Producing stampings from hand-fed, pre-cut blanks is the
most common application of Whistler Modular Hard Dies.

Pre-cut blanks are manually inserted one at a time into a press, for punching and notching complete in one or more hits using Whistler modular dies. The number of hits or stations will depend on the job’s characteristics – such as hole pattern density, hole feature centers, press operator interface issues, press characteristics and the overall tonnage requirements of the job.

Depending on hole pattern density, typical subjects are ideally punched in one setup or handling – if not in a single hit, then progressively through the course of several stations, or even by using “hit & turn”, “hit & flip” or “hit & rotate” procedures that can significantly minimize your tooling investment. If the press area is large enough to support a particular flat blank subject in its entirety, then a decision should be made whether to tool it with a single purpose hard die or to consider using the advantages of a modular tooling system. While tooling budget is certainly a factor, the best solution may be one that meets the more general, longer-term needs of your particular pressroom environment.

Before selecting a tooling system, you first need to identify which press to use for the job. This process usually requires a thorough review of the potential work to be handled by both the tooling system and the press. Important press specifications to consider, in addition to its make and model number, include bed and ram areas, tonnage capacity, shut height (stroke down, adjustment up), stroke length, the amount of adjustment, and whether the press is a mechanical type, or hydraulic, or pneumatic. This information will be used to determine the correct size and fit of a Master Die Set and whether any additional features such as stop blocks or bolster plates may be necessary. Detailed press data will also be a factor in determining the number of hits necessary to complete your stamping.

Straight side, gap frame and OBI type presses are not the only possible choices. Many users have selected hydraulic or mechanical press brakes for use with Modular dies. Most brakes can be fitted with rigid support brackets to increase their front-to-back size capacities, but to protect against potential damage to both the brake and the tooling, consideration must be given to centralizing tonnage loads on a per job basis. Support brackets are often available in different sizes from the press manufacturer and they can also be supplied by Whistler.

During the press selection process for Magna Die ® and / or Adjustable systems, you may wish to consider the idea of getting maximum flexibility and best capacity utilization, by specifying a Master Die Set for use in more than one press.

Here we review two (2) applications to see how Modular Hard Dies can maximize your tooling dollars.

[one_half]PART A

The illustration for Part A shows a simple 4” x 11” (101.6 x 279.4 mm) job with 3 round holes and a square hole, being punched complete in one hit on a 7” x 17” (178 x 432 mm) template. In this example, the “stand-alone” tooling investment would include nearly 80% in reusable Capital items (Posts, Tool holders, Gages, etc.). By reusing the same Capital items, another, similar job with different hole sizes could be added to the system for only 20% of the original cost of Part A.[/one_half][one_half_last]PART B

Part B shows a more complex job 16” x 18” (406.4 x 457.2 mm) with 12 holes and 3 notches, being punched in 1 setup, 2 stations. The job needs 2 hits due to close hole centers, but could be punched in 1 hit with special cluster tools. As shown, a blank is loaded into station 1, punched, then moved into station 2. Before punching in station 2, a 2nd blank is loaded into station 1. With both stations loaded, a finished part will result with every stroke. In example above, the fully reusable Capital items represent approximately two-thirds of the total “stand-alone” tooling investment for Part B.[/one_half_last]

SOLUTIONS:

HAND-FEEDING PRE-CUT BLANKS is common and easily applied to any Whistler modular hard die system, although there are some size limitations due to the 3” / 75 mm open feed height of XimmiX ® bump dies. Generally, XimmiX ® template areas should not be larger than 48” x 100” (1220 x 2540 mm).

Adjustable and Magna Die ® systems have no particular limitations with respect to die set or work piece size and can be easily fitted with stock support rails to facilitate loading of very large blanks.

Whatever your choice, the key benefit to any modular die system is in the reuse of common tools – the holders, gages, posts or master set, in addition to the reuse of punches and dies on many jobs having the same features. Since tools can be reused and repositioned,

many of the items used on the first setup can also be used again on the second. In many cases, multiple setups are handled on the same template set by simply shifting the tools to the secondary locations as required.

To reduce hits, you can choose to add special “cluster” tools (2 or more features on one punch) but while clusters might result in punching the job faster, not all users find that lower production volumes will justify the cost difference between standard tools and special multiple or cluster tools.

With Whistler dies, the reusability feature of modular tooling means that other jobs can be added to the system at minimal cost, since previously purchased components are continually shared for reuse on new applications.