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Press Tools & Dies

Blanking, piercing, forming, bending, compound and progressive dies engineered for precision sheet-metal work at production volume.

A press tool is only as good as the clearance it was built to. We design and manufacture blanking, piercing, compound and progressive dies for sheet-metal components — sized from the strip you are running, not from a catalogue.

Every tool is built around the material you actually press. Cutting clearance is set per side against strip thickness and grade, because a die built for 1.6 mm CRCA will burr and chip if you feed it 2 mm HR.

What we build

Tooling we make

  • Blanking dies — single-station, for flat components at volume
  • Piercing dies — hole patterns, slots and notches held to pitch
  • Compound dies — blank and pierce in one stroke, for concentricity
  • Progressive dies — multi-station strip layout for higher volumes
  • Bending, forming and restriking tools
  • Trimming and cut-off tools for formed components

Specification

How it is built

Die block and punchesD2 / HCHCr, hardened 58–62 HRC
Die set and shoesEN8 / mild steel, stress relieved
Punch plate and stripperEN8, ground both faces
Cutting clearanceSet per side against strip thickness and grade
Guide pillar and bushGround and lapped, standard interference fit
Profile cuttingWire EDM for punch and die apertures
Surface finishGround flat and parallel on all mating faces

Process

From your drawing to a working tool

  1. Drawing reviewWe check the component for feasibility before quoting — bend radii against material, hole-to-edge distances, and whether the tolerance stack is achievable on a press.
  2. Strip layoutBlank development, nesting and pitch. This is where material cost per component is won or lost.
  3. Tool designDie set sizing, shut height, clearance, stripping force and spring selection.
  4. ManufactureWire EDM for profiles, surface grinding for flatness and parallelism, jig boring for pitch.
  5. TryoutFirst-off samples pressed, checked and corrected before the tool leaves us.

Questions

Common questions

What is the difference between a compound die and a progressive die?

A compound die blanks and pierces the component in a single stroke at one station, which keeps holes concentric to the blank profile. A progressive die moves a strip through several stations, doing one operation at each, and suits higher volumes. Compound gives better concentricity; progressive gives better output per hour.

What cutting clearance do you use?

Clearance is set per side as a percentage of strip thickness, and the percentage depends on the material. Too little clearance causes secondary shear and premature punch wear; too much causes excessive burr and roll-over. We set it against the grade and thickness you actually run, not a single default.

Can you build a tool from a sample part instead of a drawing?

Yes. We reverse-engineer from a physical sample regularly. Send the sample or a dimensioned sketch and we will produce a drawing for your approval before any steel is cut.

More from the tool room

Other capabilities

Send a drawing. Get an engineering view in 24 hours.

A real engineer reads it — not an autoresponder. We will tell you whether the tool can be built as drawn, and what we would change to bring the cost down.