#tooling

Blanking, piercing and forming tools explained — die clearance and the break-and-burnish edge, progressive versus transfer dies, tonnage and shear, and why tool steel selection and strip layout decide the cost of the part.

The rules that decide whether a sheet metal part can be made cheaply — minimum flange and hole spacing, relief notches, stiffening features, tolerance expectations, and why every feature should be reachable in one tool direction.

High pressure die casting and the lost wax process compared — what each buys in tolerance, wall thickness and geometry, why die cast parts cannot be heat treated or welded, and how to choose between them.

The moulding cycle explained, why uniform wall thickness governs everything, what sink marks, weld lines and warpage actually are, and the design rules — draft, ribs, bosses, gate position — that decide whether a plastic part works.