Dies for OBI press

So I am making dies that are used to apply nail heads ( decoration ) to fabrics. I need to be able to access the top of the die so I need something that can slide under the head of and OBI press. I need it to be precision, hardened and can take high loads.

Do they make an off the shelf solution to this? The top of the die has to stay in precises alignment with the bottom.

Thanks

Jason

You need to start with a basic die shoe. Top of shoe has bushings and the bottom has precision pillars. The pillars are a precision sliding fit into the bushings and keep both top and bottom perfectly aligned. Available everywhere, just google for local distributor.

there are several makers... the correct term is die set.
Homepage - Superior Die Set is but one of them

They come in various post configurations, mounting, and shut heights. No 2 presses were built the same. You need to know your shut height, stroke, and ram speed. some presses use a "shank" for ram clamping, some use bolts through ram flanges, most of the time the bottom is more or less milling machine step clamps but can get a little more user friendly.

May I ask why you're planning on using an OBI press? Are you simply mashing nail heads into fabric like a rivet? Will this require a lot of tonnage? Will there be more than 100 "nails" used in this? I'm asking because a die can be costly and has some serious damage potential if an unskilled operator is involved. The only advantage to using a die is either tonnage required and/or the number of parts made. More information is needed here for a better answer.

Thanks for the leads. It is a gang die so I need to strike a design of say several hundreds to a few thousand nail heads all at once.

I found the die sets and it makes sense but the way I designed the dies the top and bottom are separate. For the smaller dies I have, I am using a kick press that has a dovetail so the ram is spot on each time. I have to be able to access the top of the bottom die to arrange the nailheads.

I did speak with superior and they recommended a 3 plate die set where the center plate comes out via air cylinder. I would need it to return to the EXACT spot once it gets back into the die. What is the repeatability with a 3 plate system?


Thanks

Jason

AD Design said:

May I ask why you're planning on using an OBI press? Are you simply mashing nail heads into fabric like a rivet? Will this require a lot of tonnage? Will there be more than 100 "nails" used in this? I'm asking because a die can be costly and has some serious damage potential if an unskilled operator is involved. The only advantage to using a die is either tonnage required and/or the number of parts made. More information is needed here for a better answer.

Click to expand...

Jason,

I would direct you to Accurate Manufacturing in Glendale, CA. They manufacture die sets in that location, pretty awesome operation. I got lucky one day and Rich the owner gave me a quick tour.

Accurate Mfg.- Die Sets - Mold Bases - Ground Plate - Fabrications

Chuck
Burbank, CA

Jason H said:

Thanks for the leads. It is a gang die so I need to strike a design of say several hundreds to a few thousand nail heads all at once.

I found the die sets and it makes sense but the way I designed the dies the top and bottom are separate. For the smaller dies I have, I am using a kick press that has a dovetail so the ram is spot on each time. I have to be able to access the top of the bottom die to arrange the nailheads.

I did speak with superior and they recommended a 3 plate die set where the center plate comes out via air cylinder. I would need it to return to the EXACT spot once it gets back into the die. What is the repeatability with a 3 plate system?


Thanks

Jason

Click to expand...

-I'd have to see the particulars of what, why, how many before I could offer further estimation. Not sure why you'd need a retractable "plate" but I'll take that you know your application way better than I do. As for "EXACT" just how exact do you need to be? Relative to the one,two, or three axis/planes? Lockup with accurate positioning is usually what a die is supposed to do anyway so if you define exact as +/-.001 I'd say it might be possible (sight unseen). " the way I designed the dies the top and bottom are separate." Stamping dies usually are. Design the die upper/lower the way you usually do, then just attache them to an upper/lower halves of a die set. Maybe that's not what you want and perhaps I don't really understand what you want. Have you calculated the tonnage needed for the hundreds/thousands of nail heads?