Insul-Fab Services
Insul-Fab offers an unprecedented variety of services and processing options for a job shop manufacturer. We are constantly looking for ways to expand our ability to convert materials and meet our customers needs. Be sure to ask if there is something you need that you don't see listed below.
Die Cutting
Steel rule dies and engraved rotary dies built to standards meeting part requirements can be run on multiple presses at our various facilities to produce parts from foam, plastics, fiberglass, papers, rubber, foils, and adhesives. Die cutting can produce a large volume of parts with precise features very efficiently. We utilize Preco, Samco, Atom, Bruno, and Pace cutting presses.
Laser Cutting
Great for cutting prototypes, small production runs, and materials that do not die cut well. DXF drawing files can be loaded quickly for cutting any configuration without the need for tooling. Best for thin to medium gage plastics used as electrical insulators, baffles, labels, etc.
Water Jet Cutting
High pressure water stream approximately .020" thick controlled by CNC interface, cuts any 2 dimensional configuration without tooling. We have multiple water jets at our plants with different capabilities for cutting foam, fiberglass, rubber, and plastics. Parts can be up to 60" x 120" or smaller parts nested for maximum yield in the same cutting space.
Vacuum Thermoforming
Commonly used to form thermoplastics and polyolefin foams into shapes prior to trimming to size. Heated sheets of material move from an oven to a mold to be vacuum formed into shape and cooled to a custom shape.
CNC Routing/Machining
Insul-Fab offers CNC cutting of plastics, glass/epoxy laminates and other materials using high speed multi-axis routing equipment. We have table routers for flat 2D shapes, and a new state-of-the-art 5 axis router that will cut 3 dimensional parts with speed and accuracy.
Radio Frequency (RF) Sealing
Fast and effective equipment for sealing layers of thermoplastic materials together for sound blankets, cushions, covers, and other filled enclosures. Commonly performed on vinyl, but designs may incorporate Velcro, or any other substrate that can be heated through radio frequency. We utilize Cosmos Kabar sealing presses in a variety of formats depending on the application and volume.
Laminating
Bonding of 2 or more layers of materials together in a wide web format using adhesives, both pressure sensitive and liquid emulsion. We commonly bond foam to adhesives to make foam tapes and gasketing as well as bond FSK facings to fiberglass for a durable and reflective surface on the insulation. Laminating is normally a preliminary operation before performing a cutting process to make parts or slit rolls, however, we do also provide laminating services where full web width rolls are the final product.
Adhesive Coating
In addition to using many excellent adhesives supplied by companies such as 3M or Adchem, we also custom coat our own line of general purpose pressure sensitive adhesives. Products coated are both acrylic and rubber based aqueous emulsion type and environmentally friendly. Free film or double coated products are possible with a combination of thicknesses, liners, carriers, and widths.
Roll Slitting
Also known as slit rewinding and lever slitting, processes common to converting of pressure sensitive adhesives, foam tapes, and other wide web materials. High speed equipment converts large rolls of materials into shorter lengths and/or width specified rolls for end use.
Spooling
Insul-Fab has the capability of converting foam tapes and other web based materials into slit widths but with very long put-ups called spools. Best for applications requiring a very large volume of material with easy handling at the point of application.
Finishing
As a final step to many parts, we provide finishing services per our custoMer requirements. Finishing of plastics may involve printing through the use of foil stamp, rubber stamp, silk screen, or pad printing processes to add graphics, part marking, or other information. Finishing of metal parts normally involves painting or a plating process.
Tooling
Regardless of the forming or cutting process, Insul-Fab will design, produce, and maintain tooling for customer parts using well qualified outside sources as well as in-house tool making for special applications.
Distribution
Insul-Fab offers the infrastructure and capability to distribute products to points around the globe. We are an authorized distributor for several product lines we carry. In addition, customers with needs for us to distribute the products we make to their end users, can rely on accurate documentation and timely responsiveness to shipping requirements.
Assembly/Kitting
Beyond the cutting and other fabrication, is often the need for some final assembly or kitting process. We can incorporate the products we make into customer supplied components and ship as an assembly. Also, customer needs may be best served by combining various quantities of multiple components into a kit for easier use at their production lines.
Engineering/Design
Most of the applications we work on require some sort of custom design or specification to define the product. Our Sales Team offers support in this area to ensure a specification suits the needs of the customer, without limiting its manufacturability or availability of materials. We believe that participation at the design engineering level helps a part be less expensive and more reliable. Particular aspects we can assist with are: material selection, size and location of features, and tolerances.
