TOOL AND DIE

Metal working capabilities include design and manufacturing of jigs, fixtures, dies, molds, machine tools, cutting tools, gauges, and other tools used in the manufacturing processes.

FIXTURING

A fixture is a work-holding or support device used in the manufacturing industry. Fixtures are used to securely locate (position in a specific location or orientation) and support the work during a subsequent process such as machining, sawing, grinding, straightening and inspecting. The fixture ensures that all parts produced using the fixture will maintain conformity and interchangeability. It also serves to reduce working time by allowing quick set-up, and by smoothing the transition from part to part. It frequently reduces the complexity of a process, allowing for unskilled workers to perform it and effectively transferring the skill of the tool maker to the unskilled worker. Fixtures also allow for a higher degree of operator safety by reducing the concentration and effort required to hold a piece steady.

VACUUM FORM TOOLING

Vacuum forming is a simplified version of thermoforming, whereby a sheet of plastic is heated to a forming temperature, stretched onto a single-surface mold, and forced against the mold by a vacuum (suction of air). The vacuum forming process can be used to make a wide variety of products such as product packaging, speaker casings and car dashboards. Vacuum forming is usually, though not always, restricted to forming plastic parts that are rather shallow in depth.

Suitable materials for use in vacuum forming are conventionally thermoplastics. The most common and easiest to use thermoplastic is high impact polystyrene sheeting (HIPS). This is molded around a wood, structural foam or cast or machined aluminum mold, and can form to almost any shape.

Investment casting, also known as the lost wax process is a manufacturing process in which a wax pattern is coated with a refractory ceramic material. Once the ceramic material is hardened its internal geometry takes the shape of the casting. The wax is melted out and molten metal is poured into the cavity where the wax pattern was. The metal solidifies within the ceramic mold and then the metal casting is broken out. Since the pattern is destroyed in the process, one will be needed for each casting to be made. When producing parts in any quantity, a mold from which to manufacture patterns will be desired. Parts manufactured by this process include dental fixtures, gears, cams, ratchets, jewelry, turbine blades, machinery components and other parts of complex geometry.

How to Become a Tool and Die Maker

Tool and die makers are at the top of the ladder in the metalworking trades. They are very versatile in using their hands for creating parts as well as machines to produce high precision parts. Their abilities go beyond that of the typical machinist. They are capable of designing and fabricating tools with no supervision. With these skills, tool and die makers are a tremendous asset in any manufacturing facility.

Master basic math. Understand addition, subtraction, and division. A little shop trigonometry is good for calculating bolt circles and finding the length of triangles. Some basic algebra can also be handy for applying handbook formulas.

Learn computer drafting. Suitable skills are included in vocational and technical schools' machining programs. Learn to create and interpret mechanical drawings.

Enter an apprenticeship program at a tool and die shop while in high school if possible. As an apprentice, you will do simple tasks like drilling, deburring, and sweeping in the beginning. The tasks will become more challenging as time goes on. You will learn the lathe, mill and surface grinder. Apprenticeships typically last 2 to 4 years.

Study machine tool technology at a good vocational trade school. Programs vary from school to school. Make sure you are studying at one that has various machines to learn from. A wire EDM (electrostatic discharge machining) tool would be nice. Also, make sure they have good CNC (computer numerically controlled) programming courses. Try to get hands-on experience in a shop rather than studying only in a classroom. The heart of your education will be in the types of projects you will be making in the course. A typical machine tool technology program will last two years.

Get a copy of the Machinery Handbook and refer to it often. This is an excellent reference for answering any machining problem.

Buy a set of good high quality precision tools like 1-2-3 inch micrometers, and a square set, along with a 7- or 11-drawer machinists toolbox. An electronic caliper is a plus also.

Try to stay away from generic tools because these seem to be less durable. Instead, invest in high quality tools like Starrett and Mitutoyo, top names in the trade.

If money is tight, obtain tools gradually, as you need them, over time, until you have your own set. Get the ones you need most first.

Once you land a job, focus on gaining experience. Learn from veteran tool and die makers. They can and often do share many tips they have learned over the years.

Talk with other tool and die makers on the internet in various discussion forums especially concerning CNC programming.

Read metalworking trade publications in your spare time.

Tool And Die Makers Career

Career as tool and die makers is a booming career in the manufacturing sector. The tool and die makers are highly skilled and they play a significant role in the manufacturing industries in the production of tools, die and other parts of machines that are used to produce many final products. The tool and die makers carry out both tool and die making, although these are two different processes. The nature of tool and die making is changing day-by-day. Thus, the tool and die makers should be a fast learner and get easily acquainted with new machineries. 

