PRESS TOOL & DIE

Tool and die making is the industrial art of manufacturing stamping dies, plastic moulds, jigs, and fixtures to be used in the mass production of solid objects. The fabrication of press-working dies constitutes the major part of the work done in tool and die shops. Most press-working dies are utilized in the fabrication of sheet metal parts that range in size from the finger stop on a dial telephone to the panels of an automobile body. Each press-working die consists of two sections, called punch and die, or male and female. Both sections are mounted firmly in an electrically or hydraulically driven press. In a working cycle, the press ram, on which the male section is mounted, descends into the fixed female section. Any metal interposed between the sections is cut or shaped to a prescribed form. Like the dies, the presses range in size from extremely small to gigantic. A bench press is often small enough to be picked up manually, but the press that stamps out the roof of a car is generally about three stories high and capable of exerting tonnes of force.