Custom Shaped Wire Samples

Every custom shaped wire order starts as a sample question: will this section run in the buyer's groove, guide or machine before anyone commits to a batch? This page is the policy in plain terms — what gets sampled free, what carries a fee, how long each route takes, and what a sample can and cannot prove.

The two sampling routes

Route 1: existing die. If the section is already in our die library — and it often is, because triangular, flat, half-round, trapezoid and T sections overlap heavily between industries — sampling is a pulling exercise, not a tooling exercise. Lengths of 3–20 m are cut from a first pull, and for standard grades this is normally free of charge, with the buyer covering freight. Lead time is days, not weeks, because nothing needs cutting.

Route 2: new section. A section outside the library needs a die. That means a die fee, and the fee is the honest price of cutting and proving a shaped bore — it is not waived for small first orders, because the die is real tooling with real hours behind it. Sample lead time on this route is typically 10–20 working days: die cutting, first pulls, gauge checks, then sample approval. The fee structure and what moves each number are written out in MOQ, tooling and lead time.

What a sample proves — and what it cannot

A sample proves: the section geometry fits the mating part, the tolerance band is as quoted, the surface finish runs in your application, and the temper handles your forming or cutting operation. Those are the four things samples are for, and a fit check in the actual groove beats any drawing review.

A sample cannot prove: long-run consistency. A first pull is made under the best attention the mill can give; batch five runs at line speed. The honest way to close that gap is a pilot batch — 50–100 kg at production parameters — which is priced between a sample and a full order, and is the step most buyers skip and later wish they had not. Batch-consistency mechanics are described on the precision shaped wire page.

How to request one

1. Send the section drawing, or the closest section from the profile wire sections catalogue with the dimensions that differ.
2. State the application — what the wire runs in, against, or inside. This decides which faces get the tight tolerance and whether the sample is pulled in the annealed or drawn temper.
3. Say what you will test: fit check, line trial, forming test. The sample is cut and packed for that test — a forming trial needs annealed ends, a fit check needs deburring, and neither costs extra if we know in advance.
4. Ask for the material certificate with the sample if the enquiry will turn into an order. It travels free with the shipment and saves a round later.

The sequence from drawing to approved sample, step by step, is in the drawing-to-sample walkthrough. When the sample passes, the batch order rides on the same die and the same pass schedule — the custom profile wire page shows what a firm quote looks like at that point.

Specifications

Sampling policy belongs in the enquiry, not after it. Send the drawing and the test you plan to run and the reply will say which route the section takes, with the fee and date attached.