Tool and Die Tech Cell - Articles
Home \ Tool and Die \ Articles
Tool and Die Articles
Results: 50
View this Issue |
Nail stamper seeks tooling tough as nails
Powernail, a Zurich, Ill.-based manufacturer of hardwood flooring nails stamps 1 billion of these L-cleats and E-cleats from flat 0.062 steel annually. The company was looking to improve the lifespan of the high-speed stamping dies his company...
|
View this Issue |
Design, Build, Production: The cost-reduction continuum
These days, delivering a quality product on time just gets you to the table. From here, cost remains the deciding factor in determining where work is placed.
|
View this Issue |
Don’t overlook the heat-treat for tool steels
Proper heat treatment is essential to optimize tool steel properties. This entails not only selecting the appropriate time and temperature parameters for the grade involved, but also equipment fully capable of doing the job at hand. Toolmakers...
|
View this Issue |
Stampers' unique perspectives result in innovative designs
Stamping companies are striving to stay relevant to their customers with intelligent manufacturing approaches that other fabricators can't match. Here are two companies that have followed that path successfully.
|
View this Issue |
5 pitfalls to avoid when implementing SMED
Single-minute exchange of dies is a lean manufacturing concept that has grown beyond the world of metal forming. It now stands for any lean exercise that attempts to reduce changeover time to single-digit minutes. In implementing such a program,...
|
View this Issue |
Attempting to defy the laws of physics, Part II
It is almost unrealistic to expect some stamped part part features, such as hole position and flatness, to remain within a small tolerancing zone.
|
View this Issue |
Attempting to defy the laws of physics, Part I
The forms and positional tolerances called out on product designs often defy the physical abilities of the product's material. Proper product and process design, as well as pressure clamping, can help maintain strict tolerances.
|
|
View this Issue |
What springs are best for forming HSLA down and drawing up?
Choosing the right spring for working with HSLA is very important. The author recommends chrome nitrogen springs of well-known brands for proper quality control.
|
View this Issue |
DIEVESTIGATION: Deep-drawing and stretching variables – Part II
This article continues the discussion of deep-drawing and stretching variables begun in Part I by describing friction, thermal expansion, metal topography, and forming speeds and how they affect metal forming operations.
|
View this Issue |
Demystifying die protection
Originally die protection was developed just
to prevent damage to the tool and die during
the operation of a stamping press. As sensor
and controls technology knowledge has evolved
and stampers knowledge of it has expanded,
die protection...
|
|
View this Issue |
DIEVESTIGATION: Diemaking, from concept to reality
Just what is involved in die building? Whether you are a die builder or a stamping company that uses dies, this overview can help you understand the many steps required to take a die from concept to production.
|
View this Issue |
How can I stop die wrecks that occur even with sensors in use?
Even with many styles of sensors on a progressive die, die wrecks continue to occur. Addressing potential miss hits during the design stage, and using proximity sensors in careful, deliberate ways, can help control the problem.
|
|
View this Issue |
DIEVESTIGATION: Important considerations when designing deep-drawn parts
What is deep drawing? What part parameters require the process? What must you consider when designing a deep-drawn part, and when should you consider an alternate process, such as spinning?
|
View this Issue |
Appliance stamper draws on magnetic die clamping to accelerate its uptime
In the home appliance industry, designs are constantly updating to meet consumer tastes and changing market demands. For the stamping supplier forming a new bracket for a new design, high production volumes necessitated tripling the number of...
|
|
View this Issue |
DIEVESTIGATION: Draw or stretch? That is the question
When designing a part, you must decide which is the best way to form it. Should you draw it or stretch it? That depends on several factors, including forming depth.
|
View this Issue |
Preventing oil canning problems
Oil canning cannot be cured by coining, beating, or reshaping the metal. Instead, it must be prevented by ensuring the sidewalls are not subjected to radial compression.
