Today, tubular hydroforming is not only an accepted way to produce metal appliance handles, it is often the preferred method. There are several reasons this simply make sense. For one, there are the production considerations: Hydroforming uses less material, produces parts that are lighter weight, and still maintains the stiffness and strength yielded by other, more traditional ways… Read More
As with any product development process, moving an appliance handle design from concept to production requires compromises. No matter how elegant the idea, if a handle design can't be manufactured at an acceptable cost, it's never going to see the showroom floor. Designers hate seeing their concepts altered as they make their way to the… Read More
Choosing the right finishing option for a stainless steel handle is a critical decision. It can make or break the end result — especially in a design era when stainless steel is one of the most popular material choices requested of handles manufacturers. Contrary to popular opinion, "stainless steel" is not a singular type of material with… Read More
Grab handles are an important safety feature of any truck or tractor. Getting in and out of the cab of a truck can be extremely dangerous if truck cab grab handles are poorly designed or manufactured, not attached correctly, nonexistent, or corroded. Slip and fall injuries are common for truck drivers, and effective grab handles… Read More
By any count, there are over 150 grades of stainless steel available. Appliance stainless steel handle manufacturers typically use just four of these many options: 304, 439, 441, and 201 grade stainless. Below we outline the defining characteristics of each grade and discuss why and when stainless steel handle manufacturers choose one over the other.… Read More
With kitchen appliance handle design trending away from the contoured look that was favored by OEMs for more than a decade to a more commercial-kitchen, almost industrial aesthetic, different approaches to handle manufacturing are required. Whereas tubular hydroforming and tubular stamping were good fits for creating gently curved metal appliance handles that were lightweight and… Read More
(ATHENS, Tenn.) October 31, 2016 — Mills Products, Inc., a 71-year-old ISO 9001-certified American contract manufacturer with a track record of producing superior hydroformed, roll formed, and tube stamped metal parts for OEMs and suppliers in the appliance and automotive industries, has hired two employees to further enhance its quality engineering capabilities. Jason Watson joins Mills… Read More
Although we’re primarily known for our appliance handles, Mills Products has also acquired a strong reputation for manufacturing quality metal case handles. Our ability to choose between different manufacturing techniques and work with a wide variety of materials enables us to create sturdy, lightweight, and dependable metal handles for common cases such as: Tool boxes… Read More
In our decades as a supplier of appliance parts and assemblies, we’ve found that metal appliance handles are best made using three manufacturing methods: roll forming, which is very cost effective, hydroforming, which allows for more complexity and flexibility without sacrificing strength, and tubular stamping, which combines economy, strength, and flexibility at high volumes. Here… Read More
A heavy-duty truck grab handle is one of the last components added to a tractor before it comes off the assembly line. But it’s one of the most important because drivers rely on it every day. Because drivers come into contact with it every time they climb into their cab, a truck grab handle is… Read More