Tag Archives: machine tool

Milwaukee Weld Fixture Specialists Travel 200 Miles To Deliver Custom Steel Shim Order.

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The President and Founder of Rentapen Inc., a small machine design and build services company and manufacturer of weld fixture tooling components, drove from Waukesha, WI to Iowa to deliver precision shims to their customer.

On June 6, 2013 Rentapen Inc. received a large purchase order of metal shims to be cut and delivered by June 10, 2013 from a company that they have been doing business with for many years.  The machine tool and engineering design company is using the shims for a weld tooling and machine leveling project.

Laser Cut Steel Shim Sheet.

Laser Cut Steel Shim Sheet.

The order consisted of 96 metal shim packs for a total of 480 total shims. This work order was completed in less than 24 hours by Rentapen’s excellent team including Laser Operators and assembly workers.  Rentapen’s steel shims can be designed and cut into many different shapes and thicknesses.

 

“Our culture state says that we go the extra mile.  Well sometimes we have to go more than a mile to fulfill the needs of our customers,” said President Susan Straley.

Rentapen RAPid Shims™ are often used for adjustability in weld fixtures, and work holding fixtures.  Rentapen Inc. also to cuts Die Sharpening Shims, bridge shims custom shaped shims, stainless steel, steel and Naams shaped shims.  Rentapen Inc. has been in business since 1976 and is known in the industry as “the Shim King”.  Iowa machine tool design company relies on Rentapen Inc. for all their steel shim needs.

Custom Shims

Custom Shims

Rentapen Inc. cuts hundreds of thousands of shims each year and each order is different.  They use their RAPid Order Processing System™ to quote, cut, and ship their shims faster than most companies can even get out a quote.

Rentapen Inc., is the Weld Fixture Specialist and The Shim King, and is home of RAPid Tooling Components. Rentapen Inc, located in Waukesha, WI, has been providing machine tool design services to manufactures since 1976.  Rentapen is a Certified Woman Owned Business and owner of RAPid Tooling Components™. For more information about Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891.  Visit Renatpen’s Order 3D Model page to download your RAPid Tooling Components today!

 

 

Weld Tooling Design Company Introduces New Cost Saving Clamp Risers

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Lean Manufacturers Discover Time and Cost Savings in Their Product-Holding Fixtures With Clamp Risers by Rentapen

In the beginning of April, 2013 Rentapen Inc. launched new website pages for their line of clamp risers and spacers.  The clamp risers are made specifically for different brands of clamps including: Wolverine, Carr Lane, REID, De-Sta-Co, TE-CO, All American, and Jergens.   Each riser or spacer is tapped and drilled for mounting the designated clamp and uses counter bored holes for mounting the riser or spacer to the fixture or jig.

Rentapen’s design team has been designing and building weld fixtures for over 35 years. They realized they were designing the same clamp risers over and over again.  So Rentapen developed what is now called RAPid Risers™,  a line of tooling components that hold all of the finest brands of part holding clamps.  These standardized yet versatile risers save manufacturers time and money when it comes to the design and build process.

Wolverine Clamps3D CAD Models of the risers can be downloaded from Rentapen’s website along with informational PDFs that detail the design of the RAPid Riser™.

 “By focusing our processes and skilled talent on what we do well, we free-up our customers time, energy, and talent to be more powerful and productive with what they do well,” said Susan Straley,  President of Rentapen.  “That gives them peace of mind and contributes to their success.”

If a designer created a clamp riser from scratch, like Rentapen and all other machine tooling design companies used to do, they would have to go through a timely and expensive process that includes: designing the part; detailing; checking; ordering material; writing the CNC code; creating the part and finally inspecting the part.

This entire process takes about 77 minutes. Manufacturers are now able to download the 3D model from Rentapen’s website, save the model to their library, put the riser into their design, and order the block.   Once the model is in the company’s CAD library, the process approximately takes 4 minutes.  Rentapen’s RAPid Riser™ is saving the manufacturers as much as 73 minutes in design and build time.

 “The RAPid Risers™ are just another way for the fixture builder to save time and money on the design and build of weld fixtures or any other type of fixture,” said, Steve Pautz, Product manager at E.L. Simeth Co. a distributor of the clamp risers.  “The Clamp Risers is just one part of this unique design system that really works. E.L. Simeth Company, as the distributor for this line, has customers that use the complete line so we know that it works very well,”

RapidRisersRapid Tooling Components™ reduce the design cost of the fixture by eliminating the need to design, detail and check similar parts over and over again. Three dimensional computer models are provided by Rentapen Inc. that customers can use to incorporate into their designs.  These modular components are the new standard in weld jig and assembly fixture design.

