Full Circle

"Basically, steel is steel," says Action Rotary Die's Bob Potraz. "Where the differences are is what we can do to extend die life—anything to reduce the co-efficient of friction and increase the revolution count. Allied Gear's Tom Deehr concurs.

"Anything we can do to enhance wear characteristics to provide a die that affords more value at cost-per-die reductions, we're looking at," he says. A few of the newer coating and plating technologies diemakers are currently evaluating include fine diamond, titanium carbide and ion deposition. Deehr says Allied has also tested cryogenic treating of base metals in hopes of enhancing the longevity of dies. Preliminary findings of its more proprietary technologies, claims Deehr, have yielded increased wear resistance characteristics by a factor of five. For instance, a die that would normally be expected to produce five million impressions, would produce 25 million.