Page 42 - MetalForming September 2015

Sko-Die Gets Comfy
A new mechanical press delivers a larger bed size, allowing this Illinois stamper to keep existing jobs and obtain new work that requires larger progressive dies. At 440 tons, the press also boosts the company’s tonnage capacity.
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR
At Sko-Die, a 440-ton press, installed at the end of 2014, anchors a press line that includes coil-feed capability in material widths to 36 in. The company uses the line to produce laminations in progressive dies previously outsourced due to their large size. The press’ larger bed resolved that problem.
The 60,000 sq. ft. under
roof at Sko-Die Inc., Mor-
ton Grove, IL, house
more than 20 presses, in capac-
ities from 5 to 440 tons. The
gap and straightside mechan-
icals, and a servo model—part
of a tandem line—deliver bed sizes to 120 in. across and zoom at speeds to 300 strokes/min. The variety of equipment at this suburban Chicago metalformer enables production of stamp- ings large and small, in runs from prototype to high-volume via progressive, compound and notching dies, many built and services inhouse in Sko-Die’s full-service toolroom. Owned and operated by the Steininger family since it opened in 1947, Sko-Die also performs laser cutting, welding and machining to produce tooling, finished parts and assemblies.
Though it has the capabilities to perform all kinds of work, custom steel laminations represent more than 50 per-
cent of all Sko-Die stampings. These are produced primari- ly from 0.005- to 0.025-in.-thick silicon-alloy steels and ulti- mately find their way into customers’ motors and generators. The company also performs work for the aerospace industry using hot-rolled steel, from 0.110 to 0.320 in. thick, in com- pound dies.
Large-Die Work Spurred Press Buy
Sko-Die traditionally has been able to draw work from OEMs’ captive stamping departments, offering its range of
40 MetalForming/September 2015
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