Thursday, March 02, 2006

A Sight to Behold

I wish I would have had a camera at work today. This was simply amazing. One of the punch presses folded a die like a taco. How amazing is this? The die consists of over two inches thickness of carbide and D2 hardened steel. This is some of the hardest steel available. If you asked someone to devise a method for intentionally cold folding it, they would either get a glazed and dazed look on their face or laugh outright. Replacing the die is about three months worth of work, tens of thousands of dollars in time and materials. One of our fine German engineered presses somehow managed to fold this thing. Much to the chagrin of the die shop, everyone in the plant had to come by their bench to check it out.

As for an AWPC for the day...

Maint. Guy: That's a fine crack you're showing there, Jake.

Me (without missing a beat and without changing my position or even looking up from the task at hand): That's my credentials as a trained professional.

Maint. Guy: Damn. I gotta get me one of them.

And I bet everyone's glad I didn't have a camera around for that.

1 comment:

X said...

Sweet. The die that is, not the crack. I've seen enough of that, and I'm sure I'll see more.