Tasks:-

The tool and die makers face a lot of competition in the initial phase of the career as tool and die makers. There are many tasks that need to be carried out by the tool and die makers:-

    The main job of the tool and die makers is to produce and repair tools, dies and other holding devices that enables the machineries to produce variety of products

    The tool makers craft the precision tools and machineries that are used to cuts, trim, shape, to form the finished metal products

    The tool and die makers develop, design, and produce new tool and dies

    They also repair and inspect the damaged tools, gauges, dies, jigs and fixtures

Qualification:-

The candidates who have mechanical aptitude can make a career as tool and die makers. However, there are certain qualification requirements that most of the employers need. They are as follows:

    Most of the training programs of 4-5 years are sufficient for the tool and die makers to get acquainted with their jobs

    A high school diploma or GED in tool and die making is also accepted

    Most of the employers provide on-job training, and give practical knowledge of tool and die making

    Knowledge of mathematics, electronics, computers and especially the CAD/CAM technology will be advantageous to fetch job in a reputed organization 

Other necessary skills:-

The career as tool and die makers is a highly tricky career, as the tool and die makers need to perform two different processes. Therefore, there are many skills that the tool and die makers need to possess. They are as follows:

    Excellent interpersonal skills

    Good organizational and time management skills

    Exceptional written skills

    Outstanding observation, fast learner and detail-oriented

    Superb analytical and logical skills 

Place of work:-

The career as tool and die makers is a thriving career, where the tool and die makers work mainly with different machineries. The tool and die makers generally work in the tool rooms, which are enclosed and quiet, away from any kind of noise and disturbance. The tool and die makers normally work for 40 hours a week. However, working for longer hours and on weekends is common for these workers.

Job Opportunities:-

The candidates who wish to make a career as tool and die makers can expect good job opportunities in most of the manufacturing industries. The industries that need tool and die makers in large numbers are as follows:

    Motor vehicle parts manufacturers

    Forging and stamping

    Other metal parts producing industries

    Machinery shops

    Screw, nut and bolt manufacturing

    Other metal part manufacturers 

Remuneration:-

Career as tool and die makers is a rewarding career, as the tool and die makers are well paid. The salary may differ based on the type of industries, education, location and experience. The industries that are the best paying industries are listed below:

    Motor vehicle parts manufacturing

    Plastic products manufacturers

    Machinery shops

    Forging and stamping 

The salary for the apprentices is comparatively less. However, the salary goes on increasing with years of experience and after acquiring promotions. The benefits that are offered by reputed organizations include paid holidays, sick leaves, health facilities, and retirement plans.

Job Progress:-

Career as tool and die makers provide many chances of promotion. The entry-level tool and die makers are provided several months training. After the training, the tool and die makers can work independently. The tool and die makers after gaining several years of experience can be promoted as supervisors, trainers or managers. Some of them may handle administrative work. The tool and die makers who have additional degree in engineering can become engineers or head tool designers.

Employment forecast:-

Career as tool and die makers is a challenging career, where the tool and die makers need to be highly skilled to face the competition. The introduction of latest technology and increasing competition with foreign manufacturers has hampered the tool and die making process tremendously. In future, the computer aided tools will take up the jobs of the tool and die makers. However, those tool and die makers who are highly skilled and talented will get job easily even if the employment growth is supposed to decline in the future. 

Tool and Die Maker Resume Sample

Tool and Die Makers work in a manufacturing setting where their primary work is to construct dies, molds, jigs and other tools as required in a specific order.

These are highly skilled people and usually learn the trade on the job.

Let us have a look at what a tool and die maker will write in a resume when applying for a job in response to an advertised position.

OBJECTIVE

Desire a Tool and Die Maker position with Acme Tools. Offering excellence in managing tool design and fabrication with an acute acumen for production process management.

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

• Over 7 years of extensive experience in tool and die making

• Functional knowledge of constructing both tools and dies keeping in mind predefined specifications

• Highly skilled in visualizing and computing dimensions and tolerance of assemblies

• Hands on experience in determining tools and equipment needed for each process

• In depth knowledge of incorporating sensors on dies as a form of hazard prevention

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Formulated and implemented a sensor that worked with environmental elements to ensure safety of dies while in process

• Wrote a manual on fabrication processes to be used as a tool and die maker bible by newly hired employees

WORK EXPERIENCE

June 2005 – Present

Codec Tools

Tool and Die Maker

• Produce dies and tools in accordance to customers’ specification

• Troubleshoot dies to analyze problems and failures

• Study blue prints and engineering sketches

• Lay out work processes and sequences of operations

• Perform repair and alteration procedures

• Monitor equipment and report malfunctions as needed

EDUCATION

Tool and Die Apprenticeship – ABC Company – 2005

High School Diploma – 2003

ADDITIONAL SKILLS AND EXPERTISE

• Knowledge of raw materials and tool room machinery

• Proven ability to use material handling equipment

• Deep familiarity of advanced shop mathematics

• Meticulous attention to detail

• Strong communication and organizational skills

• Able to work in a fast paced environment

US carmakers may face tool and die crisis

The US auto industry has officially put the agony of the late 2000s in the rearview mirror — US light vehicle sales were up more than 8 percent in the first nine months of 2013 compared to 2012, according to Autodata. However, industry watchers are pointing to a quiet but essential niche in the automotive supply chain that some see as a ticking time bomb.

