Press floating punch

Figure 214. Two diagrams depicting presses with floating die. (a) Basic system upper punch pressing, floating die. (b) Upper punch pressing, floating withdrawal die...

Floating punch n. A male mold member attached to the head of a press in such a manner that it is free to align itself in the female part of the mold when the mold is being closed. 

Shapes with a uniform section in the pressing direction are the easiest to produce by dry pressing. Pieces that vary in section require very careful powder preparation and may need special press facilities such as floating dies, i.e. dies free to move relative to the punches, or dies that split open to allow easy extraction of the compact. The time taken by a pressing on an automatic machine varies from 0.2 s for pieces of diameter around 1mm to 5 s for large complex shapes. 

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