Steel Rule Die Making
Steel-rule dies, also can be called as cookie-cutter dies, are used to cut a range of sheet materials including paper, cardboard, rubber, plastic, wood, cork, felt and fabrics. For example, cardboard boxes and various kinds of packaging are made by steel rule die cutting. Steel rule dies are made of very sharp steel blades mounted to a tool surface. The blades are open to allow the material being cut to pass through the blades making for clean cuts. The cutting surface of the die is the edge of hardened steel strips, known as steel rule. These steel rules are usually located using saw-cut grooves in plywood. The mating die can be flat pieces of hardwood or steel, a male shape that matches the workpiece profile, or it can have a matching groove that allows the rule to nest into. Rubber strips are wedged in with the steel rule to act as the stripper plate; the rubber compresses on the down-stroke and on the up-stroke it pushes the workpiece out of the die. The main advantage of steel-rule dies is the low cost to make them, as compared to solid dies; however, they are not as robust as solid dies, so they usually only used for short production runs.
