Mandrels, Hypotubes & Wires – Low Friction Coating Services
Your mandrels, solid formed wires, snap wires and hypotubes all can be coated on SSG’s electrostatic automated coating lines. We have developed tooling and processing parameters that are repeatable and provide your product with a quality coating to meet your requirements. Our operators are trained to handle your products from start to finish with attention to detail.
SSG has the ability to mask parts per your prints and duplicate those masking requirements on every part, from coated mandrels to hypotubes, solid wires and snap wires. We pride ourselves in our ability to provide medical device coating services for your parts with measured precision and repeatability.
We apply PTFE and PTFE-Free coatings for mandrels, hypotubes, solid formed wires and snap wires as follows:
- Diameters from .007” to .125”
- Cut lengths from 7cm to 300cm
- Solid round wire, flat wire & rectangular wire
- VisiMark® permanent custom bands are available
In many catheter and tubing manufacturing applications, PTFE coated mandrels help support forming and easier removal during production. This can help maintain process efficiency during production. Coated mandrels support a wide range of applications, including catheter forming, interventional, neurovascular, laparoscopic, and arthroscopic devices.
Mandrels are especially valuable for supporting thin-wall sections and maintaining tight tolerances during manufacturing. In catheter and tubing applications, coated mandrels help ensure consistent forming while improving release during removal. To meet varying manufacturing requirements, mandrels are available in several configurations, including step mandrels, taper mandrels, end-rounding mandrels, super mandrels, and hollow mandrels.
PTFE-coated mandrels are commonly used to maintain precise inside diameters in catheter shafts. Their tight tolerances and uniform diameters provide greater design flexibility for catheter tube IDs while also enhancing release performance. These advantages help manufacturers improve consistency, precision, and production efficiency in medical device manufacturing.
Our medical device coatings offer a range of properties. Whether you need PTFE-coated mandrels, a no-PTFE hypotube, or a coating with other specific characteristics, we will partner with you and work alongside you to determine the optimal coating and application process for your project.
Low-Friction PTFE and PTFE-FREE Coating Options
SSG’s FluoroMed® is a low friction PTFE coating that is permanently bonded to your product. Our low-friction mandrel coating services and our coating services for hypotubes and wires are tailored to your exacting specifications. If required for your internal R&D and testing, we can offer rapid turnaround for prototypes, your coated mandrels, hypotubes, solid formed wires, snap wires and other components.
Our GlideMed® coatings are an ideal alternative when design, regulatory or sustainability requirements rule out the use of PTFE coatings. GlideMed®’s low-PTFE and no-PTFE/no-PFAS formulations offer you a proven coating alternative with excellent adhesion to stainless steel, nitinol and other metal substrates. GlideMed®-coated mandrels, hypotubes and wires benefit from reduced surface friction and excellent durability, release and flexibility.
Our MediSlick™ N2 is a micron-thin low friction, PFAS-FREE coating for mandrels and smooth cutting surfaces such as scalpels and blades. MediSlick™ N2A includes a micron-thin primer that provides additional lubricity, durability and release to parts with a higher surface roughness.
For design engineers, the most important engineering characteristic of MediSlick™ N2/N2A is that it delivers excellent low friction and release performance in an extremely thin coating. That combination matters because many medical devices and manufacturing tools have very tight dimensional requirements. A coating that adds too much thickness can create tolerance issues, especially on small-diameter components, miniature precision parts, cutting surfaces, mandrels, dies and molds.
MediSlick™ N2 forms a covalent bond to the substrate, creating a high-release, non-stick surface without requiring media blasting or chemical etching before application. That is important because aggressive surface preparation can alter part dimensions or affect delicate substrates.
SSG’s FluoroWire® PTFE coatings are designed for application to your reel-to-reel continuous wire, cable and tubing. Our automated application technique provides uniform, precise coating coverage and excellent adhesion on the entire length of your products.
Our automated robotic coating cells give you a precise, consistent coating application on your parts and components. With our extensive capacity of over 30 coating production cells, you can expect to receive on-time delivery of your coated mandrels, hypotubes and wires.
Contact us to discuss your project requirements with a technical consultant.