W.S. Associates

United States

WS Associates can offer you both through our partnerships. Our partners have invested in a number of state-of-the-art production tools to improve turnaround time. A laser fabricating cell is also available! Stamping includes a variety of sheet-metal forming manufacturing processes, such as punching using a machine press or stamping press, blanking, embossing, bending, flanging, and coining. This could be a single stage operation where every stroke of the press produce the desired form on the sheet metal part, or could occur through a series of stages. WS Associates metal stamping operations are fully capable and experienced in all forms of stamping including bending, blanking, coining, drawing, embossing, forming and piercing.

The facilities use volume production procedures such as citric passivation, electropolishing and abrasive flow, to ensure high purity requirements are met. WS Associates meets the exacting standards of the semiconductor industry, both in the US and worldwide. Our manufacturers work with ultra-high purity metals (VimVarVar) used in the semiconductor and medical instrumentation industries and our skills include mechanical sub-assembly as well as precision tig orbital welding. As a leading supplier of ultra-high purity machining, the company offers engineering development capabilities, serving customer needs from prototype to production quantities. In addition, WS Associates partners state-of-the-art manufacturing is capable of meeting your surface finish requirements for 3:1 CrFe Ratios, and other specifications for Ultra High Purity components. Our Partners class 100 Cleanroom final inspection and packaging is constantly monitored using particle counters to assure the highest quality components. WS Associates has offered high-quality machining and turning services to customers since 1970. Our facilities are free of ozone depleting chemicals (ODC). Capable of manufacturing production quantities of complex tight tolerance products, WS Associates strives to incorporate the latest and best in technology while maintaining traditional values to customer service.

AFM is particularly useful for difficult to reach internal passages, bends, cavities, and edges. A one-way or two-way flow of an abrasive media is extruded through a workpiece, smoothing and finishing rough surfaces. The Abrasive Flow Machining process uses a specially formulated, abrasive laden polymer, hydraulically forced over, or through areas that requires finishing. The unique properties of the polymer (called Media) permit it to flow through passages conforming to the shape that requires finishing. Of particular advantage are the directional finishes produced, which optimize the flow coefficient of certain workpieces, and the perfectly-formed, tangentially-blended radii formed on edges, which improves high and low-cycle fatigue strength of certain workpieces.

Screw machines are automated lathes which can quickly mass-produce turned parts. A screw machine uses cutting methods similar to that of a lathe but is highly automated. Screw machines are typically used for high volume, turned parts. Feed stock for a screw machine is a long cylindrical rod of material. The screw machine automatically turns and faces the part, parts it off, and advances the rod for the next part. WS Associates produces a wide range of high volume components and parts for varied manufacturing applications. From simple shafts and spacers to threaded couplings, connectors and fittings, we supply individual components and finished parts.

The wire, which is constantly fed from a spool, is held between upper and lower guides. The guides move in the X-Y plane, and sometimes the upper guide can also move independently giving rise to transitioning shapes (circle on the bottom square at the top). This gives the Wire EDM the ability to be programmed to cut very intricate and delicate shapes. The wire-cut uses water as its dielectric with the waters resistivity and other electrical properties carefully controlled by filters and de-ionizer units.

A wide variety of fabrication capabilities are available staffed with a highly skilled workforce operating the most technologically advanced equipment the industry has to offer. Manufacturing Services include: ShearingLaserAutomated PunchingPress BrakeRobotic BrakeHardwareWeldingSpot WeldingDeburringGrindingMetal FinishingAssembly in Electrostatic Discharge room

The welding arc is automatically rotated 360 around the workpiece usually an object such as a tube to create a high quality continuous weld. Automated computer controlled orbital welding processes run completely independently without intervention from the operator. During welding, the weld parameters are continuously adjusted for each weld quadrant in order to have complete control over the weld pool, and therefore a perfect balance is maintained between gravitational force and surface tension at every position of the torch. The main components of every orbital welding system are the power source and controller, the welding head and a wire feed mechanism. WS Associates manufacturers are able to control all important parameters such as arc length, magnitude and pulse frequency of the welding current, welding speed, inert shielding gas, parent material, filler material, weld preparation, and thermal conductivity. As a result a high quality weld is achieved throughout the entire workpiece.

Electropolishing is a featured process at WS Associates manufacturing facilities. Electropolishing has many applications within the metals finishing industry; WS Associates is particularly skilled in high purity components, including stainless steel gas fittings and custom products and Assemblies for the Semiconductor, Biotech, Medical, Pharmaceutical, Industrial, and Aerospace Industries. Electropolishing, also known as electrochemical polishing or electrolytic polishing, is an electrochemical process that removes material from a metallic workpiece. It is used to polish, passivate and deburr metal parts. The parts immersed in a temperature controlled bath of concentrated acid or perchlorate electrolyte and connected to the positive terminal (anode) of a DC power supply, the negative terminal being attached to the cathode. A current passes from the anode, where metal on the surface is oxidized and dissolved in the electrolyte. Electropolishing works by causing microscopic raised points of the component finish to be dissolved much more quickly than recessed areas, due to stronger electric fields and faster replenishment of the electrolytes at the peaks of the surface.

Milling machines are often classed as either horizontal and vertical, referring to the orientation of the main spindle. Unlike a drill press, which holds the workpiece stationary as the drill moves axially to penetrate the material, milling machines also move the workpiece radially against the rotating milling cutter, which cuts on its sides as well as its tip. Workpiece and cutter movement are precisely controlled to less than 0.001 inch Milling machines can perform a vast number of operations, from simple (e.g., slot and keyway cutting, planing, drilling) to complex (e.g., contouring). The choice between vertical and horizontal spindle orientation in milling machine design usually hinges on the shape and size of a workpiece and the number of sides of the workpiece that require machining. Work in which the spindles axial movement is normal to one plane, with an endmill as the cutter, lends itself to a vertical mill. Work needing machining on multiple sides lends itself to a horizontal machining center.

Guaranteeing the correct surface finish and final dimensions as well as faster throughput to get your job done. WS Associates CNC turning capability can complete your products from start to finish. Our turning facilities have the capability to turn and mill all in the same set up. This technology allows us to give our customers the most accurate machined parts, with minimal set-ups involved, producing cost savings. CNC Turning is the process whereby a single point cutting tool is parallel to the surface. WS Associates manufacturers use CNC Turning machines. When turning, a piece of material (metal or plastic) is rotated and a cutting tool is traversed along 2 axes of motion to produce precise diameters and depths. Turning can be either on the outside of the cylinder or on the inside (also known as boring) to produce tubular components to various geometries. Typically four different types CNC turning process are used these are: straight turningtaper turningprofilingexternal grooving Those types of turning processes can produce various shapes of materials such as straight, conical, curved, or grooved workpiece.