A customer was talking to his carpenter. ” How do you explain your great reputation? ” The carpenter answered “I inherited my hammer from my father who was also a carpenter” The customer replied ” Your dad has been dead for many years. Are you sure it is his original hammer? The carpenter answered ” It has had 7 new handles and 3 new heads but it still is his original hammer”

Die casting dies that make castings with complicated precision shapes like transmission valve bodies also wear out like hammers. Die casters who are serious about making a profit realize that it is not necessary to replace the complete die every time a portion wears out. This is even easier it the original die design has the segmented design to enable partial renewal. Most dies have replaceable core pins. Better dies also are segmented such that worn sections in front of the gate can also be renewed. Skilled casting die designers use self cleaning features as part of their designs so that hand manicuring of segment flash lines is avoided.