Tool and die shops make the tools that stamp sheet metal and form plastics for many of the components in our cars. The problem is that the number of US tool and die shops is dwindling, and many of those that remain are located in the wrong region, and many have trouble replacing older workers. The number of tool and die shops in the US has fallen by 20 percent in the last 8 years, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. With new-car sales on the upswing, auto industry insiders are starting to think the state of affairs within the US tool and die industry could create an automobile production bottleneck in the near future. An inadequate supply of tool and die shops could mean reduced vehicle quality, higher prices, production stalls, and delayed vehicle launches. Yikes. The really scary thing is that the problem has proven vexingly difficult to fix. At issue is the cottage-industry nature of the tool and die game. Many tool and die shops are family-owned mom-and-pop operations.

The industry is also heavily concentrated in the Detroit/Windsor, Ontario area. As more US vehicle assembly operations have shifted south, the tool and die shops have not. Foreign auto manufacturers largely selected the southern US when they set up shop. Few tool and die shops existed there to support their tooling needs. And very few of the established shops in Detroit migrated with the work or took the financial risk to set up branch offices. So what’s the big deal? Why can’t a Detroit-area die shop truck tooling to a Nissan plant in Tennessee? It can. But when tooling breaks and a production line has to shut down until it can be fixed or replaced, the distance between Tennessee and Detroit is a painful one.

Efforts to lure tool and die shops to the South have been largely unsuccessful, as have efforts to lure young people to careers in the industry. It takes years to acquire the necessary skills to craft automotive tooling, and few with those skills are eager to uproot their families and move them from suburban Detroit to Smyrna, Tennessee. It can cost $10 million to start up a tool shop from scratch, which discourages many Detroit-area shops from expanding to serve assembly operations in the South. However, opportunity exists for tooling firms that are willing to weather the risks and invest in new tooling shops that are closer to customers, and invest in training the workers to run them. Industry insiders agree that will take a lot of time. The key question is, can the tool and die industry evolve to meet the needs of a changing industry before time runs out and the bottlenecks begin?

Plastic welding

Plastic welding is the process of creating a molecular bond between two compatible thermoplastics. Welding offers superior strength, and often drastically reduced cycle times, to mechanical joining (snap fits, screws) and chemical bonding (adhesives). There are three main steps to any weld: pressing, heating, and cooling. The application of pressure, which is often used throughout both the heating and cooling stages, is used to keep the parts in the proper orientation and to improve melt flow across the interface. The purpose of the heating stage is to allow intermolecular diffusion from one part to the other across the surface (melt mixing). 

Cooling is necessary to solidify the newly formed bond; the execution of this stage can have a significant effect on weld strength.There are several possible methods of plastic welding: Ultrasonics, Vibration, Spin, Hot Plate, Laser / Infrared, Radio Frequency, and Implant are the most common. These plastic welding processes are primarily differentiated by their heating methods. The application of pressure and allowances for cooling are mechanical considerations may vary from machine to machine within the general process category.

Pressure:
The use of pressure during the weld serves multiple purposes:

• Flattens surface asperities to increase part contact at joint.
• Maintains orientation of part .
• Compresses melt layer to encourage intermolecular diffusion between the two parts
• Prevents formation of voids from part shrinkage during cooling.
• Historically, pressure has been applied for plastic welding through the use of pneumatic presses. 

Recently, however, servo motors have been employed for at least a few of the common processes. Pneumatic welders are economical and well-suited to most simple applications. The precision of servo motion, however, offers greater control and precision which is desirable for more difficult applications or when the equipment is used for a wide variety of applications.

Machining - Removal Process

Machining is a term used to describe a variety of material removal processes in which a cutting tool removes unwanted material from a workpiece to produce the desired shape. The workpiece is typically cut from a larger piece of stock, which is available in a variety of standard shapes, such as flat sheets, solid bars, hollow tubes, and shaped beams. Machining can also be performed on an existing part, such as a casting or forging.

Parts that are machined from a pre-shaped workpiece are typically cubic or cylindrical in their overall shape, but their individual features may be quite complex. Machining can be used to create a variety of features including holes, slots, pockets, flat surfaces, and even complex surface contours. Also, while machined parts are typically metal, almost all materials can be machined, including metals, plastics, composites, and wood. For these reasons, machining is often considered the most common and versatile of all manufacturing processes.

As a material removal process, machining is inherently not the most economical choice for a primary manufacturing process. Material, which has been paid for, is cut away and discarded to achieve the final part. Also, despite the low setup and tooling costs, long machining times may be required and therefore be cost prohibitive for large quantities. As a result, machining is most often used for limited quantities as in the fabrication of prototypes or custom tooling for other manufacturing processes. Machining is also very commonly used as a secondary process, where minimal material is removed and the cycle time is short. Due to the high tolerance and surface finishes that machining offers, it is often used to add or refine precision features to an existing part or smooth a surface to a fine finish.