Page 34 - MetalForming March 2017

CNC Punching—Mind the Basics
for an index station.
• Can fit into a single station or a
multitool.
• Can be designed with micro-joint
ends for shake-and-break parting applications.
For continuous-parting applica- tions, a four-way radius tool uses one vertical hit between the parts, which helps optimize sheet nesting. The tool also can help reduce machine wear. For example, for a sheet of 100 parts, a fabricator can punch the corners with 108 hits using a four-way radius tool versus 400 hits with a special tool and an index station.
Tools Enable Additional Corner-Rounding Flexibility
For flexibility when performing cor- ner-rounding, fabricators have options. A single nine-way corner-rounding tool provides nine external popular radii, from 1⁄2 to 1⁄16 in. Auto-index program- ming selects and rotates the desired radius to round off all corners of a
When specifying tools for blanking, notify your supplier of this fact. And remember, use nonslug-free dies and flat-faced punches.
32 MetalForming/March 2017
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piece-part. Fully guided tooling is rec- ommended in such applications, as positive guiding action provides need- ed support when only one side of the punch is used at one time.
When specifying custom radii for
corner-rounding tools, work closely with your tool supplier. For adequate corner-rounding performance, each radius should include at least 90 deg. of arc (1⁄4 of a circle). For adequate tool strength, the noses between the deep
YSM is a world leader in producing vertislides for bending, stamping, and forming of strip, wire, and tubing. YSM offers mechanical, hybrid, and fully CNC vertislides, which are high speed, cost effective, and allow material savings over traditional progressive die stamping.
Michael Shapiro | mshapiro@gibraltar8.com | 847-383-5442