I am looking for manufacturer(s) of double acting hinges, the kind
used on free standing, folding room screens (room dividers), like
those Japanese Shoji screens, NOT Bommer-type hinges used in two way
swinging doors. The tricky part is finding the sizes and finish I
want. I'm trying to find hinges of various larger-than-standard sizes.
the standard size being 3/4 inch. I'm looking for hinges up to 2
inches or their corresponding metric equivalents. (These measurements
denote the panel thickness used as the screen.) The finish I want is
either nickel plated or some similar silver finish. The ones I have
been able to find are brass plated. I know Sugatsune carry stainless
hinges of this type, but they are insanely expensive. These are for
(hopefully) multiple unit production, so I would be willing to talk to
a hinge manufacturer about doing custom to-our-specs runs, if such a
company exists. So, simply put, I want double acting room screen type
hinges, of various sizes, 3/4" - 2", with a nickel plated or similar
finish. Or a custom manufacturer. Thanks for any assistance. |
Request for Question Clarification by
smudgy-ga
on
17 Aug 2004 05:00 PDT
Hi Heydan,
Where are you located? Also, how long do you need the hinges to be? Is
there a specific list of leaf widths that you are looking for between
3/4 inch and 2 inches? What would the minimum size of a custom run be?
Thanks,
smudgy.
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
17 Aug 2004 19:41 PDT
Hey Smudgy. I am located in Vancouver BC Canada. As to hinge lengths,
I don't have any preference cast in stone, just to locate something
would be great. That said, I would love to find something along the
lines of what Sugatsune have, only in plated steel and with even wider
dimensions. Their length seems to increase with width. I will look at
anything you find, though. Here is a link (I hope) to what they have:
http://www.sugatsune.com/products/ProductDetails.cfm?CATID=7&SUBCATID=7&PRODUCTID=BH%20HINGE
There is no specific list of leaf widths, just the wider the better,
as I can produce screen panels in any thickness, metric or standard.
It's just that I can work more design detail into thicker panels. (It
would be great to have 2 or 3 width options.) That said, I would
probably cap width at 2 1/2- 3 inches, not that I'm expecting to find
anything ready-made that wide, which is why I originally requested you
find something up to 2". At this point the dimensions of the product
rides on what off-the-shelf hinges can be found (or whether they can
be found). If I have to use a custom hinge maker, then I would come
up with specific sizes, depending, of course, on the widths they are
capable of producing. (Another option I thought of could be; if
appropriate hinges are located, but are brass plated, would the mfgr
be willing to send a batch out to be nickel plated as opposed to brass
plated?) As for quantities for a custom run, it would probably
initially be whatever the mfgrs minimum is. If the product takes off,
obviously we'd up subsequent runs. Man, this is one garbled answer,
hope you can make sense of it. Let me put it this way: I have an idea
for a room screen design. The dimensions are going to be determined by
what, if any, off the shelf hinges I (you) can find. If there are none
appropriate in the whole world, then I will use a custom maker and
have them made myself, to my own ideal specs, unless the costs are
ridiculous. There, hope that helps. Now go forth and work miracles (:
Thanks, Dan
|
Request for Question Clarification by
smudgy-ga
on
17 Aug 2004 20:03 PDT
Hello again Dan,
One more question: What is the price per each of the "too expensive"
Sugatsune component? What would an appropriate target price be for
your needs?
Thanks,
smudgy.
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
18 Aug 2004 12:56 PDT
Hey Smudgy. The price for the too-expensive Sugatsune hinges are as
follows: BH60- $20CDN BH70- $25.85CDN BH80- $28.33CDN
The 60, 70, and 80 designation refer to their respective widths in
millimeters. The only one I would be interested in using would be the
80mm model and since 4 are required for one set of screens that would
be $113.32 just for hinges. That inflates the price point beyond where
we want it to be. Mind you, that's the price from one of their
distributors, I don't know if we could get them straight from
Sugatsune, I kinda doubt it though. As far as what I think would be
reasonable here's a link to another page with pricing on it from Lee
Valley, their larger ones are between 3 and 4 dollars CDN.
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.asp?page=40465&category=3,41241,41268&abspage=1&ccurrency=2&SID=
I would, however, consider paying from $7-10, possibly more, for the
right ones. Depends, I guess. Run anything that you find by me and
I'll do a little number crunching. Sorry this is so amorphous a
question, but this concept is in a very fledgling state, witha lot of
other factors riding on hinge availability and cost etc. Hope this
helps. Good luck.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
smudgy-ga
on
19 Aug 2004 15:02 PDT
Hey dan (hee hee),
I have been pointing suppliers to the schematics of the Sugatsune
hinge you indicated, and I have the following response from one of the
suppliers I have contacted:
"We have had our Technical Support department review the drawing,
and they have advised we may be able to do a modification. Can you
please advise on the initial quantity needed, annual usage, production
start date, etc?"
