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Ask the Stamping Expert: 10 design laws for tool

designers
OCTOBER 27, 2009
BY: THOMAS VACCA (/AUTHOR/THOMAS-VACCA)

Designing tools, like most tasks, goes more

smoothly when you follow guidelines to
achieve the desired result. Implementing these
10 design laws can help you produce the best
tools for your stamping application.

1. Have no other goal except your personal

best. The results are a reflection of the design.
Think beyond the traditional "design the tool";
think "design the process."

Design is not about creating 120 AutoCAD®

drawings that all fit together to produce a die
that will stamp a part to printed specifications. (https://static.thefabricator.com/a/10-design-laws-for-tool-
It is more about creating a die that maximizes designers-1.jpg?size=1000x1000)
tool life, yields minimal variation relative to the
part tolerances, and reduces the skill level and time required to service the tool quickly and cost-effectively.

2.Minimize strip lift and die stroke. The shorter the lift, the faster the production and the more dimensionally
stable the parts are. The less you need to move the strip, the more stable it will be. A shorter stroke reduces
vibration and increases tool life. Vibration to tooling is like sand in your transmission—poison!

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6.12.2018 Ask the Stamping Expert: 10 design laws for tool designers - The Fabricator

3. Design lifters so that they keep the strip level during progression and as the die closes. Strips must be
level at all times. Do not have large gaps between the lifter that will allow the strip to sag, and always set the lifter
to keep the strip level throughout the entire progression.

If you are using spring-loaded punches, make sure the springs are sufficient to prevent any punch from backing
up during the bending.Waviness in the strip progression will cause dimensional variation.

4. Balance all work being done. Balance any action on one side of the strip with spring preload pressure on the
opposing side. This applies to both front to back and left to right.

Many times I have seen a tool with several tons of nitrogen cylinders loaded at the exit end, because the
previous operation was used for heavy forming. The press shut height has been adjusted to ensure the die
closes on the bumpers in the new operation. This imbalance causes an overhit on the entry side of the tool
where relatively light work is being done.

The imbalance also causes the die to close unevenly relative to any ram slope that occurs. Imbalances and
uneven closure lead to excessive uneven wear in the machine and tooling.

5. Design for simple, repeatable maintenance. Design the tool to ensure that service can be performed in the
same way and achieve the same results every time it's necessary. Minimize the difficulty of service.Use
throwaway inserts on high-wear forms.

Build the tool so that service involves flat grinding and shimming. Eliminate the need for regrinding sweeps,
forms, clearance slots, and heels when servicing cutting components. Spending a little more effort upfront with
inserts and quills and splitting items into multiple components as necessary save a lot of maintenance
headaches.

6. Design out people skills; design in machine capabilities. Machines make parts; people maintain
components. Do not design components that require maintenance by highly skilled technicians.

With today's wire electrical discharge machines (WEDM), there is very little need for people to grind forms and
shapes. Today's WEDM can produce a surface finish to even the tightest requirements, with the exception of a
very few types of tooling that still requires vision grinders. When people skills are needed, clearly define the
requirements on the printed specifications. See law 9.

7. If the print is changed, update the revision (every time, no exceptions). We all have been caught in the
trap of ordering or making a component only to find out requirements had changed on the print, the print revision
was not updated, and we wasted time and money making something that was wrong.

Follow the golden rule of design: Always update the revision, even if you think the change does not matter.It
actually is best to make the revision a part of the detail number.

8. Design to achieve perfect execution. Execution is either perfect or not. It needs to be fail-safe and
duplicated.

During the die design phase always review the progression. At each pitch of the progression ask what is
expected in that station, what can go wrong, and what can be done to mitigate possible problems.

When a tool is in development, how many times must you go back and re-engineer to get it right? If you have
slug pulls, do you go back and add a bazooka, or did you anticipate this upfront and build it in?

If a form is off location, do you have go back and recut tooling, or did you anticipate this possibility upfront and
insert the tool?

If you examine your development process, record every issue, and then, when done, review all the re-
engineering, you will find that most of the time, you could have anticipated these issues. Time spent planning for
and mitigating risk upfront and adding duplication-like qualifiers, inserts, slug darts, and bazookas to ensure that
the tooling operates effectively in production is time well-spent.

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6.12.2018 Ask the Stamping Expert: 10 design laws for tool designers - The Fabricator

9. If it needs to be done, it needs to be on the print. If it is on the print, it needs to be done—every detail. This
is very important. If corners need to be broken, then we need to state by how much and with what tolerance.
Clearance slots that have no functional purpose require specified dimensions and tolerances on the print.There
should be no room for interpretation errors, or leaving any items undefined based on the old adage, "Everyone
should know that."

10.Nothing is the only thing that is insignificant. By nature, if you can identify something, it is subject to
change and, therefore, significant and required to be defined in the design. Never fall into the trap of thinking
something is insignificant. I can tell you horror stories related to dowel pin lengths, springs, screws, carbide
grades, and punch lengths that can have a greater range allowed in service than on the design print—the list
goes on. All of these items were thought to be insignificant.

Remember from the ten tooling laws, if nothing changes, then nothing will change.

Also remember the three R's of design:

Repeatability—Do something the same every time and you will get the same results.

Reliability—Make sure the process is robust and not subject to variation caused by minute outside influences.

Replication—Design a process or tool that is easy to duplicate and not subject to human factors or skill.

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Thomas Vacca

Micro Co.
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6.12.2018 Ask the Stamping Expert: 10 design laws for tool designers - The Fabricator

More Content by Thomas Vacca (/author/thomas-vacca)

Has a shop floor stamping or tool and die question stumped you? If so, send your questions to
kateb@thefabricator.com to be answered by Thomas Vacca, director of engineering at Micro Co.

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