Stamping tool and die manufacturing is a cold-forming process that involves pressing raw material into a die to change its shape. It is one of the most popular and adaptable production procedures. Stamping enables manufacturers to produce high-volume batches rapidly and cost-effectively, resulting in uniform and exact metal components.
Any stamping project’s success is contingent on the quality of the tooling. The stamping die, in particular, must be well-made and engineered to ensure precise results.
What is Die Stamping?
A male punch forces a piece of sheet metal into a female die with a concave form that matches it in metal stamping. The metal gets pushed to conform to the shape of the die without heat by the stamping machine. Die stamping uses specialized tools called dies tailored to generate a specific design, which can be as simple as common household goods or as complicated as computer components. The die’s design can form or cut metal or perform both simultaneously, depending on the application.
Major Types of Dies:
- Transfer Stamping:
It is similar to progressive stamping used for successive processes in high-volume manufacturing. However, unlike progressive stamping, transfer stamping does not use a linked metal strip.
- Progressive Dies:
These dies are for progressive stamping, a method in which a component is cut and bent in numerous steps while still attached to a long metal strip.
- Compound Dies:
All dies that conduct both a cutting and a shaping operation in a single stroke of the die press are classified as compound dies. Compound dies are a great way to increase productivity.
- Line Dies:
This type enables tandem-line stamping of huge components and is especially useful for jobs that are impossible to complete on a single stamping machine.
Operations
Stamping die performs forming or cutting operations on a metal blank. The manufacturing technique and component geometry determine the optimal stamping die. The following cutting procedures are among the most frequent, even though there is a wide range of possible stamping operations:
- Trimming:
This operation removes extra metal from the component’s perimeter, resulting in a cleaner and more precise finish.
- Notching:
In this operation, in progressive stamping, notching forms a pattern of inset notches along the perimeter of a metal strip.
- Lancing:
This operation slits a metal strip without totally separating it, usually to provide a component carrier in progressive stamping processes.
- Blanking:
This is an operation of separating a fully or partially completed component from a sheet of metal so that it can be further machined or finished.
- Piercing:
Piercing creates a precise hole in the metal component, commonly round or rectangular.
Difference between Tool and Die Manufacturing
While stamping dies are a type of tooling, not all tooling manufacturers have experience with stamping tool and die production. Cutting tools, shaping tools, and fittings are many items that toolmakers can create or modify. Therefore, stamping dies are occasionally but not always a part of their toolkit. On the other hand, Diemakers specialize in die production, which has its own set of considerations.
Die production necessitates extreme accuracy since the geometry of the die influences the shape of the final components. Because stamping is most commonly used for high-volume manufacturing runs, any faults in the die could affect hundreds of thousands of parts.
Dies can also take on complex geometries, primarily when utilized in multi-station or combination processes. Because not all tools must meet the exact accuracy requirements, it’s critical to engage with a company with vast experience with stamping dies in particular.
Conclusion
Reputed die and stamping services providers are significantly more knowledgeable about the many types of dies than a regular toolmaker. While a general tooling maker may be able to create a stamping die, they may not provide the individualized design advice that comes from a stamping die expert.
Hence, given the many stamping die variations available, this issue is essential. Select an experienced stamping tool and die manufacturer so that you are in a much better position to identify and source effective tooling.
