What is a Punch Press?
A punch press is a machine that consists of a fixed (bolster) plate and a moving head (ram). A die set is mounted to the bolster plate and the punch is mounted to the ram. The press starts in the idle position in which the ram holds the punch above the die. Material is advanced into the die. During the work cycle, the ram brings the punch down into the die and blanks or forms the material in the die and then returns to the idle position. The material is then advanced and the cycle is repeated. There are may types of punch presses. Some can use more than one punch and die at a time and some are computer controlled. Top of Page What is a die? In metal stamping, a die is a tool that runs in a punch press. There are four main types of dies: blanking, compound draw, form and progressive. The selection of the die type depends upon the part being made. • Blanking dies are like cookie cutters and can put one or more holes in a part or make a single part with no holes. • A Compound die can blan
A punch press is a machine used to change the shape of metal, specifically to form and to cut it. Usually, a piece of metal is passed through the punch press. The machine clamps down on the metal and cuts or forms it to a predetermined shape. In some cases, the punch press may cut and eject the metal piece in just one station. Other pieces may require several stations in order to be completely formed or cut. In this case, the process is called a progressive die, because each station progresses the part one step further toward completion. A punch press can be a simple, small machine that is manually operated, or it may be very large, complex, and operated by computer numerical control (CNC). In this case, a computer is programmed to operate the punch press. With both small and large punch presses, a die set is used to help complete the task, though the die set used in a large punch press may be a bit more complex. A die set consists of male punches and female dies. When these are presse
