Wooden platform, generally 42 in. wide, 48 in. deep, and 6 in. high designed to facilitate lift truck handling of parts or packages.
Pancake Die
Simple push-through die for blanking or piercing.
Parametrics
Defining a feature's size by establishing a geometric relationship between it and other features, instead of defining it with a dimension.
Pattern Direction
Orientation of features or surface patterns on sheets and coils.
Pem Fastener
Self-clinching inserted fastener nut, stud, standoff, pin, blind stand off, etc. made by Penn Engineering & Manufacturing Corp.
Pencil Hardness Test
Method to measure coating hardness based on the scratching of the film with pencil leads of known hardness. The result is reported as the hardest lead which will not scratch or cut through the film to the substrate.
Penetration
1 Depth of a cutting operation before breakout occurs. 2 In welding, the depth of material through which fusion occurs.
Periphery
The extreme outer edge of part or drawing.
Perpendicularity
Dimensional relationship of a part or datum located at right angles 90° to a given feature.
Phosphating
Pretreatment of metal surfaces by chemical solutions containing metal phosphates and phosphoric acid, to form a thin, inert, adherent, corrosion-inhibiting chemical conversion coating that serves as a substrate for paint coats.
Phosphor Bronze
Copper base alloy with 3.5 - 10% of tin to which phosphorus has been added in a molten state in varying amounts of less than 1% for deoxidizing and strengthening purposes.
Pickled and Oiled
Hot rolled steel with the scale removed through immersion in acid and a follow up rinsing and oiling process for oxidation protection. Also referred to as P&O and HRPO.
Piercing
Punching of openings such as holes and slots in material.
Pigment
Finely ground, natural or synthetic, inorganic or organic, insoluable particles that when dispersed in a liquid vehicle to make paint may provide, along with color, essential properties of a paint opacity, hardness, durability, and corrosion resistance.
Pinch Trim
Trimming excess material from a drawn part at the bottom of the stroke. Leaves drawn shell without an inside burr, but with an outside burr and a thinned edge.
Pitting Inter-Crystalline Corrosion
Gal-vanic attack under moist and acidic conditions between molecular structures of differing alloy content.
Plasma Arc Welding PAW
Specialized process utilizing a non-consumable electrode ionizing an inert gas and increasing temperature to melt the material being welded.
Plastic Deformation
Permanent deformation occurring in forming of metal after elastic limits have been exceeded.
Plate
Sheet steel thicker than 7 gauge 0.179 in. 4.55 mm or sheet aluminum thicker than 3/16 in 4.76 mm.
Point
A piece of geometry at an exact location.
Polishing
Abrasive process in which the surface created takes on a bright reflective finish, scratch-free to the unaided eye.
Postcut Rollforming
A process whereby the raw material is fed into the rollforming mill in coil form with the formed part cut to length. This is the most common roll forming material feeding process.
Powder Coating
100% solids coating applied as a dry powder and subsequently converted into a film with heat.
Power Spinning
The art of forming metal over a mold in one pass using hand or hydraulic pressure.
Precipitation Hardenable
Alloy in which a constituent precipitates from its supersaturated solution allowing the material to gain added strength.
Precision Lead Screw
See Lead Screw.
Precut Roll Forming
A process whereby the raw material is cut to length prior to entering the roll forming mill and fed into the mill as blanks. Primarily used for low-volume applications.
Prefinished Material
Stock which has been painted or plated prior to fabrication or stamping.
Prenotch/Prepunch Press
A device used to stamp a hole or notch pattern in incoming material on a roll forming line prior to roll forming.
Press Attachment
A bed mounted device on a slide forming machine used for punching, piercing and other press operations.
Press Section
A device that is built into a slide forming machine used for punching, piercing and other press operations.
Primer
First application of a substance capable of adhering to the substrate and providing good adhesion to a subsequent coating.
Programmable Back Gauges
Stops on metal forming machines which can be adjusted during and between cycles by computer numeric control.
Progressive Tool
Die using multiple stations or operations to produce a variety of options. Can incorporate piercing, forming, extruding and drawing, and is usually applied to high quantity production runs.
Projection Weld Nuts or Studs
See Weld Nuts and Weld Studs.
Projection Welding
Using protrusions on one of the two parts to be resistance welded, creating a positive conductance path.
Prototype
First part of a design which is made to test tolerance capability, tooling concepts and manufacturability.
Pull Down
Area of material next to the penetrating edge of a piercing punch, or die edge of the blanking station, where the material yields, i.e. flows in the direction of the applied force, creating a rounded edge. Also known as roll-over.
Pulse Mode
Intermittant surging of laser cutting power action.
Punch Direction
The direction from which a tool or punch enters the workpiece.
Punch Press
Machine supplying compression force for reshaping materials.
Punch Side
Opposite side from burr side for pierced features; side on which the punch enters the material. The punch side is the burr side for blanked outside contours.
