Tool making

In the case of tool construction, high-precision tools are produced which serve to produce workpieces in mass production. The tools must be made of a suitable material and produced in the highest quality.
Most manufacturers of such tools work in the machine park with modern CNC machine tools, by means of which precise and detailed contours can be realized. In this case, the production technology is frequently chosen to mill in order to machine a workpiece from which the finished tool emerges.

Similar to injection molding, the first production of the tool is very costly and time-consuming. The investment in the tool is therefore only worthwhile from a certain number of pieces. Tool technology is widely used, since there are hardly any limits in terms of geometry, complexity, size and weight of the tool. Special drilling tools or special carbide drilling tools are used, for example, for the application-specific production of drills for the production of special holes. Tools such as mould milling cutters, secondary composite tools or fine stamping tools each fulfill a specific purpose, but all serve to produce workpieces as inexpensive as possible while maintaining high quality requirements.

Typical customer industries for tool construction are primarily the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, medical technology, apparatus engineering and measuring technology.

In sintering, the material to be processed is initially in a fine-grained form. This can include not only sintered metals but also ceramic materials. These are heated under high pressure, causing the volume to shrink. This shrinkage must be taken into account when manufacturing sintering tools in fixture construction.

Depending on the sintering process, the sintering tools have different forms. The so-called dry pressing is particularly suitable in the production of large quantities, in which the water content of the raw material is less than 7%. This method is distinguished above all by good reproducibility and an automated process sequence. On the other hand, a somewhat better compaction of the material results in dampening.

The extrusion-like process known as profile extrusion allows the production of profiles up to 60 meters long. Materials such as aluminum, aluminum alloys, copper, and stainless steel are used as billets. However, only hot-work tool steels are used to manufacture the extrusion tools, as they must withstand process temperatures of up to 500 °C and the high mechanical stresses that occur during pressing.

After completion by extrusion tools, the produced profiles can be reworked by CNC milling, protected by Breathing or phosphating with a coating or cut by lowering or wire erosion.

Vacuum deep drawing tools

Vacuum deep-drawing tools serve to produce precise deep-drawing parts by vacuum deep-drawing. This is also referred to as thermoforming or deep drawing and allows the production of semi-finished products made of plastic.

In this case, a distinction is made essentially between plates and films. Thicker semi-finished products are called plates – thin semi-finished products with a thickness of less than 1.5 mm are referred to as films.

The molding tool is produced in each case as a function of the film thickness and of the selected plastic. The components developed in the tool construction usually consist of metallic materials such as aluminum, the melting temperature of which is far above the melting temperature of the plastics used.

The tools are positioned in the deep-drawing machine in an automatic molding machine and, like foundry models, original models or functional models, have the contour (neg or pos) of the desired semifinished product. In a first step, the film is unwound from rollers and heated in the heating station using heating radiators. The now soft material is fixed in the tool station by a clamping frame and is acted upon by compressed air from one side. From the other side, the material is sucked in pneumatically by vacuum. Thus, the plastic is pressed onto the water-cooled wall of the tool and solidifies there to form a molded part. In the next step, if desired, holes are punched into the plastic parts before the latter is removed.

During drilling, the special drill is clamped into a tool holder which rotates in a spindle in a manner similar to conventional drilling. A high degree of automation with low tool wear can be realized on cutting CNC machine tools. The method can also be combined with a milling cutter.

In embossing shops, embossing tools are primarily used depending on the material to be processed. When embossing paper, special matrices are used to securely imprint patterns or motifs. For example, company logos can be embossed on blank paper in industrial applications.

As a rule, two tools are used for embossing coins which enable the simultaneous processing of both sides of the coin. For this purpose, the coin blank is pushed into the embossing ring by means of a feed tong and is embossed with a contact pressure of up to 200 tons.

Find companies for tooling

If you are looking for Tool Making, you will find a variety of companies specializing in various areas of tool construction. The database of the largest supplier pool for drawing parts comprises over 24,000 suppliers and offers a practical opportunity to find suitable manufacturing companies.

The features of the platform are completely free of charge as a buyer. This includes creating online requests for your parts. You can then send out offers that you can compare in no time with the practical offer comparison of Techpilot in terms of price, quality and delivery time.

You will receive telephone support from our trained service team at any time. Staff have a wide range of expertise in industry and can help you to create inquiries.

This is how Techpilot works