In this guide 6 sections
Keep one record for each die. It holds the die number, the part it makes, strokes since service, each sharpening and repair, shim and setup notes, the rack location, and the customer drawing revision. Strokes drive the service schedule. Trouble shows early.
Give every die one permanent record
A die lasts for years. Its history is worth more than the steel in the shoe, and it starts with one number stamped on the shoe and repeated on the record.
The header holds the die type, whether progressive, transfer or single hit, and the part number it makes, with the customer, strip width, feed pitch and press tonnage. Nobody walks to the rack to ask. Add the strip layout drawing and a station list, one line each, so a toolroom hand can tell blanking from piercing without opening the die.
Record each drawing revision too. When the customer changes a drawing and the toolroom reworks a station, note the date and revision, or nobody can say which version made which lot.
- Die number, type and part number
- Customer, strip width and feed pitch
- Press tonnage and bolster size
- Drawing revision the die now matches
Count strokes, not days
Calendar time says little. One long order of hard material can wear out a tool further than six idle months in the rack, so stroke count is the honest measure.
Take the count from the press counter at the end of each run, or from a monitoring unit if the press has one, and log it against the job. The total builds itself. A press running a progressive die racks up strokes quickly, so the counter reading taken at each shift change, entered against the job, keeps the total honest across restarts.
Set a service interval for each die, based on its past behaviour and the material it cuts, because high strength steel wears tooling sooner than soft aluminium does. Revise it after every teardown.
Record every sharpening and repair
Sharpening shortens a punch. Each grind removes steel and the die has only so much to give, so log the station, the amount ground off and the remaining length of the punch. Small grinds add up. Keep the ground-off figures even when they look trivial, because five small grinds on one punch add up to a short punch that will no longer shear cleanly.
Repairs need the same care. Note the fault, such as a chipped punch, a cracked die button, a broken spring or galled stripper, then the cause if known, the fix and the toolroom hours.
Over time the log shows which stations fail first, and whether a die is cheaper to rebuild than to keep patching after repeated chips in the same corner.
- Station and component sharpened
- Amount ground off and length left
- Fault found and likely cause
- Parts replaced and toolroom hours
- Date and person who signed it off
Keep setup notes where the setter can find them
Setup knowledge lives in the setter’s head. Shut height, shim stack, feed settings, lubrication and the strip layout that worked all belong on the record, where the next shift can find them without asking.
Add the first-off result and any trouble seen, such as burrs on one edge or a slug pulling back, so the next setter starts from a known position. Record the coil used as well, by grade and thickness, since a die set for one coil can behave differently on the next supplier’s material.
Photos help a great deal. A phone picture of the strip layout or the shim pack takes ten seconds, and an hour of guessing disappears the next time that die comes to the press.
- Shut height and shim stack
- Feed length, lubrication and coil used
- Known quirks of the die
- Photo of the strip layout
Link the log to the press schedule and the rack
A log that nobody reads does little. Connect the stroke total to the schedule so a planner sees that a die is two thousand strokes from its limit before the next order is released.
Record where the die lives, by rack, bay and shelf, who last moved it, and whether it is out for repair or sitting at an outside toolroom. A lost die costs a shift.
Start small. Pick the five busiest dies, build their records this week, and on Monday compare each stroke total with the schedule to see which die will need the toolroom first.
Die history card
One card per die. The top block holds die number, part, customer, drawing revision and press, with a ruled log below it, one line per run. Each line has date, job, strokes this run, running total, work done and initials, while a side block holds shim stack, shut height and feed notes. The foot carries the rack location and the next service limit, so the planner, the setter and the toolroom all read the same card.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
How often should a stamping die be serviced?
There is no fixed interval. Base it on the strokes the die has run, the material it cuts and its past wear, then revise the limit after each teardown shows what was really worn.
Should a die log be kept on paper or in software?
Paper is fine for a few dies. Once stroke counts must reach the press schedule, or the toolroom looks after dozens of dies, a shared system avoids lost cards and stale totals that nobody trusts.
Who should update the die record?
Split it by role. The press operator enters the strokes, the setter adds setup notes, and the toolroom records sharpening and repairs, so nobody carries the whole job alone or forgets a step.
What if we have no stroke counter on the press?
Estimate it. Take the good parts count plus scrap, mark the figure as estimated, and fit a counter to the press later, since a rough count beats none.