Joined blanking tool

Claim 1

A blanking tool comprising: a punch mounted on a punch backing plate, a mating die cavity as part of a die plate, leader pins aligning the two plates, bolts joining the aligned plates, compression springs urging the joined plates apart to permit the introduction of feed stock, a bolster fastened to a platen of a punch press, the base of the die plate having two opposite ends each beveled outward with the first end having a laterally extending recess that acts as an indexing notch, a first clamp bar adjustably fastened to the bolster of the press with the clamp bar beveled to match the first beveled end of the die plate and having a stop to act as a lateral indexing unit in conjunction with the recess to centrally align the blanking tool on the bolster, a second clamp bar beveled to match the second beveled end on the die plate, means secured to the second clamp bar for moving that bar forward against the beveled side of the die plate to hold the blanking tool to the bolster, the die plate having a stripper material filling the die cavity, a stepped down surface away from the die cavity and feed stock guide pins; the punch plate has stripper material around the punch and a shaped stripper part located above the stepped down part of the die plate; and the bolts adjusted to restrict the upward travel of the punch such that the clearance between the punch and die is less than two thicknesses of material to be punched.