Rentapen Inc., is the weld fixture specialist, and is home of RAPid Tooling Components. Rentapen Inc. has been providing machine tool design services to manufactures since 1976.  A Certified Woman Owned Business and owns RAPid Tooling Components™. For more information about Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891.

3D Models of Tooling Components Assists in Growth of Weld Fixture Design Company As New Part-Holding Tooling Pieces are Added.

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Rentapen Inc., of Waukesha, WI, Continues to Expand the Number of Components and Product Parts Available for 3D-Model Download.

In January and March 2013, Rentapen Inc., a 3D CAD Design Company added several new components to its 3D-Model download web page, www.WeldFixtureComponents.com.

Rentapen Inc., offers a large custom line of RAPid Tooling Components™ that can be downloaded for free to help manufactures save time and money while designing and building their weld and assembly jigs and fixtures.  RAPid Tooling Components™ are a new American standard for the machine design Industry.

An alternative to NAAMS, Rentapen’s components along with the 3D models have changed how Machine Design Engineers and CAD Drafters design their weld fixtures.

 “In 2001 we discovered we, as weld fixture and assembly fixture designers, were designing the same parts over and over again.  So we realized if we standardized on those parts we could save our customers lots of time and costs.  So we created RAPid Tooling Components™,” said George Straley, Founder of Rentapen.

Rentapen Inc., has a total of 9 different types of RAPid Blocks™ that can be ordered to fit different tooling fixture needs.  In the beginning, customers would buy the RAPid Block™ and then if the block needed to be altered, they would place the part in their CNC or take it to another vendor. RAPid Blocks are often altered to add a hole in it to hold a locating pin or a rest pad or to chamfer a corner.   In 2011, Rentapen Inc., began to offer customized alterations to their RAPid Blocks™.

Rentapen Inc., manufactures each block as it is ordered.  This allows them to keep inventory low and provide a valuable service to their customers.  Rentapen Inc., will customize the RAPid Block™ per the customer’s specifications. “Need a chamfer? No Problem.  Need a hole for a locating pin?  No problem,” said Susan Straley, President of Rentapen.

Productuon Part Holding MachineryAll of Rentapen’s RAPid Tooling Components™ are made in the U.S.A. This is in line with Rentapen’s vision as the U.S. Leader in machine design and tooling components.  Rentapen is dedicated to reducing costs for manufacturers. And their free 3D service is greatly help manufacturers on their lean journey.

Rentapen Inc., is the weld fixture specialist, and is home of RAPid Tooling Component™s. Rentapen Inc. has been providing machine tool design services to manufactures since 1976.  A Certified Woman Owned Business and owns RAPid Tooling Components™. For more information Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891 or visit http://www.rentapen.com.

 

Weld Fixture Tooling Company Filled A CAD Drafter Internship

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Rentapen Inc., Located In Waukesha, WI Is Dedicated To Hiring CAD Drafters, Weld Fixture Machinist and Employees of All Ages.

On January 29, 2013 Rentapen Inc. filled a CAD Drafter Internship position with a young and experienced  student from Waukesha County Technical College. He is joining a CAD Drafting team made up of men and women of all ages.  Christopher Doll, has been a part of Rentapen Inc.’s, team since 2005 and is the Engineering Lead Designer and has a Masters of Science in Engineering from University-Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Design Fixtures and Jigs using Pro/E and Solidworks

According to The Social Liberian “There are eight different age generation categories.”  Rentapen Inc. the Weld Fixture Specialist, is currently employing four different age generations.

This local Waukesha, WI, company is employing generations as young as Generation Y (Born: 1977-1994) and as experienced as the Baby Boomer I Generation (Born: 1946-1954).

Rentapen Inc., has been in business since August 20, 1976 and has been able to stay in business through many different generations, but there is one key piece that holds this company together; they are excepting of all ages and are willing to teach their employees.  Have you ever heard the saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” in the case with Rentapen Inc. you can.  Every day the younger and older generations work side by side to reach a common goal; to build, design, and create the best weld fixture components in the manufacturing industry.

“I am in the Baby-Boom Generation and I am learning new things from the other team members all the time,” said Susan Straley, President of Rentapen.  “Just last week our staff was teaching me about our website and social media.”

