Re-building a forming Die (pics)

[Mazza07]

Hi, long time lurker here, decided to make an account to say thanks for all the info I've gotten from here and post up the most recent results. I'm a mechanic, welder, machinist, electrician, and have made plenty of animatronics. But machinist wise, I'm still a little green, mostly been a CNC setup/button pusher. This is the first job given to me that was high tolerance, and no print, just make it work again.

So we got an old forming die from one of our customers, and were told to rebuild it.
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Shop Cat does not look impressed, maybe concerned we won't meet the deadline, or is just unhappy about his picture being taken, I'm not sure.

They supplied the two rings, and top and bottom of the die. Of course they didn't fit, and too much interference to be able to press, so a bit of turning and liquid nitrogen later, and the rings are together.

Next was making the mounting blocks, couldn't weld to the rings since it was hardened 4140. After squaring up the blocks, making the pocket was the next bit of fun. Standard 1" rougher went though like butter, but the 3" long bit did not like that heavy of a cut.

So I backed it off a bit, and got thorugh, then switched to a 4" long ingersoll to remove the last 1/2" and finish the bottom of the pocket. Used a 6" long 2"dia rougher to add a radius to the side, then drilled and counterbored the block. Next was to drill/tap the rings for 3/4-10. So spotface with a 3/4 centercutting endmill, then center drill, drill, and tap. Only exploded one drill bit before I got it right...
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Then on to the bottom die that we resurfaced.

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And finally finished and back together.
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Shop Cat can now take that smug look off his face, we got it done Thanks to everyone here for all the info I've absorbed from this site. I still have plenty I can learn, but after finishing this project I've learned a lot and will be more confident taking on more complex projects.

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[Mazza07]

 

[partsproduction]

Nice work!

 

[Mazza07]

Thanks, it's always nice when your plan matches up with the final result. Especially when working with machines that you're still learning. I've mostly been a setup/operator on CNC's, Okuma LB-15 to LU-45, to Okuma Multus and a couple Mazak E-410's. Going from those back to some older machines has been quite the learning curve, but in a very good way.

 

[KilrB]

Nice work there but, did you hit it?

Where's a shot of the formed part that it makes?

We've got four dies that a customer sent us sitting on a shelf now.

The parts they make are nowhere near print.

Turns out the guy that made them never actually hit a part in them ... because he doesn't have a press.

 

[Mazza07]

No, we didn't, and it won't be our fault if it doesn't strike right The ID of the inner ring was cut by them. There's a slug that drops into the bore, and it basically makes big aluminum pancakes that are then machined. We do have a press we could have tested it with, but they didn't want us to mess with it at all. The customer supplied all the parts except the mounting blocks. They were trying to do this job themselves, but after making the rings they needed some help. After measuring everything we found .050" interference between the rings, and the counterbore in the bottom die is off about 1/16". We let them know about that and they told us it will be fine, just minimal cleanup on the bore and surface of the bottom die, and turn the ID on the outer ring to make it .003" interference.