Dies are tools used to process raw material into products via the application and concentration of force. In the case of this lens we focus on sheet metal stamping dies. Sheet metal stamping dies touch nearly all of our lives: the cars we drive, the appliances we use, the shiny cases of our latest iToy, and even the planes and buses we ride in.

Thought to be a dying trade by some, Tool and Die is still a vital part of our manufacturing infrastructure that we should all learn a little bit more about. After all a pound of steel costs less than a pound of butter, a pint of bottled water, and certainly less than a coffee.
Draw dies are the fist tool that processes the flat boring sheet metal into something exciting. A car door, a fender, a hood or roof panel. But also dies make parts that you don’t see; those that keep you safe when during impact, that allow the car to travel fast and safe, that give a place to mount the rest of the mechanical components.

Draw dies stretch and form the sheet into the bulk of what you will recognize of any car going down the street.

After the part is formed in the Draw die, the material used to hold the part as it was formed can be removed. The trimming die removes this material by shearing the edges of the part away from the desirably formed metal. Scrap metal falls away from the part.

Overall any discussion of sheet metal stamping and the Tool and Die trade on the internet is enlightened. After all, most assumed that sheet metal was soon to be left behind for another form of material, such as plastics.