Glossary
Tool and Die Maker Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential tool and die maker terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key tool and die maker vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in tool and die maker training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Clearance
- The gap between punch and die.
- Die
- A tool used to cut or shape material in a press.
- Fixture
- A device that holds a workpiece during machining.
- Gauge blocks
- Precision blocks used to calibrate measurements.
- GD&T
- Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.
- Heat treating
- Heating and cooling steel to change hardness.
- Jig
- A tool that guides a cutting tool.
- Mold
- A cavity tool used to shape plastic or metal.
- Progressive die
- A die that performs several operations as material moves through stations.
- Punch
- The male part of a die that cuts or forms material.
- Rockwell hardness
- A scale used to measure steel hardness.
- Sinker EDM
- EDM using a shaped electrode to burn cavities.
- Tolerance
- The allowed variation in a dimension.
- Tryout
- Testing a new or repaired die in a press.
- Wire EDM
- Electrical discharge machining with a thin wire to cut hard metals precisely.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Tool and Die Maker practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Tool and Die Maker training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.