Why does Die Maintenance matter?
A stamping die Preventative Maintenance (PM) program is crucial to maintain the life of a metal stamping die and keep conforming parts coming off the tool. Cutting edges need to be sharpened and other components should be inspected for wear. A PM program will help identify the high wear items and also help predict when a tool may need to see maintenance again. These programs can also help document the conditions operators or inspection teams need to watch for, indicating that maintenance might be needed soon. Keeping a preventative maintenance log is important so trends can be monitored and future needs anticipated ahead of your next scheduled production run.
Wisconsin Metal Parts offers a full-service tool & die shop to handle your preventative die maintenance and repair needs. From sharpening to spare component replacement, all design and manufacturing is done in-house. We will work to your supplied CAD or reverse engineer your current components and work with you to maintain a preventative maintenance program, if desired. We have tryout presses up to 200 tons with full feed lines to assure your tool is making parts as intended. Wisconsin Metal Parts is ISO 9001:2015 and ITAR certified. Cyber security is approved to NIST SP800-171 so your export restricted (ITAR) files are always secure.
We can work from CAD files, paper drawings or reverse engineer if no info is available. Tests can be performed to determine material types, hardness and coatings.
A part print and inspection report for the parts that the tool is making is a great place to start. The last parts the die made and the coil end strip are also helpful for the tool makers to investigate the tool and determine what needs to be done for die maintenance. If these things are available, we request that they accompany the tooling when shipping to us.
It is good practice to identify high wear items in stamping tooling and keep some spare components in your maintenance department. We can make spare die components and keep that CAD info on file for future use.
We have a variety of options for reverse engineering. The simplest form is using hand held measuring instruments to verify sizes and transfer that data into a CAD drawing. We also have several CMM’s, laser scanning and vision systems that can be used to capture the needed information. Models can then be created using Solid Works and 2-D part prints from those models. We have additional local support for 3-D scanning and material & coating analysis, if needed.
Give us a call (262-524-9100) or send us an Email (inquiry@wisconsinmetalparts.com) and let’s start talking about your specific project. A part print and as much information as possible about the tooling is a great place to start our conversation.