If you give me some idea of the information to pass onto these guys, I
will do so, and hopefully we can get a quote. I'm still looking at
other suppliers for a stock solution, but if these fellows can produce
something custom at a reasonable price, I will definitely inform you.
Thanks,
smudgy.
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
20 Aug 2004 04:19 PDT
Hey Smudgy,
Ok, I'll dig my crystal ball out of storage and see what kind
of numbers I come up with... Annual usage? I'm not sure there
will even be annual usage, this product could fall flat on it's ass
when we roll it out. I don't think so, or I wouldn't be expending the
energy to develop it, but sheesh...These people are obviously used to
dealing with people who know what they're doing. Oh well, I'll do a
little prognosticating and get back to you ASAP. Just for kicks
though, ask them if they have a minimum number they need to justify
their efforts. Thanks and I'll be in touch soon, Dan
|
Request for Question Clarification by
smudgy-ga
on
20 Aug 2004 04:27 PDT
Hey Dan,
I got contacted by another company this morning. They seem to supply
the same hinges that you showed me in the Lee Valley webpage, and this
is what they had to say:
"We don't have the screen hinges available in any finish except brass. This is
the first request I've seen for a silver color. THese parts are imported and
I suspect there would be a minimum of 5000 to 10000 pieces before we could get
a finish change. You will most likely find this is the case with most suppliers
as I don't think anyone is making these in the uS any more."
Do you think you have the capacity to order 5000-10000 hinges for this project?
Meanwhile I will try to extract some more information from the first
company I heard from; I'm sure they will appreciate any more detail
you could provide.
I'll keep digging with other suppliers, of course.
Thanks,
smudgy.
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
20 Aug 2004 18:07 PDT
Hey Smudgy,
As to how many pieces we would require from that particular
company, the question is kind of moot. Their hinges aren't big enough.
But 5000 to 10,000 would probably be too many to start. It's the old
chicken and egg question, without knowing how much the hinges are
going to be, I can't say how many we could go for, without knowing how
many we need, how do you get a price? I'm hoping these suppliers will
be able to provide some of these answers, as in; we can build these
for you, but to make it worth our while, you must buy x quantity for
x dollars. And/or 500 will cost you this, 1000 will cost you this,
2500, 5000 etc. This thing hasn't even been prototyped yet, I'm just
trying to find out if it's even possible to build, because the
dimensions are somewhat outside the norms. I made some calls today to
the suppliers of some of the other components of the product, and
slackers that they are (or maybe overworked), they didn't get back to
me before day's end. So now it's Friday eve, they all shut down over
the weekend, and without their numbers, I can't do any educated
prognosticating 'til Monday. I will get you those numbers ASAP on
Monday, though. Sorry about the delay. Have a great weekend, Dan
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
23 Aug 2004 19:16 PDT
AAARGH! Hi Smudgy,
People are being difficult and/or elusive, it might take me another
couple of days to put numbers together. I'll get back to you as soon
as I have something coherent. Dan
|
Request for Question Clarification by
smudgy-ga
on
26 Aug 2004 12:06 PDT
Hey Dan,
My latest communique from the most promising company simply says,
"Please forward your company details so that we can have one of our
sales representatives contact you directly." This sounds very
promising, but I have no guarantee that they are actually capable of
producing what you need at a price that works for you. So for this
reason I would feel far from comfortable posting the company's contact
information as an answer. On the other hand, I would not want to
deprive you of a promising lead, nor to eliminate myself from the
communication chain without (not to put too fine a point on it) at
least some recompense for the legwork I've done.
Please let me know how you would like to proceed.
Thanks,
smudgy.
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
26 Aug 2004 19:46 PDT
Hi Smudgy
Yikes, things do get complicated, hmm? How's this; I have a meeting
Friday AM with the probable supplier of the major component of our
product. After I feed the sales rep some numbers at this meeting, he
will take them away and feed them into his estimation system and
hopefully not long after the meeting, I will (finally) have some
numbers worked out. I will then feed you the numbers and any company
info you need that won't raise a red flag on this system (you'll have
to tell me what's allowed and what isn't) and shazaam!... you are an
ipso facto (my company name here) representative. Then you can keep
looking and talk to these folks at the same time. Would that work, or
am I dotty? Lemme know, Dan
PS. The weekend may delay delivery of aforementioned numbers, I don't
know how involved or busy their estimation system is. The wheels are
grinding painfully slowly around here. Hang in there.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
smudgy-ga
on
27 Aug 2004 12:19 PDT
Hey Dan,
I have no problem acting as a representative of your company for the
purposes of getting you a quote, though I will have to make it clear
to them that I am acting as a contractor and not as an employee. I
have no problem contacting the company via phone if necessary, though
I hope that you'll be available to provide details should they ask a
question of me that I don't know the answer to.
