die life typically exceeds one million shots. Zinc die castings are often plated to enhance corrosion resistance.

Injection Molding

Plastic Injection Molding

Injection molding makes possible the cheap and durable construction of many consumer and industrial items. Since its invention in 1872, the injection molding process and the plastics industry has become a multi-billion dollar industry, with 32% of all plastics processed by injection molding.

Rubber Molding

24″ x 30″ platen
400 ton capacity
8# shot size

Rubber molding services use a variety of methods and materials to manufacture rubber products such as seals, grips, and caps. Most production methods pour liquid rubber into a heated, cooled, expandable, or two-part mold. Temperature, air, or pressure then forms the material into a finished product. Rubber Molding is designed for producing high quantity production runs.

Metal Stamping

Deep Drawing & Deep Drawn Metal Forming & Eyelets

Materials include stainless steel, cold rolled steel, pre-plated metals, aluminum, brass, copper, monel, gilding, bronze, and kovar. The presses handle thickness 10 tons to 150 tons; blank Capacity – 3.65″ maximum; length: up to 2″; wall thickness: from .005″ to .060″; diameters: from .025″ to .70″ O.D.

Eyelets or deep drawn metal forming is similar to progressive die metal stamping. However, deep drawing is popular because of its quick press cycle times. From a functional standpoint, deep drawn metal forming produces high strength and lightweight parts as well as complexities you cannot achieve with other manufacturing processes.

Four Slide Forming

Four Slide Forming is an advanced metal stamping process. Four slide forming machines integrate stamping and forming operations to produce complex stampings. The four slide process is well suited to smaller parts and offers the following advantages:

High accuracy can held with four slide forming
High repeatability results from four slide forming
Four slide forming produces parts at high speed
Four slide forming reduces tooling costs

Sheet Metal Fabrication

All grades of materials are used, from the traditional steels to aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, and stainless steel. The presses handle metal thickness from .005 to .500 with a bed size up to 84″ x 50″ with a 10″ stroke with electronic servo feeds.

Stampings are generally produced on a single-stage tooling (one hit) or multi-stage tooling (multiple hits in a laid out progression known as a progressive die). Metal is either feed in sheet or coil form through the die. The operations that might be included within the die would be blanking, piercing, forming and/or drawing. Any combination of these would be incorporated into the hard tooling to produce a metal stamping or eyelet.

Screw Machine Products

Brown & Sharpe Screw Machines

Bar Capacity: from 1/8″ (.125) to 2 1/4″ (2.250)
Tolerances: +/- 0.001 on O.D. and I.D. and +/- 0.003 on the length
Materials: all metals and most plastics
Run size: 500 pieces to 20,000

Davenport Multi-spindle Screw Machines

Bar Capacity: up to ¾” Hex, 7/8″ Round, 9/16″ Square and overall length of 3″
Tolerances: +/- 0.001 on O.D. and I.D. and +/- 0.003 on the length
Materials: brass, copper alloy, steel, stainless steel, and aluminum
Run size: 20,000 and up

National Acme

The National Acme Company is the premier manufacturer of the machine with the brand name Acme Gridley. We can supply replacement spare parts, tooling, tooling kits, and attachments for the more than 60,000 machines produced in National Acme’s over one hundred years of manufacturing.

New Britain Gridleys

18 x 1″ – 6 Spindle, 2 x 21/4″ – 6 Spindle also BSA 1″ – 6 Spindle

Swiss-type Automatic Screw Machines

Bar Capacity: from 3/32″ (.093) to (.787) 20 mm
Tolerances: +/- 0.0005 on O.D and I.D. and on overall length +/- 0.003
Materials: all metals and most plastics
Run size: 500 pieces to 20,000

Swiss-type CNC Screw Machines

Bar Capacity: up to 1.125″
Tolerances: +/- 0.0005 on O.D and I.D. and on overall length +/- 0.003
Materials: all metals and most plastics
Run size: 200 to 2 million

Screw Machine Products

Brown & Sharpe Screw Machines

Bar Capacity: from 1/8″ (.125) to 2 1/4″ (2.250)
Tolerances: +/- 0.001 on O.D. and I.D. and +/- 0.003 on the length
Materials: all metals and most plastics
Run size: 500 pieces to 20,000

Davenport Multi-spindle Screw Machines

Bar Capacity: up to ¾” Hex, 7/8″ Round, 9/16″ Square and overall length of 3″
Tolerances: +/- 0.001 on O.D. and I.D. and +/- 0.003 on the length
Materials: brass, copper alloy, steel, stainless steel, and aluminum
Run size: 20,000 and up

National Acme

The National Acme Company is the premier manufacturer of the machine with the brand name Acme Gridley. We can supply replacement spare parts, tooling, tooling kits, and attachments for the more than 60,000 machines produced in National Acme’s over one hundred years of manufacturing.

New Britain Gridleys

18 x 1″ – 6 Spindle, 2 x 21/4″ – 6 Spindle also BSA 1″ – 6 Spindle

Swiss-type Automatic Screw Machines

Bar Capacity: from 3/32″ (.093) to (.787) 20 mm
Tolerances: +/- 0.0005 on O.D and I.D. and on overall length +/- 0.003
Materials: all metals and most plastics
Run size: 500 pieces to 20,000

Swiss-type CNC Screw Machines

Bar Capacity: up to 1.125″
Tolerances: +/- 0.0005 on O.D and I.D. and on overall length +/- 0.003
Materials: all metals and most plastics
Run size: 200 to 2 million

Springs

Coil Springs

Coil springs are made by wrapping wire around a cylinder in a helical pattern. Coil springs are the most standard type and shape of spring.

Flat Springs

Flat springs include a wide range of springs manufactured from flat strip material which, on being deflected by an external load, will store and then release energy.

Wire Forming

Flat Stock

Flat wire can be straightened and cut to finished lengths. Prefinished flat wire without edge conditioning can be straightened and cut to finished lengths also. Thicknesses of this style of flat wire can be up to .187″ thick. A different method of producing roll formed flat wire is by using a prefinished sheet metal material from coil stock that can be folded on itself, two or three times. This forming gives the Flat Wire Substitute: extra strength through work hardening, rounded edges, pre-finishing, and is easier to straighten. This process can be less expensive than regular, post finished wire, especially when other inline press fabricating is called for.

Round Stock

Round wire is straightened and cut to finished lengths or bent into rings. Other fabricating that can be performed are: special end fabricating such as stamping the ends into various shapes and including holes on flattened ends, or stamping the wire in various places along the length. Round wire, in coil form, in sizes up to .312″.