Extrusion Tooling
Extrusion tools live a hard life, extreme pressure, soaring temperatures and relentless cycle times. At Sterling Machining, we design and manufacture dies, mandrels, stems and dummy blocks that thrive in those conditions, delivering consistent extrudate quality and significantly longer service intervals.
Why choose Sterling for extrusion tooling?
Performance-led design – Finite-element analysis (FEA) validates every new tool before a single chip is cut, predicting stress hot-spots and preventing early failure.
Materials matched to duty – H13, H11, Dievar, nickel-based alloys and tailor-specified steels, all heat-treated in accredited UK furnaces for optimum toughness and wear resistance.
Thermal management built in – Cooling channels, flow grooves and polished bearing surfaces minimise heat soak and reduce billet-to-billet downtime.
Precision you can measure – Tolerances to ± 0.02 mm on critical diameters, with full CMM inspection and surface-finish data supplied as standard.
Typical tooling we supply
Extrusion dies
Single-, multi- and hollow-profile dies with nitrided, PVD-coated or hard-faced bearings.
Mandrels & piercers
Ø 13 mm to 1.5 m long, proprietary anti-distortion route preserves straightness after heat treatment.
Stems & dummy blocks
High-strength alloy steels, HVOF-sprayed wear faces, quick-change retention features.
Bolster plates & containers
Stress-relieved tool steels, precision coolant passages, parallel ground faces.
Our five-step process
Specification review
We discuss billet material, press tonnage and production targets to define the optimal tool package.
Design & simulation
CAD and FEA verify flow, stress and thermal performance, reducing trial runs and scrap.
Precision machining
Multi-axis milling and turning keep features true in one set-up; secondary grinding achieves mirror finishes where required.
Heat treatment & finishing
Vacuum or controlled-atmosphere cycles deliver the ideal hardness; coating or nitriding applied if specified.
Inspection & shipment
Tools leave with full documentation: material certs, hardness charts, dimensional reports and, if needed, first-press assistance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which industries use your extrusion tooling?
Steel and yellow-metal presses, aluminium profile makers, copper tube mills and specialist high-temperature alloy extruders.
Can you improve my existing design?
Yes—send us a worn tool or a sample extrusion. We’ll review bearing lengths, flow balance and material choice, then recommend life-extending tweaks.
Do you supply spare wear parts?
Absolutely. Liner rings, bolster inserts, shear blades and pressure pads can be produced as standalone items or bundled with new tooling.
Can you recondition worn dies?
In many cases, yes. We offer re-lapping, re-coating and dimensional restoration services with full post-repair inspection.