How To Pick Great Die Cutting With The Experts

[Chris]

How To Pick Great Die Cutting With The Experts

It is amazing how many companies manufacture goods which then need some kind of stamping into shape. But they often sub contract this work out to other companies because they do not have the machinery. Contract die cutting is quite common along with OEM die cutting too and these third party companies are glad to have the extra work.

The process itself cuts the same shape out of the base material over and over again so that each individual piece is an exact image of all those that went before. These ‘blanks’ as they are called will probably have some detail added them further along in the process but this can be done by the mother company along the chain of manufacturers who have a hand in the process. The medium used for these blanks can be just about anything from wood through plastic and on to metal depending on what is required at the end of the day. A superb example of this kind of work is the upper part of shoes which are normally stamped out of leather or plastic before being pressed into shape to be attached to the sole. By doing the process this way, the product is cheaper to produce and this obviously makes for better business in the end.

Blades used in the cutting process are extremely sharp indeed and look as sharp as a razor blade. These are easily bent into the form that is required and it is then strengthened for prolonged use by putting them onto a hard block to the rear. It is then durable enough to stamp out the shapes for several thousand times or more depending on what is needed. If one thinks of cookie cutters cutting out biscuits, one gets the general idea of what the process is. However, with these blades, many layers of material can be cut through at the same time to save any time constraints and wastage that is produced.

This really is a clever process since many cutters can be mounted on the backing block adjacent to one another. This means that when the material is being cut out, the process only has to be done once, and the whole run is cut out much faster in the end. This is particularly useful for high quality materials or fine leather which is too expensive to waste much. But these cutters can be used to stamp out metal materials too which can include everyday items like key blanks and such. The bigger the cutter, the more complex the shape or size can be. For example, ships have to have spare parts stamped out so this is not a job for those small cutters for shoes and the like! Indeed, because of the sharpness of the cutters, much care has to be taken around them since people have been known to lose their lives so the company has to ensure that no one is in the vicinity when the operation is being done. Even limbs have been cut off so all safety measures have to be taken every time the machine is in use.

Finally, these cutters also have another trick up their proverbial sleeve since they are used to fold clean lines in card and metal too. By not pressing too hard, the material has a perfect fold line which is then creased down that line by another machine.

Source :
http://www.freearticledatabase.net/2010 ... e-experts/