Lugs9 min read
Wire crimp quality: strand damage and bellmouth
A crimp cross-section shows what a pull test cannot: voids, cut strands and a bellmouth that was closed flat. How to prepare, read and accept one.
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Sourcing notes for custom parts
Drawings, tooling, quality and landed cost, from the team that runs the programmes.
All guides, page 27
Browse the full library.
Lugs9 min read
Bimetallic lugs: aluminium cable to copper busbar
Joining aluminium to copper is a corrosion problem before it is a connector problem. How a bimetallic lug is built, selected and proved.
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Lugs9 min read
Braid flexibility and bend life
Flexibility is not the same as fatigue life. A braid that bends easily can still fail early if the radius, the stroke or the termination concentrates strain in a few strands.
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Machining10 min read
Heat sink and casting cost drivers: metal, process, yield and finish
Where the money goes in a machined heat sink or a die casting, and the drawing changes that move the price before the quote is fixed.
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Lugs8 min read
Insulated vs uninsulated terminals: voltage, environment and assembly cost
The sleeve is not decoration. It changes touch protection, strain relief, inspection and the cost of a mistake, and it is not always the safer choice.
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Lugs9 min read
Lug and terminal cost drivers
Where the money goes in a lug quote: metal, plating, forming, tooling and volume, and which lines a buyer can actually move.
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Lugs9 min read
Terminal spring force and contact resistance
Normal force, true contact area and joint temperature are one chain. How to read it, measure it and keep a terminal joint stable.
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Lugs9 min read
Braid termination: welded, crimped and bolted
A braid is only as good as the point where it stops being flexible. Compare the three termination routes on resistance, strength and the inspection each one needs.
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Lugs9 min read
Custom connector assemblies: overmoulding and strain relief
How an overmoulded cable assembly is designed and built, from the termination inside the mould to the bend test that proves the boot.
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Lugs8 min read
DIN 46235 lugs: dimensions and drawing callouts
A dimensional standard tells a supplier what shape to make. It does not tell a buyer whether the crimp will hold. How to read the callouts and what to add.
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Machining9 min read
Machined heat sink inspection: flatness, fin geometry and finish
What to measure on a machined heat sink, how to set the datums and the checks that predict whether the thermal path will hold in service.
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Lugs8 min read
One-hole vs two-hole lugs: vibration and rotation
A second bolt costs money and space. It also stops a lug rotating on a vibrating terminal. Here is when that trade is worth making.
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Go from reading to checking
The guides are built around the same questions as the free tools. Size a busbar, check an ISO 2768 callout, build a first article report or compare landed cost.
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