 

Teach and Guide CAD Drafters and Interns

There are many conflicts in the manufacturing industry when it comes to generation differences.  Like any business today, conflicts can come from recruiting, building teams, the many different changes in a company, and different styles of management.  However, Rentapen Inc., is embracing the generations and changes; in their industry change is a good thing because it allows for growth, efficiencies, and cost savings.

The weld fixture specialist is excited for the growth of their line of RAPid Tooling Components™. With the different generations working together there has been an increase in the orders for RAPid Shims™ and the CAD Drafters in the office are busier than ever.

Rentapen Inc., is a Waukesha, Wisconsin based company that provides Weld Fixtures and 3D CAD models to manufacturers.  Since 1976, Rentapen Inc has consistently saved customers time and money.  Rentapen Inc., is a Certified Woman Owned Business and owns RAPid Tooling Components™.  For more information Rentapen Inc., please call 262-542-8891 or visit www.rentapen.com.

 

 

Weld Fixture Design Company Engineering Manager Seeks to Grow With the Company.

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Rentapen Inc.’s, Design Engineering Manager, Blake Peterson, Continues His Education To Improve Productivity.

On January 7, 2013 Blake Peterson started another fast paced group of classes toward his Bachelor of Science Degree majoring in Business Management. Peterson joined Rentapen, the Weld Fixture Specialists, in November, 2011 as Engineering Manager. Rentapen designs machine tools for companies that manufacture a product. Rentapen specializes in Weld Jigs and Shims.

The company also manufactures a line to weld tooling components called RAPid Tooling Components™. These RAPid Tooling Components™ consists of RAPid Blocks™, RAPid Plates™, Clamp Risers and Shims.

Lindsey Frick, Associated Editor for MachineDesign.com, found information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which projects a need for 17,830 additional engineers each year for the next 10 years. Lindsey also wrote in her article that Community colleges are an untapped resource for potential engineering students.

Currently, Peterson is conducting interviews for an Engineering Project Manager that will quickly grow as Peterson grows. The Machine Designer position will involve the conception and design of weld fixtures and guiding and teaching CAD Drafters and interns as they learn.

Peterson, Engineering Manager, is expected to graduate in 2014 from Cardinal Stritch, located in the greater Milwaukee, WI area. Peterson is taking the necessary actions to get ahead in his engineering and management career. He is taking advantage of accelerated on-line classes to improve his ability to lead and expand his knowledge base. Some of the classes Peterson is looking forward to taking are Management of Leadership, Business Ethics, and Strategic Organizational Leadership.

At Rentapen Inc., Peterson is already seeking responsibilities outside the Engineering Manager title that he currently holds. He works closely with the shop to solve issues and evaluate scheduling needs. He works with the Leadership Team to expand Rentapen’s capacity to build small to medium weld jigs.

Peterson already has an extensive background of engineering management experience; however, Peterson decided to further his education in business management to understand more of the financial side of the business. The role that Peterson plays in the company, he hopes will transition from Engineering Management to more of the total Operations Management. Since joining Rentapen he has had to learn Pro/E CAD software. He has also learned each of the customers’ engineering standards to help him as he guides and checks the work of the machine designers.

Teach and Guide CAD Drafters and Interns

For the past three months Peterson has been guiding the Design Engineering Team as it focuses on reducing costs for manufacturers through lean weld fixture design. He has also been working with the Leadership Team to enhance Rentapen’s RAPid Tooling Components™. RAPid Tooling Components™ are an extension to Rentapen’s mission to save manufacturers time.

The role that Peterson is aiming for is to oversee the operational side of the business. He wants to move into leading the managers and participating in the planning. His new education will help him to know what to do to increase profits, increase cash, and reduce costs.

Rentapen’s Culture includes an emphasis of constant learning and self- improvement. The machine tool company’s culture statement says, “Rentapen is only as good as its team members. We aim to hire and retain the best … We are flexible. We are constantly improving ourselves and our processes. We delight in learning new skills, improving ways of doing things….”

Weld Jig Design and Tooling Company Introduces Wolverine Clamp Riser

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Rentapen Inc., Located In Waukesha, WI Has Added A Brand New RAPid Tooling Component™ To Their Website.

On Monday, January 21, 2013, Rentapen Inc. launched their new spacer and riser to go under Wolverine Clamps. They immediately made 3D models available for customers to download from their website and place in their machine tool designs.

