Bayview Metals Uses Mate EasySnap Tool

Adding a single application-specific tool to a punch press fabricating project can have a huge impact on part cost. But it often takes insight into all of the operations involved in the fabricating process to calculate the true bottom line benefits that justify its purchase and use.

"We challenge our fabricating processes on an ongoing basis to see what we can do to make them more cost effective," said Derek Richardson, Quality and Engineering Manager of Bayview Metals, Inc., of Ajax, Ontario. "Keeping up with new punch press tooling designs and implementing those that can really contribute to the bottom line is one way we keep our competitive edge. You just can't run a job the same old way without examining the latest technology to find a better process. By adopting the Mate EasySnap tool, we saved thousands of dollars in material costs and even more in reduced operator time. We've been able to reduce cycle times dramatically without acquiring new punch presses."

Bayview Metals is an ISO 9001:2000 certified precision sheet metal fabricator serving the electronics and military industries where competition is keen and innovation is required to stay in the race for new part projects. With 27 employees, everyone is expected to make contributions to keep the company competitive. In the punching area, Richardson and his fellow employees do it by finding new ways to reduce punch press cycle time and eliminate secondary operations.

"We fabricate five different size shields that hold printed circuit boards in electronic power supply assemblies," said Richardson. "All five sizes have similar configurations and are punched out of 0.033-inch (0.84 mm) thick steel sheet. We punch thousands of these a month, so even a small savings can really add up on the overall cost of a part run. Previously, these shields were parted out of 33- x 48-inch sheet (838.2 x 1219.2 mm) using a conventional 0.250 x 4.000-inch (6.35 x 101.6 mm) parting tool. Each finish punched shield blank was retained in the sheet by a micro joint positioned on each of the four corners of the part. Once all blanks had been punched, the sheet was removed from the punch press where the operator then 'popped' each blank free of the sheet. The micro joints left a small sharp burr on each of the four corners which then had to removed by hand with a grinding wheel. We wanted to eliminate this step and looked for a better way."

As a longtime user of Mate tooling, Richardson regularly checks with Peter Visser, Mate sales engineer, on new tools and ideas for improving fabricating operations. When seeing how the shields needed a secondary operation to remove the micro joint burrs, Visser suggested Mate's EasySnap tooling as a way to eliminate the burrs.

EasySnap does the work of a conventional parting tool without actually separating the part from the sheet. EasySnap partially slits the part edges, leaving just enough material to hold the part in the sheet. Once the entire sheet is punched and removed from the press, individual parts can be quickly and easily snapped apart by hand and without any tools. Part edges are consistently clean and there are no burrs or other unwanted "pips" such as those left by the micro joints, said Mate.

The EasySnap tool operates differently than a standard parting tool. EasySnap has a linear V-line stencil machined onto the face of the upper and lower tools. As the tools penetrate the sheet, they create a line of weakness (a snap line) in the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet material. Once the outer shape of the part is punched, the part can be quickly and easily bent and snapped loose from the rest of the sheet.