Extruding and Tapping v. Weld
Nuts
In the never ending quest to
reduce manufacturing costs, manufacturers need to weigh function v. cost in
most engineering applications. The use
of an extruded and tapped hole v. weld nuts is one of these decisions. While a weld nut generally will have a
slightly stronger thread than an extruded and tapped hole, is the stronger
thread required in every application?
Are we adding extra cost of a weld nut when a stronger thread is over kill?
The costs associated with an
extruded and tapped hole can be limited when utilizing In-die tapping. The costs associated would be the cost of the
tapping head, an extra station in the die for the tapping head and some
additional die design costs.
The costs for weld nuts include
nut insertion equipment, die space for the nut insertion equipment, additional
die design costs, weld nuts, storage for the weld nuts and nut insertion
equipment when not in use and press downtime when loading a new coil of weld nuts. This generally leads to more press down time
compared to a tapping die. Both In-die
tapping and weld nut insertion can run at comparable press speeds. The end result is parts utilizing In-die
tapping v. weld nuts are far more competitive on a per piece basis.
