WCA May 2008

Dies & tooling

There is a sense in which every wire reduction operation is a custom treat- ment, so exact must be the ‘match’ between the die and the wire being drawn. Precision is everything in a wire die. And that precision is a considerable achievement in a com- ponent that is all angles – calling for a quality of craftsmanship several degrees higher than that imposed by a flat-plane mechanism. Remarkably, when it shows signs of wear, this technical marvel may be re-cut and reconditioned for an extended life in service. Fortunately, wire die making is a mature industry within-an-industry, and

(new& re-conditioned)

professional guidance in the selection and use of dies and tooling is readily available. In the history of wireproduction, the die shop was the tradi- tional centre of the plant and the master die maker a towering figure. In this era of computerised die- making, that prestige endures. The providers of the products and ser- vices reviewed in

this section are of that company of perfectionists.

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2008