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During a punching tool’s short journey, it strikes down, penetrates or indents a sheet metal workpiece, and then it retracts so that it lines up with its next strike. The whole process is over in less than a second. With dies, a more complex tool geometry adds shape to the strike zone. Blade tool functions […]

With EDM Spark Eroding equipment in-situ, very precise material incisions become entirely possible. That might not seem like a big deal, as any abrasive cutting disc or milling tool can subtract workpiece material. Of some concern, however, aggressive cutting edges can’t make complex incisions, not without impacting the surrounding area. Well, electrical Discharge Machining uses […]

CNC Milling and CNC Punching, the Computer Numerical Control prefix does imply a link, but aren’t they two different machining processes? Controlled by computer codes, CNC Miling involves the use of a “milling” cutter. Unlike that subtractive material shaving machine, CNC Punching equipment processes sheet metal feedstock. The punching turret or head drops down to […]

Productivity losses can quickly kill a machine shop’s productivity margin. Narrow enough already because of high material costs and increasingly unmanageable overhead problems, that manufacturing facility can’t afford a run of rejected products. To correct that issue on a food processing line, some tweaks to the recipe would take care of matters. For punch and […]

Slug pulling occurs when a “slug” gets stuck to a punch as it’s pulling back from a strike. The tool pierced a panel of sheet metal, the slug (punched scrap) separated from the sheet, but it hasn’t dropped free. In lieu of the expected scrap removal action, the ejected waste clings to the tool. This […]

Seen in action, a metal cutting “shear” slices through sheet metal sections in a single cut. By comparison, an industrial saw is a less effective fabrication tool, one that takes time to route its cuts. Needless to say, that all-at-once shearing action takes its toll. Clearly, if a high-production metal forming workshop is to sustain […]

Seeking out punching precision, an engineering formula assures success. Procedurally, the factors accumulate as lots of smaller steps, not as some grand giant corrective leap. For instance, starting with a vital process optimizing initiative, we can use reverse-analysis testing to see how safe a punching tool is performing. We do this, not by examining the […]

A material-dense punch and die combo can absorb a great deal of punishment. Pushed to its limits, however, even a high-quality tool combo will chip. The overall piston-rolling strength of the tool holds out for a while longer. The impact-driven backbone crashes down resolutely, but the chipping effect propagates. Left like this, the output coming […]

Without die clearance tolerances, punching strokes would become woefully inaccurate. The equipment could still send the punch operation downwards accurately, with the tool moving as if it were on an invisible rail, but a poorly configured die-to-punch gap would then deflect the stroke before it made contact. To forestall such undesirable process results, equipment techs […]

Computer Aided Design involves program design space, parametric models, and proprietary software packages. By itself, this field of engineering can’t create a real-world product. Enter Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), with its machine codes and automated machinery. This is the second half of a computer-aided design and manufacturing process that’s currently revolutionizing the machine shop industry. […]