Product example
Metal Keyboard Buttons
Button and cover forms with visible exterior surfaces. Separate cosmetic requirements from locating and attachment features.
SINTS / Product category
MIM and PM parts for consumer electronics hardware
Consumer electronics components are the small metal parts in devices people handle every day — buttons and keys, hinges and pivot hardware, watch cases and attachment parts, camera mounts and compact structural fittings. SINTS produces these by metal injection molding (MIM), powder metallurgy (PM) or machining, with the choice driven by feature size, appearance requirements and annual volume.
Product examples
Product example
Communication Device Metal Components
Compact metal parts with bosses, recesses and openings. Identify mounting datums and the surfaces that locate the part in the device.
Product example
Watch Cases and Attachment Hardware
Case and fastening forms from the watch-parts catalog. Review exterior finish, openings and assembly interfaces on the actual drawing.
Product example
Camera Lens Mounting Hardware
Small housing and support forms recorded as lens-related accessories. Clarify which faces locate or connect the component.
Examples from the SINTS product catalog, shown for component identification. These are custom parts, not stock specifications. Dimensions, material, supply scope and acceptance requirements are confirmed from your project drawing.
All 23 product references
Complete Consumer Electronics Catalog
Explore each component in detail, including its interfaces, manufacturing review and drawing requirements.
Hinges, guides & wearable hardware
Buttons & operating parts
Housings, mounts & electronic components
- Camera Lens Mounting Hardware →
- Camera Pivot and Mounting Components →
- Communication Device Metal Components →
- Decorative Metal Fastening Components →
- Electronic Mounting and Locating Components →
- Mechanical Watch Case Components →
- Mobile Phone Frame Inserts →
- Optoelectronic Housing Components →
- Phone Camera Housing Components →
- Phone Device Structural Metal Parts →
- Radio-Frequency Equipment Metal Hardware →
- Watch Cases and Attachment Hardware →
A closer look at the parts
Visible buttons: fit and appearance need separate requirements
The button examples combine thin outlines with exterior faces. A useful drawing identifies the visible side, permitted marks, edge condition and the features that locate the button in the housing. Finish samples help agree appearance before production.
Compact hardware: define the functional surfaces
Communication and camera components can combine holes, slots and bosses in a small envelope. Mark the assembly datums and critical fits before comparing forming and machining. The product photograph is a shape reference; it does not establish the dimensions or material for a new part.
What to define for a similar component
The part drawing and its assembly determine the manufacturing route and the inspection plan.
Assembly fit
Housing interfaces, locating datums, hole positions and clearances.
Appearance
Visible faces, texture, color and acceptable cosmetic limits.
Fine features
Walls, openings, edge condition and inspectable dimensions.
Final condition
Fits after surface finishing and the agreed assembly checks.
Related product categories
Frequently Asked Questions
Consumer electronics components are the small metal parts inside devices — buttons, hinges, wearable hardware and camera mounts. These answers cover process selection, appearance requirements and small-feature limits.
What counts as a consumer electronics metal component?
It is the small metal hardware inside or on a device: keycaps and buttons, hinge and pivot assemblies, watch cases, lugs and attachment links, camera lens-mount parts, sliders and compact structural fittings. These parts are usually small, produced in high volume and judged on appearance and feel as much as on dimension, which makes them a distinct family from structural industrial hardware.
Why is MIM often considered for small electronics hardware?
Because the parts combine small size with genuinely three-dimensional geometry — an integrated boss, a captured pivot, a formed key profile — that would be costly to produce by milling at high volume. Near-net shaping produces that complexity in one tool, and where the part is also visible the surface condition then becomes a specified requirement rather than a by-product of the process.
How should appearance requirements be specified?
Specify appearance as an explicit requirement with a reference: which surfaces are cosmetic, what the acceptable surface condition is, whether a specific finish, texture or colour is required, and how the part will be judged. On a visible button or watch part, an appearance standard is a functional requirement, and leaving it implicit is a common reason a dimensionally correct part is rejected at sample approval.
What are the practical limits on very small features?
Very small features run into tooling, fill and ejection limits rather than a single size threshold. Fine pins, thin walls, sharp internal corners and deep narrow slots each behave differently across MIM, PM and machining, and the practical limit depends on the feature type and its relationship to the part as a whole. The sensible approach is to review the specific feature set on the drawing rather than apply a general minimum.
What is the difference between a button and a structural part in the review?
A button is judged on feel, travel, appearance and wear at the contact surface, while a structural part is judged on load, stiffness and fatigue. They are reviewed against different criteria even when they are the same size and material. Grouping them as one request tends to blur the requirements, so stating each part's function separately makes the review more accurate.
Discuss your component
Start with your drawing
Include the mating housing, critical dimensions, visible surfaces, finish requirements and annual quantity.