Tooling

Tooling Capabilities

Steel Rule Dies

The majority of cutting that we do is performed with steel rule dies. This style of die is a quick, cost effective way of cutting many soft, flexible and thin materials while maintaining standard tolerances of +/-.005. Many different rule heights from .918 up to 1.500 are used along with a variety of punch styles to get the desired result. We can even use custom made punches and inserts when needed.

Various thickness and densities of ejection rubbers are used to make your die work optimally. With a multitude of die board styles to choose from as varied as multi-ply maple and birch, Lexan and composites, combined with blanking or stripping fixtures, much of the off press work can be eliminated. We will design, do a complete first article inspection, and then properly store your die in a climate controlled environment.

Hard Tooling: Matched Metal / Compound

Some parts are best made with tools other than steel rule dies such as plastics or composites that are too hard for cutting with steel rule dies or parts with very tight tolerances. For these parts, hard tooling can be the way to go.

Our skilled tool and die maker creates a precise all-metal tool using various grinding, wire EDM and machining techniques. Combined with various press feeding methods such as air feed, servo or gripper, the best set up is used to create your part. While this is a more expensive tooling option, it often is the preferred method to create high volumes of tight tolerance parts. Examples of parts we have cut using hard tooling are fiberglass reinforced laminates for locating washers, carbon fiber composite supports, and high durometer elastomers that are used in microwave absorbing applications.

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Combo Tools

In other instances we combine the economy and efficiency of steel rule dies with the precision and control of hard tooling to create what we refer to as combo dies. While offering some savings compared to all metal hard tooling, we can benefit from the characteristics of both die sets. We use this technique, for example, for kiss cutting a coated substrate from both above and below creating a pull tab that allows easy removal of the release liner at the point of assembly. On other occasions we need to kiss cut on adhesive backed material while at the same time cutting holes in the part and ejecting them down through the die set.

Custom Tooling

Our tooling capabilities to provide you with the most customization for your project. Working with our engineers, we will select the best tooling for your order to ensure the highest quality.

Our Capabilities

  • Steel Rule Dies
  • Hard Tooling
  • Combo Tools
  • EDM cut tooling
  • Standard tolerances of +/-.005
  • Rule heights from .918 to 1.500

Thermal & EMI Solutions