Rentapen developed a new line of clamp risers that will work with a variety of Wolverine brand clamps. The Wolverine clamp is designed to hold parts in place while the parts are being welded or assembled with other parts during production. Often times the machine tool requirement is that the clamp needs to be attached to a mounting block to be in the right position for clamping the production part.

“We have several new products that are being launched early this year that will be offered to help manufacturers and machine tool makers save time,” said Susan Straley, President and Owner of Rentapen. “Our team is excited about this first new product launch of 2013.”

Wolverine clamps are available in a variety of styles and sizes. Rentapen’s new risers are able to hold straight-line clamps and manual or pneumatic hold-down clamps. When Machine Tool Designers are creating jigs or fixtures, they find it is faster and cheaper to use purchased products as often as possible to reduce design and build time and to reduce errors.

By using a purchased component the manufacturer saves time needed to create a custom clamp riser from start to finish. For example, they would have to go through a timely and expensive process that includes: designing the part; detailing; checking; ordering material; writing the CNC code; creating the part and finally inspecting the part. Time studies have shown that Rentapen’s RAPid Risers™ saves manufacturers as much as 73 minutes in design and build time.
“We experienced phenomenal growth in our tooling component sales in 2012 as more manufacturers learned about the quality and versatility of our product line,” said Straley. “More and more, RAPid Tooling Components are becoming the new standard in assembly fixture and weld fixture design.”
Rentapen Inc. has been designing machines since 1976. In 2002 they developed the RAPid Tooling Components™ line in response to their customers need to reduce costs. The new clamp risers will be made in the USA.

Weld Tooling Company Helps Educate Engineering Students and Machine Designers About Adjustability.

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>Rentapen, Weld Fixture Components Manufacturer, Provides Lessons in Machine Design Using Videos and Youtube.

On January 2, 2013, Rentapen added another lesson for new machine designers entitled, “Product Piece Part Holding with Precision — Why use Adjustability with Shims

The lesson is part of the on-going tutorials put out to help prepare CAD Drafting students and new engineers on the art and science of Weld and Assembly Fixture Design. A fixture is used to hold product parts in place in the factory while they are being manually or robotically welded or assembled.

Rentapen’s President and Queen of Lean Machine Design, Susan Straley, has created a Weld Fixture Design Blog and posts bi-weekly educational and helpful information for individuals in the Manufacturing Industry. Rentapen has created a series of videos and instructions on best practices.

This latest Weld Fixture Design Blog addressed 3-way adjustability with weld fixtures that corresponds with the latest video that has been released on Youtube and on their website. Visitors to the blog will find a plethora of different categories on the Weld Fixture Design 101 page. Some common categories that Staley blogs about are locating pins, metal shims, machine design, fasteners and RAPid Tooling Components™.

There are over 50 different videos that a subscriber may choose from when viewing Rentapen’s Youtube channel. Most of the videos are designed to inform the viewer and will educate the viewer on how to design or use purchased tooling components.

“I am pleased that George, who has been designing machines for over 36 years, agreed to be a part of this lesson. He does a great job explaining why Machine Design Engineers should consider including adjustability in their weld fixture designs,” said Susan Straley, President of Rentapen.

Rentapen is a Wisconsin Certified Woman-Owned Business Enterprise that has been designing machine tools for over 36 years. The Milwaukee area company was voted a Top 10 Business in Waukesha County.

Rentapen Featured in December Issue of Welding Journal For “Green” Practices.

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Rentapen Inc., a manufacturer of Weld Tooling Components, has been recognized by the American Welding Society (AWS) for being a “Green” company.

On December 3, 2012 the Welding Journal produced a five page article in its magazine entitled “For Weld Tooling Design Company Being Green Is Second Nature.”  The article can be found on pages 32-36 of the magazine.

 Rentapen designs and builds weld fixtures and is the home of RAPid Tooling Components™.  These tooling components are products that Rentapen developed to help engineers and manufacturers save time in the design and build of weld fixtures.  Rentapen manufactures these metal shims, locating plates, and clamp risers at its plant in Waukesha, WI.

Rentapen has been a “green” company for over twenty years.  In the early 1990’s Rentapen’s President, Susan Straley and Vice President George Straley, became part of a Household ECO Team program.  Rentapen’s Owners were reducing, reusing and recycling long before Wisconsin took action and made recycling a state law.

