Gaskets and pads can be cut in a variety of ways. The size of the parts, the type of material and the quantities are factored in to determine the most cost effective method to produce parts. The most common die for elastomer cutting is a steel rule die. This is where a CAD file is used to program a laser cutter, the laser burns the part geometry into engineered wood. Steel ruling (steel strip with a bladed edge) is pressed through the laser cut slots. More complex designs may require a solid steel die, where the blades are machined into a solid block of steel. The dies can be mounted to high speed presses or manually operated press for lower volumes. Stockwell is equipped to handle low to mid-volume runs (parts in thousands, single runs, not millions) using high speed Preco semi-automatic die cutting presses, auto-feed CNC large bed presses or a variety of beam presses