|
|
View this Issue |
DIEVESTIGATION: Designing stamped parts
In his first installment of DIEVESTIGATION, a new column about using research and data to solve stamping problems, tool and die expert Art Hedrick discusses how the metal specified during part design affects downstream operations and costs. What...
|
View this Issue |
Design for manufacturability
Bachman Machine collaborates with customers,and often, tweaking the part design—just a little—enters the picture.
|
View this Issue |
Sheet Metal Stamping 101, Part V
How are bending, flanging, coining, embossing, stretching, curling, hemming, ironing, necking, and drawing related? They all are common metal forming operations. Find out more about these processes in this final installment of stamping expert Art...
|
|
View this Issue |
Sheet Metal Stamping 101
Editor's Note: This series presents an overview of metal stamping. Part I focuses on the various careers in the metal stamping industry. Part II discusses stamping materials and equipment. Part III focuses on dies and cutting and Part IV...
|
View this Issue |
Synthetics take on tough jobs
Synthetic lubricants now can take on a greater variety of stamping applications.
|
View this Issue |
Mild steel to HSS: Not just a spec change - Part II
Stamping high-strength steel, rather than mild steel, requires a different press system design approach. Standard presses are not designed to withstand the forces associated with HSS. A link drive can reduce the impact when the upper die touches...
|
|
View this Issue |
Sheet Metal Stamping 101, Part IV
Continuing his series about sheet metal stamping, tool-and-die expert Art Hedrick explains common cutting operations used in stamping: trimming, piercing, blanking, notching, shearing, lancing, and pinch trimming. Find out how they work and which...
|
|
View this Issue |
10 design laws for tool designers
Tool design shortcuts, oversights, and errors can be costly. Following some fundamental design laws can help you anticipate and prevent possible problems, simplify operation and maintenance, and improve production and quality.
|
View this Issue |
Design, build, troubleshoot
When a quality stamped product is needed, operating as a team, communication and a solid understanding of the plan is paramount in efficiently producing a stamping die. The three critical phases of producing a capable stamping die are design,...
|
View this Issue |
Mild steel to HSS: Not just a spec change - Part I
Stamping high-strength steel, rather than mild steel, requires a different press system design approach. Standard presses are not designed to withstand the forces associated with HSS. A link drive can reduce the impact when the upper die touches...
|
|
View this Issue |
Accelerating Diemaking
There are several ways to shorten the die design-build-die tryout process to keep diemaking from becoming a bottleneck.
|
|
View this Issue |
Sheet Metal Stamping 101, Part III
Continuing his series about sheet metal stamping, tool-and-die expert Art Hedrick focuses on die basics, including die materials and rudimentary maintenance. He also explains the cutting process and what happens to metal when you cut it with a...
|
View this Issue |
Designing speed-friendly dies
Usually the first place stampers look to reduce cost is the labor burden per part, which leads to the inevitable pursuit of producing parts faster. The speed capability of a stamping die is determined by how fast the part physically can be...
|
View this Issue |
Measurement, assembly, and welding: Ultra Tool's quest for in-die perfection: Part II
Ultra Tool & Manufacturing launched a program to tackle sensor technology in an effort to errorproof the pressroom.
|
View this Issue |
Measurement, assembly, and welding: Ultra Tool's quest for in-die perfection: Part III
Ultra Tool & Manufacturing adds in-die projection welding to its capabilities, eliminating secondary operations and significantly reducing labor costs.
|
|
View this Issue |
Sheet Metal Stamping 101, Part I
Metalworking professionals who possess diverse proficient skills have an edge in a tight job market. In this first installment in a series, tool-and-die expert Art Hedrick presents an overview of the metal stamping industry and describes the...
|
View this Issue |
Measurement, assembly, and welding: Ultra Tool's quest for in-die perfection: Part I
Ultra Tool & Manufacturing launches a program to tackle sensor technology in an effort to errorproof the pressroom.
