Metal die tape

We do a lot of tags with a hole in the same spot on the die jacket. After a while it starts to wear a groove in the jacket. We need to keep adding pressure or backup the die in the hole cut the get the job done. Can die tape be used on the front of jacket or will that not work.

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The die tape is too soft, and generally too thick. It will wear out quickly if it works at all. I suggest the hardest jacket you can find. I prefer the boxmaker, they hold up really well.
The punches are cheaper to replace than the jackets.

if you can put a small piece of hardened steel there where punch hits. Double sided tape it in place… Use a shorter/lower height punch with that piece in there….protect the jacket….if you can move the die around a bit helps too.

bppayne - thanks for the feedback. I have thought about the stronger jacket. We would only use it for this type of work. Our big issue is we are always hitting with the tag hole with a self removing hole die in almost the same spot. After a while it groves a little and does not take out the hole as well.

ericm - Expanding on you idea I was wondering about using small cut sheets of steel instead of a jacket and taping them on place with the tape I use for my Photopolymer die. I am not sure if it is ever done and / or why not . I need to check my math but I think it would be a lot less and also allow for using both sides of the plate and moving it around would let me hit a different spot each time . I have a good metal yard not to far away.

Both of you - I always lock my die cutting plate in with the 2 tabs at the bottom and the long locking click at the top of the platen. Can the plate be spun around so the 2 tabs are at the top or gripper lead edge.

I forgot to mention - I did backup the steel plate from behind with the die tape only in the area of contact and it did help.

Also - is there any other material that can be mounted to use instead of the steel jacket

If you are just punching holes in tags and your punch is .918” you don’t need a die jacket. use a piece of 3pt rule taped to platen. Transfer or thin 2 sided works fine to attach. Are your punches side eject(self cleaning), spring loaded or wood plugged and rubbered?
If the punch is damaging the die jacket then you are hitting to hard and/or the punch is dull. How are you getting the scrap out after punching?
In theory the die should never touch the diejacket, exception being the plastic and leather industries.

I agree with ericm, moving the die to a fresh spot would work also.

The dies are rubbered side ejecting self cleaning. We also use some that are spring loaded. We run most of the die cutting work to guides so it is hard to move the feed position. In fact Mike I think you answered a different post we had and we have begun to pack out the die plate and that has helped use control our pressure much better. We also put in a new shear collar which helped the fine tuning of impression a lot. We still have a lot of hits to a very small area about the size of a quarter which over time scored the jacket in the same spot. I even thought about filling hole groves with bondo to level it back out.