Mechanical Engineer for Product Design

RUSH — Machine Design Engineer — Deep-Throat Fastener Insertion Press (36" Throat) — Fab Package in 3–4 Days Category: Mechanical Engineering / Machine Design Type: Fixed-price, rush premium paid Experience level: Expert Start: Immediately upon award. Must be available full-time through delivery. Overview Pittsburgh Laser Cutting & Fabrication (ISO 9001:2015, ITAR-registered precision sheet metal shop) needs a fabrication-ready design for a custom C-frame self-clinching fastener insertion press (PEM-style nuts/studs/standoffs) with a 36" throat depth. Commercial presses (Haeger, PEMSERTER) max out around 24" throat and can't reach insertion points on our formed enclosures with 10" flanges. We fabricate everything in-house — fiber laser, CNC machining, welding. We can be cutting plate within hours of receiving drawings. You engineer it; we build it. Complete package due in 3–4 calendar days from award. This timeline is realistic only with a deliberately overbuilt, conservative design. We are NOT asking you to optimize weight or cost. Brute-force the frame section, meet the deflection number with margin, use off-the-shelf hydraulics, and get us drawings. Design Approach (pre-decided to save you time) Frame: welded plate C-frame, A572-50, thick side plates — overbuild the section rather than iterate FEA. Hand calcs + one FEA sanity run is sufficient. Actuation: off-the-shelf hydraulic cylinder + commercial power unit (Enerpac, Prince, or equivalent) — spec by part number, no custom hydraulic engineering. Adjustable pressure via regulator/relief with gauge readout. Controls: two-hand anti-tie-down valve (Ross or equivalent), spec'd by part number per ANSI B11.2. No PLC, no custom controls. Tooling interface: standard PEMSERTER/Haeger punch shank and anvil bore dimensions. Post-weld stress relief and finish machining of tooling bores/faces are handled by us — just call them out on the drawings. Functional Requirements Throat: 36" tooling centerline to frame Daylight: ≥12" punch (retracted) to anvil, to clear a 10" formed flange over the anvil Force: adjustable up to 16,000 lbf Stroke: ~4" Deflection budget: punch-to-anvil ≤0.005" TIR and squareness adequate for reliable PEM installation at max force. This is the entire engineering problem — the frame section must handle the moment at 36" throat. Base: floor-standing, forklift-liftable Deliverables & Schedule Day 1 (EOD): frame concept sketch with hand-calc deflection numbers and plate thickness callouts + preliminary side-plate profiles as DXF so we can start laser cutting. Quick call to lock the concept. Day 2–3: 3D CAD (SolidWorks native + STEP), FEA sanity check on frame deflection at max force (screenshot-level report is fine), weldment drawing with weld sizes, machining drawings for tooling bores/faces with GD&T. Day 3–4: BOM with part numbers and sources (cylinder, power unit, two-hand control, fittings, gauge), assembly notes, alignment/qualification procedure for verifying TIR at commissioning. DXFs on day 1 are non-negotiable — our fab schedule depends on cutting plate while you finish the package. Required Qualifications Proven C-frame / press / force-application machine design experience — portfolio required, and it will be checked before award Fast, decisive, available essentially full-time for the next 4 days with same-hour communication during US Eastern business hours FEA capable (SolidWorks Sim or equivalent) PEM/self-clinching insertion familiarity a plus Screening Questions (answer all — short answers fine) What C-frame or deep-throat machine have you designed, and what was the deflection budget? At 36" throat / 16,000 lbf, ballpark the side plate thickness you'd start hand calcs with. Can you deliver DXF plate profiles within 24 hours of award? Confirm your availability for the next 4 days. Budget Fixed price with rush premium — quote your number. Payment split: 30% at day-1 DXF delivery, 70% at final package. We award same-day to the right person and respond within the hour during business hours.