|
View this Issue |
The ins and outs of magnetic die clamping
For the right application, magnetic die clamping can add significant flexibility to a stamping operation, eliminate physical clamps, and simplify maintenance.
|
|
View this Issue |
Using analog technology to errorproof the stamping process
Ensuring part quality and protecting dies are important considerations for any stamping operation. In-die analog sensors can help stampers reduce setup errors and downtime while achieving optimum part quality. This article discusses different...
|
View this Issue |
Converting your fluid systems to green
Metal forming, stamping, and washing fluids traditionally have been thought of as "necessary nuisances" to be used once and thrown away. That mindset is changing.Incorporating "green" or environmentally friendly fluids and fluid management systems...
|
View this Issue |
Revealing the Magic — Using data and conducting experiments to solve metal forming problems
Effective stamping professionals rely on scientific principles and not magic to determine and correct production problems. Find out how to troubleshoot wrinkles and rips and take corrective action by following a basic procedure that can be...
|
View this Issue |
3-D die design for a 3-D world
3-D die design software allows you to build the die on the computer screen, fully assembled and ready to run as if it were built and sitting out on the shop floor. SolidWorks-based Logopress3 software even allows you to then simulate the die...
|
|
View this Issue |
Buying time—by welding
You're almost at the end of a production run and your stamping die fails. What do you do? Replace the failed component? Attempt a repair? How do you decide which option is best? These questions—along with basic guidelines for repairing a die...
|
View this Issue |
Green lubes under a microscope
Stamping parts with vegetable oil is becoming more a reality every day. For a metal working lubricant—whether it be soluble, semi-synthetic, or synthetic—to be USDA-classified as biobased, it must contain, at minimum, 40 percent to 57...
|
View this Issue |
Carbide in tool and die
Carbide is a two-phase, powder-metallurgical (PM) material consisting of a hard material phase and a binder metal phase. The hard material provides the necessary wear resistance, and the binder metal guarantees appropriate toughness. To select the...
|
|
View this Issue |
3 deadly tool design sins
Among the many factors to consider when designing and building a stamping die are the material to be processed, the press that will run the die, and specified part tolerances. Inadequate knowledge of these factors can contribute to die failure...
|
View this Issue |
Selecting, using tool coatings to stamp AHSS
Proper selection and use of tool coatings in HSLA and AHSS forming applications will extend tool life and yield the best part results.
|
View this Issue |
Reading progressive die strip — Part II
Looking at the results of a process—in this case, the strip produced in the die—certainly can lead to good data indicating the root cause of a problem. Distorted, elongated pilot holes, mismatched cuts are common defects. Distorted pilot holes...
|
|
View this Issue |
Reading progressive die strips — Part II
Looking at the results of a process—in this case, the strip produced in the die—certainly can lead to good data indicating the root cause of a problem. This Part II of a two-part series discusses hard marks, poor die design, and...
|
View this Issue |
How to implement quick die change
Know you need to implement quick die change in your shop, but don't know how? Start here.
|
|
View this Issue |
Reading progressive die strips — Part I
Looking at the results of a process—in this case, the strip produced in the die—certainly can lead to good data indicating the root cause of a problem. Distorted, elongated pilot holes, mismatched cuts are common defects. Distorted...
|
|
View this Issue |
Getting the most from your cutting punches: Part II
Many factors influence tool steel selection. Part I of this article focused on selecting the right cutting clearance. Part II discusses properties to look for in tool steel and the importance of heat treating, preparation for production,...
|
View this Issue |
Lubrication and galling in stamping of galvanized AHSS
Forming of galvanized AHSS involves higher contact pressures at the tool-workpiece interface compared to forming mild steel. Under these severe interface conditions, improper selection of lubricants, tool materials and tool coatings may result in...
|
View this Issue |
Successful Extruding: Part II
Die design and building is a critical part of a successful extrusion process. ironing—vertically squeezing the metal between the punch and the die to increase the surface area—helps refine the extruding process, as does preforming.
|
