Andy Spence-Parsons

While the first step in successful punching is to pay close attention to the quality and features of punching tooling, other factors come into play. Punched slugs are clues, and examining them can reveal whether the punch and die clearance is too loose or too tight and whether the machine is properly aligned.

New types of punch press tooling make it possible to perform many secondary fabricating operations on the turret press as well as standard punching—in some cases eliminating additional equipment and part handling, and reducing machine downtime. Not only are new part features possible on the turret press using these new tools, the reduced costs fabricators may achieve by using these tools to may make the tools a variable in DFM.