A tool body is made from aluminium. Moving parts in the tool are produced in brass or steel to prolong their life and maintain accuracy. Design changes can be made quickly, particularly when material is added to the component, as metal is removed from the die.
- Try to specify quantity requirements at the enquiry stage so that the number of impressions and the degree of automation is considered at the outset.
- If the design is not finalised, the production of a prototype single impression tool will help to establish the design prior to going to more complex tooling for high volume.
- Tooling can normally be produced in 2-5 weeks.
Reduce tooling costs by keeping as much detail as possible in the line of draw.
Types of tools
Manual tooling
Where volumes are unlikely to exceed 1000 off per annum, manual tooling will normally be used. Tooling cost is minimised without compromising on quality.
Multi-part coring
Internal features can be produced in manual tooling by using split cores. Complex parts of this type may run to quantities in excess of 5000 per annum.
Automatic tooling
This type of tooling is useful for parts where high quantities are needed. Automatic core operation and ejection of the wax from the die ensures rapid production and repeatability throughout the life of the part.
Multi-impression tooling
Smaller items may be ordered in quantities from 50,000 a year upwards. The use of automatic tooling with multiple impressions enables parts to be made quickly and economically, without sacrificing detail.
Gate Witness
"In-gates" are required where the metal feeds into the component.
The part should ideally be fed in an area where the gate can be removed by linishing to leave a witness of up to 0.5 mm (0.020") which does not affect the functionality of the component.
On machined castings, this witness may be removed during the machining process but the position and size of the witness should be agreed.
