The quality of the punching holes depends on the wear of the punch. The longer you keep a punch in perfect condition, the longer you can achieve perfect hole quality.
Below are some simple ways to extend the usefull life of our product.
1. Setting the punch.
It is recommended to set the punch insertion in the die as shallow as possible, at the level of approx. 0.1mm . Too deep inserion pushes the dies and destroys the face of the punch, which causes the punching unit to be lost irretrievably.
In this situation, the only salvation fot the punch is full regeneration:
https://alpak.pl/regeneracja-wycinaka.html
2. Storage of the punching material.
Poor material storage, for example foil rolls, enables the electrostatic attraction of dust. During production, the can stick to the punch and lead to lead seizure and quickly reduce the quality of the punching hole.
Also, punches should not be stored at a height of less than 1m, because as a result of walking in the air, dust rises, which settling on the cutter assembly may lead to its blunting.
3.1 Lubrication.
Only high-quality lubricants should be used. Industrial lubricant are recommended. For slow machines, use plastic greases with the consistency of NLGI-1, for faster (60 punch/minute) greases with the consistency of NLGI-1
3.2 Lubrication intervals
The intervals before relubrication depend on many factors, the most important of which are load and contaminantion. Lubrication intervals can be determined only after getting to know the actual conditions of use, and judged by observation. For safety reasons, lubrication should be checked every 8 hours of continous operation.
3.3 Recognition of incorrect lubrication.
Lack of sufficient lubrication for packaging equipment can be heat up and pinch the punch and lead to demage. Improper lubrication can be identified by scratches on the punch or blockage of the punch in the guide.
4. The first symptoms of poor maintenance:
Longitudial scratches visible under the magnifying glass due to dust entering the cutting unit.
Jamming of the punch after warming up.
5. Wear control
A very important issue that allows you to prevent a situation in which we cannot start another order due to a damaged cutter.
At the end of work or completion of production order, determine the punch wear scale and decide wheter to send it in for sharpening or regeneration.
We hope that the above advice, at least partially, will help you maintain and identify demage to your punches. If necessary, our workshop is ready to help