WCA November 2013

34 / 64

32 Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2013
The wire die is vital to the efficiency, quality and profitability of
a wire mill. The die must have the correct geometry and
tolerance or there will be inconsistent quality, customer returns,
increased scrapes, operator frustration and down time.
Tolerance has equal importance to geometry. The real diameter
of dies, particularly final dies, has to be as much as possible to
the stated diameter, ie with narrow tolerance.
As to the finishing dies and when drawing thin wires, dies must
be used measuring the wire elongation instead of tolerance on
wire diameter.
To optimise the performance efficiency of the high-speed
multi-wire drawing operation, Ajex & Turner has introduced
long nibs. Wire has better finishing and fewer breakages, and
the life of the die is much more than short nib.
The company is equipped with Conoptica, the world’s highest
die inner geometry checking instrument from Norway. The print
out of bearing, blending and reduction angle can be taken to
check complete die geometry.
Guidelines for customers of Ajex & Turner include:
• Recut or repolish die on observation of wear ring of wire
contact to maximise die life
• Filter lubricant to remove metal fines to maximise lubricant
flow, wire finish and die life
• Do not exceed maximum die size recommendation for
blank size
• Decrease bearing length for higher speed drawing
• Use finer grain dies blanks for improved wire surface finish
and in drawing ferrous and plated wires
• Use coarser grain die blanks for drawing larger size
non-ferrous wire to provide longer die life and improved
wire dimensional control
• In high temperature drawing of tungsten and molybdenum
wire, maintain reducing atmosphere in drawing zone to
minimise detrimental oxidation effects and maximise die life
• Use matched elongation die sets in multi-wire drawing
machines.
Ajex & Turner Wire Dies Co – India
Website:
Correct geometry and
tolerance from Ajex
❍
❍ The die must have correct geometry and tolerance