SOP for Cleaning and Polishing of Punches and Dies

Objective

To lay down a procedure for Cleaning and polishing punches and dies.

Scope

This procedure is applicable to the Cleaning and polishing of punches and dies used in the production department.

Responsibility

Officer, and Executive – Production Department for implementation of this procedure.

Manager – Production Department for overall compliance to this procedure.

Procedure

Cleaning:

• Switch Off the mains of the compression machine.
• Dismantle all dies and punches.
• Keep all dies, lower punches and upper punches separately in a plastic tub.

• Remove any visible material from the surfaces of all dies and punches with dry lint-free cloth, and nylon brush.
• Clean inside surfaces of all die with a nylon brush.
• Clean and wipe surfaces of all dies and punches with a lint-free cloth & spray / pour isopropyl alcohol / Methylene chloride.
• Let all dies and punches dry in air or dry with a clean lint-free cloth.
• Send all dies and punches for buffing and polishing.
• Apply edible oil on inner/outer surfaces of dies and punches to protect from possible rusting during storage.
• Keep all punches in individual plastic tubes and store them in an appropriate plastic box under lock and key.
• Before next use, clean with a dry lint-free cloth to remove any oily material from the surface of all dies and punches.

ALSO READ: SOP for Operation and Cleaning of Compression Machine

Polishing:

• Select the required brush as per the note given below
• Use emery paper/bar to polish the tip of the punches for any inside burr.

• Use a cup-shaped nylon brush and micro emery powder in case of concave punches with embossing.
• Use a wheel-shaped nylon brush and micro emery powder in case of flat punches with embossing.
• Use dome-shaped felt bob and micro emery powder in case of concave and plain punches.
• Use conical-shaped felt bob and micro emery powder in case of plain flat-faced beveled edged punches and dies.
• Fix the required brush on the fixtures of the electrical grinder properly with the help of the key provided and tighten it correctly.
• Apply diamond paste/emery powder to the part to be polished as required.
• Connect the electrical grinder to the mains and switch it ON.
• Start the electrical grinder.
• Bring the revolving polishing brush near to the part to be polished. Touch it with the sides and polish it as required.
• Fix the required brush on the fixtures of the electrical grinder properly with the help of the key provided and tighten it correctly.
• Clean the punches and dies using IPA after completion of polishing of punches.
• Frequency: Polishing of the punches and dies to be done after the batch completion.
• Record the polishing details in Annexure- I.
• All the subsets of a particular set should be polished at a time.

Note: Polishing of punches and Dies to be done in the compression spare room

Abbreviation

IPA: Iso Propyl Alcohol

SOP: Stander Operating Procedure

Annexure

Revision History

Nil

ALSO READ: Working and Principle of Tablet Compression Machine