Gifford Spring Manufacturing Blog

When preparing to produce a custom spring or wire form, a great custom spring manufacturer will initiate a conversation with you to gain a thorough understanding of the component’s end use.  Even if you have provided comprehensive specs and part documentation in your quote request, this initial dialogue helps ensure that both parties—customer and manufacturer—are…

Tolerancing standards for custom wire forming applications are different from those used for precision machined parts, as well as custom springs. Most methods of machining (such as turning, milling, and drilling) can hold exceptionally tight tolerances. Machining tolerances typically cannot be applied to springs. Instead, springs have well-defined tolerance criteria put forth by the Spring Manufacturers…

Curious about how to optimize your wire form design?  At Gifford Spring, we’re committed to helping our customers save time and money on custom springs and wire forms. Today, we’re sharing Design for Manufacturability (DFM) tips for wire forms so you can enjoy faster quotes, shorter lead times, and lower costs.  We can summarize most…

Curious if your custom springs or wire forms need surface finishing operations such as plating or electropolishing? More often than not, they don’t. When alternatives are available, we advise customers to forgo secondary operations when possible to avoid the inherent risks involved in finishing parts.   Today, we’ll take a closer look at the benefits and…

When creating an assembly that contains a spring, you may be accustomed to designing the machined parts first, allocating space in your design for a spring that you’ll add toward the end of the process.  But saving the spring design for last—or close to it—often leads to problems that can easily be avoided. If you…

Do you need a spring or wire form but don’t have the original print? Gifford Spring is here to assist. Our experienced team can often reverse engineer a spring or wire form with nothing more than a sample in hand. We analyze the sample and work with you to determine key specifications and recreate a…

Does your part require a spring that compresses with applied force? If so, you probably need a compression spring. A standard, cylindrical compression spring might do the trick. These springs are ideal for most conventional applications requiring a constant spring rate. But suppose you need a compression spring that provides more structural support, like one…

When you need custom precision springs or wireforms for high-stakes industries like aerospace or defense, there’s no compromising on quality. These products serve a critical purpose in high-risk applications, so they must function exactly as intended.  Since 2016, Gifford Spring has been an ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturer. This certification indicates that our Quality Management System…

So you designed a part that needs a spring. Now all you have to do is figure out how to source it. Simple, right? Well, not exactly. If you don’t work with springs all the time, how do you know whether to stop by your local hardware store, order from a stock spring catalog, or…

You know us as Gifford Spring, but there’s more to us than our name may imply. In addition to making springs, we also make custom precision wire forms! Typically formed from round wire, wire forms can be manufactured to fit customers’ needs, no matter how complex. They’re found in wide range of items, from military…