A Dying Art: Metal Stamping:Tool Makers and Tradition

What’s a die? 

A die is an extremely specialized, one-of-a-kind precision tool. In the metal stamping process, it’s the part of the tooling that cuts or forms sheet metal into a desired shape or profile. 

 

In order to perform this task, the die is typically crafted from extremely hard, wear-resistant materials. A particular hardenable type of steel known as tool steel, carbide, and similar metals allow the die to hold up through the stamping process. 

 

Art in Astoria

Tool making is a tradition, passed down from masters to apprentices over generations. Today’s trade school graduates, however, are increasingly less common, as tooling is often outsourced to Asia for cost savings. 

 

Those cost savings come at their own price; the dying art literally holds a direct impact on manufactured parts. Dies crafted by experienced toolmakers are inevitably of higher quality and produce a superior product. 

 

We’re proud of our tool makers at Keystone. They keep tradition and quality alive from our shop in Astoria (Queens)  NY. These craftsmen manufacture precision stampings, in metallic or non-metallic materials, for parts destined to all industries. 

 

They specialize in the custom craft of both traditional and innovative tooling, including progressive dies, fourslides, wire forming, in-die tapping, and high-speed blanking.

 

Custom Work from Keystone

The skill of our craftsmen has allowed Keystone to offer the broad range of connectivity components for the last 65 years. Our fully integrated shop lets us meet our clients’ total design and production needs. Our in-house modification and fabrication services include design and engineering, precision tool and die capabilities, close tolerance stamping, machining, and assembly — all performed by experienced professionals.

 

Learn more about the complete line of our standard electronic interconnect components and hardware or contact us with your specific project requirements