Rentapen not only recycles in their shop, they also recycle and reuse in their office too.  Rentapen does not buy paper towels; they use cloth rags in all areas of the office and shop. Also, in every room at Rentapen there are separate bins for recycling and for garbage.

“I am very proud of this recognition.  George and I have been advocates for protecting the environment and reducing waste for a long time,” said Susan Straley, President and Owner of Rentapen.

The shop team is also conservative and mindful of waste.  They first consider the boxes of discarded material before going to the inventory of new material to build new tooling components and metal shims.

 All the paper in the recycle bins located in Rentapen’s office is shredded and used as material for shipping.  Employees are encouraged to bring in their old newspapers for use as packing material. Recycling makes good business sense for Rentapen.  In the first 9 months of 2012 Rentapen received over $3,500 back for recycling their metal waste.

The article can be found on the American Welding Society (AWS) website, under the December Issue.  AWS was founded in 1919 as a multifaceted, nonprofit organization.  The main goal of the organization was to help the advancement in science, technology and applications in welding.  The website provides thousands of articles related to the field of welding and will benefit instructors, students, and individuals already in the field.

 

Rentapen Gets Big Views of Educational Video to Teach Machine Tool Design, Weld Jig and Assembly Fixture Design to Mechanical Engineering Students and CAD Drafters.

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Rentapen Inc., Weld Fixture Specialists, located in Waukesha, WI, produced and published an educational video for CAD Drafters, Engineering Students, and Manufacturing Engineering Managers that has received over 3,100 views on youtube.

On September 25, 2011 Rentapen Inc., produced a video demonstrating Weld Fixture Design.  Since the video was released it has been viewed over 3,100 times. This 6.5 minute video is one of the top viewed videos on youtube when searching for Weld Fixture Design. There are 46 other videos that Rentapen has developed and placed on youtube and the website that are for educational purposes.

This video provides seven important tips when building a weld fixture.  These tips are designed to help Manufacturing Engineers produce the very best designs. Rentapen Inc., is a custom precision
RAPid Shims™ and RAPid Blocks™ company that takes pride in educating their customers and students in the industry.

“I started my educational Blog, Weld Fixture Design 101, after I learned that 40% of our Engineers in the United States will be retiring in the next 7 years.  I feel strongly that those of us who have been working in design need to share our knowledge with those coming up behind us, so they don’t waste time making the same mistakes we made,” said Susan Straley, Queen of Lean Machine Design
and President of Rentapen.

Engineers and students of Engineering and Machine Tool Design can sign up to be notified every time a new blog is posted by signing up for Education and Updates on the Rentapen website.  However, if you just want to see any new videos, subscribe to Rentapen’s Youtube Channel.

“Instructions on how to see how many views your video has received on Youtube said that a count of 200 views was really good, so I was pretty shocked and pleased to see our video on machine design tips received over 3,000 views,” said Straley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milwaukee Welding Fixture Specialist Demonstrates Precision Fixtures

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Rentapen Inc., discovers 32 different footprints for
creating 3-way adjustments with RAPid Shims™ and RAPid Blocks™.

On November 14, 2012 Rentapen Inc., launched a new page on the Rentapen website introducing 3-way adjustability for RAPid Shims™ and RAPid Blocks™ under the Shims menu dropdown.  These RAPid Tooling Components™ help Engineers save time and also saves time in the machine tool build process.

These newly developed RAPid Shims™ and RAPid Blocks™ create adjustability for locating pins to fit for precision welding.  The locating pin’s position in the weld fixture can be finely tuned before mass production begins.  Precision shims are added or removed between the blocks to make sure the pin is in the right
location.  When in the right location, the final welded product meets product’s tolerance specifications.

Rentapen’s RAPid Shims™ are created with precision sheet metal for fine adjustment of the fixture before welding begins. The RAPid Blocks™ are created with counter-bored hole on both sides for design versatility.

“We knew our RAPid Blocks were versatile, but we were surprised to learn there are actually 32 different ways to position the blocks along with shims to create the 3-way adjustment that is often needed in a precision weld fixture,” said Susan Straley, President and Owner of Rentapen.

In the next few weeks Rentapen Inc., will be producing a “How To” video displaying how 3-way adjustability can be used.  There will be a series of blogs coming out that can be found on the Weld Fixture Design 101 web page that will help describe how to use these tooling components in detail.

“I just posted a blog talking about our standard tolerance on locating pins and the ways to use our RAPid Blocks with shims to create 3-way adjustment in weld and assembly fixtures,” said Straley.