"A Die"

Before the computer revolutionized many of the processes of wire production, the die maker was one of the most prestigious figures in the plant. The advent of the computer has only enhanced that reputation. The sheer variety of materials in current use, together with today’s increasingly rigorous standard and abbreviated Lead times, impose demands on the die making operation that have intensified with automation. In one busy old-line wire plant the die shop was always known as the wheelhouse. Today – although looking more like the control room of a Vanguard-class submarine than of a sailing vessel – it still is.

The industrial diamonds employed in wire dies are expensive. Cutting around complex contours to create precision templates is exacting work. Customers are demanding, specifications dictate ever-smaller tolerances, certifiably accurate results must be guaranteed. The responsibility for much of this rests with the die shop.