| Forward
Progress for Turret Tooling
by
Ron Palick
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Wilson Tool International, Inc.
| Progressive
Tooling Decreases Hits, Improves
Productivity |
|
Traditional
thick turret tooling continues to be the most versatile
and cost-effective method of high speed metal fabricating.
However,
certain unique applications require fabricators and tool
manufacturers to seek special tooling solutions. For instance,
applications with high-volume, multi-stage jobs with many
parts, such as electrical clips, cable supports, hold down
clamps, etc., may require special tooling to complete the
part quickly and efficiently. To help our customers deal
with such demanding applications, Wilson Tool has developed
high quality progressive tooling.
Progressive tooling allows turret punch press operators to
produce parts efficiently and effectively using their existing
punch press – at a fraction of the cost of traditional
hard tooling. With its unique die set, progressive tooling
can perform complex, multiple-stage punching in a single
station. These progressive die sets, which are designed
to be sheet fed rather than coil fed, are made to run
in much
the same way as traditional die sets typically used on
stamping presses. However, due to the inherent advantages
of turret
punch presses, setting up the progressive tooling is
very quick. This makes it possible to enjoy the advantages
of
progressive tooling without the need for extremely high
volumes.
“By
eliminating setup for each stage, progressive tooling makes
the fabricating process extremely fast and efficient,” says
Gordy Straka, Wilson Tool assistant manager, specials applications. “The
result is a cost-effective method of punching that greatly
reduces lead times.”
Wilson Tool’s progressive tooling
is also much more flexible than traditional hard tooling, allowing operators
to perform such applications as adding holes not included
in the original part design, and bending, a function
normally performed on a press brake machine.
A Decided Advantage
The greatest advantage progressive tooling has over
traditional punching methods is the speed of the finished part, particularly
with high volume runs near or exceeding 100,000 hits.
By using progressive tooling, a complex job which might have
required hours of setup at numerous stations can now
be confined to one station, greatly reducing set-up time. In addition,
the time in which progressive tooling can complete a
complex job is much shorter than traditional punching methods,
requiring just one or two sets of tools to complete the part.
The effective design inherent in progressive tooling
also allows the operator to perform multiple forming and piercing
operations, making the job more economical and easier
to reproduce.
Performance Options
Wilson Tool first developed progressive tooling more than
20 years ago and remains one of only a few companies offering
such specialized solutions to its customers. Every progressive
tool is engineered with Wilson Tool’s exacting
standards, achieving the highest tolerances in the industry.
In addition,
all progressive tooling offers a variety of proprietary
tool steels, tool coatings and unique features to ensure
each
tool is capable of handling the specific application.
“Our customers are continuously looking to us
for effective tooling solutions,” said Straka. “By offering
innovative options such as progressive tooling, we can
give our customers a better choice for their fabricating
needs.”
A Unique Solution
Progressive tooling does not eliminate all set-up or
lead-time requirements, but it can be an excellent alternative for
complex, high-volume jobs. By reducing setup time and
the overall number of hits needed to finish a complex job, progressive
tooling can greatly reduce the amount of time necessary
to deliver a finished part.
For more information about progressive tooling, please contact
a Wilson Tool Sales Engineer at 800-328-9646 or visit www.wilsontool.com.
About Wilson Tool
For more than 35 years, Wilson Tool International® (www.wilsontool.com)
has been a leading provider of tooling solutions that enhance
the performance of sheet metal fabricating machinery worldwide.
Wilson Tool International is the world’s largest independent
manufacturer of tooling systems for punch presses, press
brakes and punch and die components for the stamping industry.
Products are manufactured at their world headquarters in
White Bear Lake, Minn., USA, and their European facility
in Swindon, England. Wilson Tool’s network of sales
engineers and international distributors operate in virtually
every industrialized nation around the globe.
For more information, please contact:
Wilson Tool International®, Inc.
12912 Farnham Avenue
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
Tel: 800-328-9646
Fax: 800-222-0002
turret@wilsontool.com
www.wilsontool.com
|
710
Remington Road 
Volume
13 Issue 1 -
July 2003