Ultima® M4: The Right Steel for the Toughest ... - Wilson Tool

out of the punch as we could, we would get
somewhere between 2,000 and 10,000 pieces.”
Walsh explained the application and showed the worn
punches to Scott Riley, the company’s sales engineer at
Wilson Tool, who suggested trying punches
manufactured using CPM3V tool steel and coated with
Wilson Tool’s exclusive Optima® coating.
With a micro hardness of 3,500, Optima coating far
exceeds the hardness levels that can be achieved with
conventional tool steels and typically outlasts
untreated tools by as much as seven times.
The combination of CPM3V and Optima coating
increased the number of hits to between 25,000 and
40,000. Using this same tool steel and Wilson Tool’s
premium OptimaX coating, the number of hits was
further increased to between 40,000 and 60,000 pieces.
OptimaX is Wilson Tool’s premium coating. It’s a twopart
coating process that provides all the hardness of
the Optima coating, plus added lubricity to reduce
galling even more.
However, it was the final combination of tool steel and
coatings that Die Makers tested that proved to be the
unquestionable winner. The punches were
manufactured with Wilson Tool’s exclusive Ultima® M4
premium tool steel and coated with OptimaX.
Punches and dies made from Ultima M4 tool steel have
significantly greater wear resistance, minimizing
common downtime problems like breaking, chipping,
cracking and tool fatigue. This greatly reduces the
amount of time spent sharpening or replacing tooling.
Not only did these new punches produce 110,000 hits,
they did it without ever needing to be sharpened. The
only reason Die Makers took them out of the machine
was because they reached the end of the order.
only 17% of people view manufacturing as a
top career choice.*
This is a shame, not only for the
manufacturing industry, but also for the
youth and job seekers who may miss out on
an opportunity for a fulfilling manufacturing
career. Todd Youngblood of Manufacturing
Revival Radio says that the high-tech world
of modern manufacturing is a clear fit for
youth who have an interest in technology.*
For this reason, Manufacturing Day aims to
connect companies with future generations,
educators and more to clarify and improve
the image of manufacturing as a viable and
promising career path.
Companies participating in Manufacturing Day
are encouraged to offer shop tours, hands-on
demonstrations, and/or presentations that
“tell their story” so that participants can
experience the true look, feel and
personality of today’s manufacturing world.
For more information or to host your own
event, visit the National Manufacturing Day
website.
On October 4, Wilson Tool invites you to
participate in our National Manufacturing Day
Open House at our global headquarters in
White Bear Lake, Minn.
For more information, see our event listing.
*Information compliments of the Fabricators
& Manufacturers Association, International
“When I pulled these punches out at 110,000 hits, you
could definitely see where the coating was beginning to
wear off,” said Walsh. “But they’re still making good
parts, holding their edge and not throwing a burr.
There’s no reason somebody couldn’t sharpen them,
throw them back in and possibly run another 90,000
parts on them.”
According to Walsh, even if you count out the cost of
the punches, it takes a lot of time to load, unload and
sharpen the punches. The cost of their labor is more
than the cost of the higher quality punches.