PIERCING, CONTOURING AND NIBBLING WITH ROTATING TOOLS.

Piercing or cropping of sheet-metal can be carried out very economically using fixed tools. With these tools, individual holes are pierced or contours are produced by nibbling. Straight cropping cuts are employed for rational severing of panels, generally in two preferred directions. A new version has been added: piercing by a tool which can be repositioned by rotation. Identical apertures can thus be produced in different positions without the need for changing the tool. Fewer tools than necessary with fixed tooling are required. Despite higher investment costs, the new system results in lower manufacturing costs per individual workpiece.