General Information

EDP Forms & Labels Carnival Tickets Inventory Tags Credit Card Carriers Graphic Vinyl Signs On-Battery Testers Tea Bag Envelopes & Tags Blood Sugar Diagnostic Strips Medical Charts Electronic Components Stationery Products

Parking Tickets Price Tags Paint Filters Birth Control Pill Cards Airline Boarding Passes Floppy Disk Carriers Orange Juice Lids Polyethelene Bags Photo Albums Medical Packages Security Badges

Service
The one single attribute which helps a supplier retain its customers is the positive attention given to servicing the needs of those customers. Sometimes that can come in the form of advice, recommendation and helpful guidance towards a more productive and profitable business environment. T&P prides itself in providing such a service to its customers and would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our customers for placing their business and confidence with Tools & Production.

Advantages of Male/Female Tooling
The quality produced by rotary punching is considered to be superior to either reciprocating or die cutting methods. Reciprocating machines burst through the paper leaving damaged edges and burrs. Die cut methods, while having size limitations, "smash" the edges leaving hairs and small stringers. Rotary punching utilizes a shear approach, that is similar to a scissor cut, that provides a clean, smooth cut.

Quality
One of the most dramatic developments with male/female rotary punching equipment in the past five to ten years has been a greater emphasis on accuracy, rigidity, tolerance and reliability. It has led suppliers of such equipment, like Tools & Production, to produce even higher levels of quality within the products it offers to its customers. T&P has invested several hundreds of thousands of dollars on modern computer controlled machining (CNC) equipment and state of the art Computer Assisted Design (CAD) work stations to enable this higher level of quality to be attained. Initially the cost is high, but the payback will be higher as our customers will profit from our increased investment in quality.

Smooth or Serrated Holes?
For those customers with existing standard punch and die rings who are interested, T&P can supply dies to punch either a serrated or smooth round hole (Marathon punching must have a smooth round hole.)

Maintenance Tips
If you have a shaft type T&P punch unit with rings, maintaining the condition of your punch and die shafts is important in order to ensure that the rings will always slide freely on the shafts. Be sure to remove any nicks or burrs from the surface of the shaft by lightly "stoneing" or filing them down. Punch and die shaft keys and keyways must be kept flat and free from nicks and burrs. Carefully flat file the drive side of shaft keys periodically to maintain a solid driving surface for the punch and die rings. Also, be sure to clean the punch and die ring shaft bores by separating the ring halves and cleaning, or by sliding the rings back and forth on their shafts utilizing a light oil and wiping down shafts as debris appears.

Good preventative maintenance not only saves money but, just as importantly, helps keep downtime to a minimum.

Get more from your punch and die tooling by following these simple rules:

• Keep punch and die cavities clean so that punches and dies are seated properly in their cavities.
• Replace worn hold down screws. Replacement screws should be of good quality (grade 5) and have a "lockwell" patch.
• All hex wrenches used on the punch rings and around the press should be of good alloy quality and ground periodically to keep them sharp.
• Keep punch and die shafts and all critical ring surfaces free of nicks and burrs. Lightly oil shafts to assist with lateral movement of rings.

Vacuum Removal of Waste
When a material is punched, whether it be paper, plastic or vinyl, the waste piece needs to go somewhere. This can be a problem for converters who do not wish their work press stations to be littered with confetti. T&P can provide vacuum cups for die rings and vacuum attachments for solid die cylinders so that the waste pieces can be drawn out by a vacuum. T&P can advise its customers on which type of vacuum should be used for their particular case.

Punching Across The Web
In the late 1950's T&P developed a system for punching holes across the web without having to use several punch and die rings. The aluminum shell was developed to save machine downtime and offer the press operator a real convenience compared to setting up punch and die rings. All the known punch and die holes are machined into the shells and the operator just fits the punches into the relevant holes for that particular job. The shells are in two pieces and fit conveniently over the punch and die shafts. Positioning and removal are simple. An ideal product for this system is a hospital form which has holes both in the web direction and across the web. If you feel you have a product that may lend itself towards aluminum shell tooling, then let us help you with your inquiry.