By : Monroe Rubber
Die performance is based on 3 things in regards to die ejection:
- Rubber selection.
Rubber Location.
Ejection balancing.
RUBBER SELECTION:
The selection of which rubber to use on a particular die is based solely on the amount of compression the rubber will be subjected to during the cutting process. Wood thickness, rule height and substrate thickness together determine how much compression a piece of rubber will experience. If the compression amount is small then an extra firm rubber is necessary such as MR75. As the amount of compression increases softer rubber is necessary such as ProPel™. Monroe has created an easy-to-read slide chart to take the quesswork out of this decision. Call Monroe Rubber and they will send you one! Tel : 800-521-0109.
RUBBER LOCATION:
On a flat die the rubber height should be 1/16 over the cutting edge of the rule. Rubber should be placed 1/16 away from the side of the rule. Some shapes such as Sidewave™, Ejectoflex™ and E-Z Set™ have built in spacers to keep the body of the rubber properly spaced away from the rule.
EJECTION BALANCING:
THIS IS WHAT SEPARATES A GOOD DIE FROM A GREAT DIE!
Rarely should a die only have one type of rubber. It should almost always have at least 2 types of rubber per die. Think of a die cutting not just one job but rather many different sized pieces. Each sized piece should have the same amount of ejection force. This is what is meant by a balanced die. To do this the larger areas need softer rubber and the smaller areas need harder rubber. This way the ejection force of a large piece is close to the same ejection force of a smaller area. If the same rubber was used for both large and small areas the ejection force of the different pieces would all be different.
Source : Monroe Rubber