As for what company information to provide: Please don't post any
e-mail addresses, physical addresses, or telephone or fax numbers to
this website. I'm checking with the Editors to see whether you can
provide your company's name; I'll let you know what I learn. For the
purposes of calculating shipping costs it may be useful to provide
city, province, and postal code in which your company is located. If
you need to provide any spec sheets or anything like that, you should
provide a http link to a file.
Once I secure a quote for you, I'll pass the numbers on to you, and if
it sounds like it meets your needs, I'll post the hinge company's
contact information as an answer.
Meanwhile I look forward to any information about your project that
you can provide that might help me make your needs clear to the hinge
company.
Thanks,
smudgy.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
smudgy-ga
on
27 Aug 2004 13:50 PDT
Hey Dan,
I've gotten the official ok from the Editors that you may provide your
company's name--that way, when I get a quote, I can get it prepared in
the correct company name.
Thanks,
smudgy.
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
29 Aug 2004 17:00 PDT
Hey Smudgy,
Sorry for the delay, been crazy bizzy. So, here's the scoop. I am an
independent designer, working under the company name of Blind Pilot
(fitting name, eh?).I am located in Vancouver BC Canada V5L 5C9. I'm
not a formally trained CAD-savvy designer, just a former custom
furniture- building schmo who can design cool stuff. I'm working on
this concept for a small home-accessories manufacturer named Iron-X.
They are located in Mission, BC, Canada, postal code V2V 5X9. That
would probably be where things are shipped to. There is nothing really
earth-shaking about the concept, it's just room dividers, but
utilizing a previously unused material for the panels. (Still keeping
that a secret, please pardon my paranoia). We just want to make them
lighter, slicker and flashier, more contemporary to suit modern design
types, but still keep the price point within moderate ranges. As I've
said earlier, the first sticking point is available hinge width, the
rest of the design dimensions flow from there. As for you phoning the
company on my behalf, sure, just let's coordinate a time/day and I
will be standing by my computer, so you can send any questions to me
on this system, and I can get you the answers pronto. As for which
company to "represent" when you enquire, you can use whichever seems
more appropriate to you. Oh, and regarding those numbers I promised
you, the rep I was supposed to meet on Friday AM cancelled on me and
won't be available 'til Wed. It's like trying to nail Jello to the
wall to get face time with these guys. I faxed him a drawing as a
preliminary step though, so I should have some kind of info to pass
along not too long after that. Fingers crossed. Hope this is what you
need. If not, I'll be here. Good luck. Thanks, Dan
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
09 Sep 2004 00:43 PDT
Hey Smudgy,
You still there? Sorry about the long delay, people have been
difficult. Anyways, short and sweet, Initial order would be 1000,
annual usage 5000-10,000, first order would be in 3-6 months. Anything
I forgot? Lemme know.
Thanks, Dan
|
Request for Question Clarification by
smudgy-ga
on
09 Sep 2004 04:30 PDT
Thanks for the info, Dan. I'll pass it on to the company.
The question is close to expiring, and I think we've both done a lot
of work to track down what information we've come across so far. So if
the question expires before it gets answered, I'd encourage you to
re-post the question so that we can continue working on it.
In other news, I received a phone message from one of the salesmen
from the company, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to talk with
him in person. He did bring up an interesting point about finding
alternate solutions--what range of alternate solutions might you be
interested in? I imagine you'd want something that at least replicates
the functionality of a double-acting hinge.
I'll keep you posted. Thanks again for the info.
-smudgy.
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Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
09 Sep 2004 11:58 PDT
Hey Smudgy,
I'm trying to re-post, but it's not working so far. I've sent an email
to Google Answers requesting help, so it'll get done one way or
another. As for alternatives, I would be open to suggestions, but I
would still want it to have the abilities of a double acting hinge.
What does he have in mind?
Dan
|
Clarification of Question by
heydan-ga
on
12 Sep 2004 18:28 PDT
Hey Smudgy,
I have re-asked the question as reposting it didn't work. It's called
"double acting hinges 2". I stated that the question was for you
(oops-in a question clarification, forgot to do it when re-asking. Is
that a word?). This is what the gurus at Google Answers told me to do.
Hope it's OK. Talk to you soon. Dan
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