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Steel rule is made in a variety of thicknesses, called points, and heights. Standard gasket industry height is .937". Standard gasket industry die board is .625" high. Steel rule points cover rule flexible enough to bend very small radius corners and intricate shapes to rule that is thick and tough enough for thin gage steel. Average jigsaw made dies can be reliably made to conform to ±.015" tolerance. Laser made boards allow ruling tolerances of ±.005". These closer tolerance dies are more expensive but where tighter tolerance or less variance is needed they can make a difference in conformance physically and statistically. Round holes and cut out shapes can be made by three different methods. Shaped steel rule is generally the least expensive and least capable method. Tubular steel punches, generally for round holes, are inexpensive and holes punch tolerance to ±.003" from punch to punch. Thirdly, and most expensive, machined steel punches in all shapes can hold tolerance to ±.001" on the punch. Of course, the tolerance and capability of the die components is just the first factor in determining the tolerance capability ( CPK ) of a particular design using a specific material and thickness.
We use Steel Rule Dies to manufacture parts. We can hold die dimensions to ±.005" ( .12mm ). By comparison to other types of tooling Steel Rule Dies are economical and last for many thousands of impressions. We have made many prototype runs where our customer used a Steel Rule Die to prove out part design before buying expensive molding tools for high volume production or critical close tolerance pieces. Our customer save substantial tool money by using disposable Steel Rule Dies to prove out designs.
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