335 Santa Bella
Paso Robles, CA 93446
ph: 805 237 8800
Greg
Made with a high grade of plywood called dieboard, sharpened steel rule is formed and fitted into a path cut into the board by a computer-controlled laser. The resulting product works much like a cookie-cutter and is called a steel rule die.
Dies have two basic elements:
1) The base, usually made of wood.
2) The cutting rule which is bent and fitted into the slot cut in the wood with a laser or saw. Often times, pre-machined punches are used instead of a bent rule to cut precise holes in the part to be made.
*similar to the cutting rule, a punch may be more appropriate for your project, see more information below.
The Base
The wood used as the base in a die is typically made ofmaple or birch due to their strength which makes them best for laser cutting. While maple is the stronger and more uniform of the two, birch is easier to jig-saw and less costly than maple, but it does not laser cut as cleanly.
The Cutting Rule
The cutting blade in dies is called steel rule. The industry standard for measuring the thickness of rule is the point, equal to .014 inches. The most common rule we use is 2 point or .028", but point and a half, 3 point and 4 point are also available. As the rule gets thicker it is less formable for complex shapes. The most common height is .937 or 15/16" but .918 or type high" as it's known as in the printing trade is used extensively by printers.
Punches
Punches perform the same function as the steel rule, but are manufactured from steel tubing to precise dimensions and heat treated for strength. Punches are available in increments of 1/64 inch as a standard, and virtually any size as a special.
There are 4 basic styles of punches, Feed-through, Tube, Self-Cleaning, and Straight OD, or Straight Wall.
335 Santa Bella
Paso Robles, CA 93446
ph: 805 237 8800
Greg