Precision Die Cutting Services for Engineered Materials
Custom die cutting of 687+ engineered materials across 50 chemistries — through-cut, kiss-cut, scored, or perforated to tolerances of ±0.003″, with in-line adhesive lamination and DFM support from prototype to production. Converted to your drawing in Winsted, Connecticut.
H-O Products provides flatbed die cutting services in Winsted, Connecticut: through-cutting, kiss-cutting, scoring, and perforating of 687+ materials across 50 chemistries, at tolerances from ±0.003″ to ±0.015″ depending on die type and material. Adhesive lamination runs in-line, engineering reviews every drawing before tooling, and steel-rule, machined, and matched-metal dies cover roughly 500 to 100,000+ parts — all under an ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system.
- Gaskets & seals: soft BISCO® BF-1000 for low-closure-force enclosures; dense 70A EPDM for high-bolt-load flanges
- Dielectric insulators: Kapton®, Nomex®, APTIV® PEEK, and mica for slot liners, transformer barriers, and busbar separators
- Thermal pads: Sil-Pad® and Gap Pad® cut with PTFE-coated tooling; NeoGraf® graphite handled against delamination
- EMI shielding gaskets: SSP502 conductive silicone and BISCO® EC-2130 soft conductive solid, cut to preserve edge conductivity
- Peel-and-place parts: kiss-cut PSA-backed pads on a liner with in-line adhesive lamination
- Outside the die window: thick or dense sections route to waterjet; features below 0.020″ route to laser
Die cutting, converted in-house
H-O’s die cutting services press shaped steel tooling against flexible material on a flat platen to cut, blank, score, perforate, and kiss-cut engineered materials into dimensionally accurate components — all in-house on flatbed die cutting equipment, with adhesive lamination and finishing in the same workflow.
What makes the operation different is the depth of the material inventory and the material knowledge behind it. We stock materials from Rogers Corporation, Saint-Gobain, Henkel/Bergquist, DuPont, NeoGraf, Kaneka, Victrex, and dozens of other suppliers, and we maintain material-specific cutting parameters for each chemistry, grade, and thickness. When an engineer specifies BISCO® HT-800 or PORON® 4701-40, we already know how that material behaves under the die.
Die cutting, kiss cutting, scoring, perforating, and in-line adhesive lamination are performed in Winsted, CT. For thick soft foams above 0.250″ that compress under a die, or for very short runs, we may recommend waterjet cutting instead; for features below 0.020″ on thin film, laser cutting. See the process comparison below.
| Spec | Working range | How it breaks down |
|---|---|---|
| Tolerance | ±0.003″ – ±0.015″ | ±0.003″–0.005″ matched-metal · ±0.005″–0.010″ machined · ±0.010″–0.015″ steel-rule |
| Thickness | 0.0005″ – 0.500″ | films below 0.003″ take matched-metal + PTFE tooling; soft foam above 0.250″ routes to waterjet |
| Minimum feature | 0.008″ – 0.030″ | 0.030″ steel-rule · 0.015″ machined · 0.008″ matched-metal; below 0.020″ on film routes to laser |
| Part envelope | 0.250″ × 0.250″ to 36″ × 48″ | standard flatbed press |
| Volume sweet spot | 500 – 100,000+ | very short runs may fit no-tooling waterjet; 10,000+ on thin tapes may fit rotary |
| Tooling & build | $400 – $5,000+ | steel-rule $400–$800, 3–7 days · machined $800–$2,000+ · matched-metal $2,000–$5,000+ |
| Materials | 687+ SKUs | 50 chemistries, 8 families, in-line PSA lamination from a 28+ adhesive inventory |
Where are you in the die-cutting spec?
This page serves engineers who already know the part and material they want die-cut and engineers still working out tolerance, mode, and tool type. Pick the path that matches where you are; you do not have to read the rest.
Send a drawing, get a quote
Through-cut, kiss-cut, scored, or perforated parts in foams, silicones, films, or composites cut to your drawing, with adhesive lamination and finishing in the same workflow.
Skip to the quote form →Walk through tolerance and tooling
Tolerance classes, registration, kiss-cut versus through-cut, steel-rule versus machined dies, and a requirement-to-material decision matrix.
Start with tolerance & tooling →Guidelines that hold tolerance and cut tooling cost
Designing parts for die cutting means understanding how material and die interact. Following these rules before drawings are finalized prevents costly redesigns after tooling is committed; our engineering team reviews every part for manufacturability first.
- Internal corner radius ≥ material thickness
- Sharp internal corners concentrate stress in the die blade and produce burrs or tears. For 0.062″ material, use a minimum 0.062″ internal radius. External corners can be sharp. This single change eliminates the most common quality issue on complex geometries.
- Minimum wall ≥ material thickness
- Narrow walls between features tear during cutting, especially on soft materials. For 0.125″ BISCO® BF-1000, minimum wall is 0.125″; for 0.002″ Kapton® HN, the practical minimum is 0.020″. Where walls must be narrower, machined or matched-metal dies improve results.
- Minimum hole diameter
- ≥ 1× thickness for foams, ≥ 0.75× for solid elastomers, ≥ 0.5× for films. Minimum feature-to-feature spacing is 0.030″ for steel-rule dies, 0.015″ for machined. Minimum feature-to-edge is 0.030″.
- Part size envelope
- Approximately 0.250″ × 0.250″ minimum to 36″ × 48″ maximum on standard press.
- Nesting & material yield
- Multi-cavity nesting maximizes parts per sheet and directly reduces per-part material cost. We target 85–92% material yield on standard gasket geometries. On an $85/ft² thermal interface material, improving yield from 70% to 90% cuts per-part material cost by roughly 22%.
- Design file requirements
- DXF or DWG preferred for tooling design; PDF with dimensions for inspection criteria; STEP and IGES accepted for 3D reference. Include material callout and thickness, critical-dimension tolerances, edge-quality requirements, adhesive and liner specs, and quantity expectations.
Full tolerance & tooling reference — classes, registration, cut modes, die selection
The four questions that decide a part are the achievable tolerance for the material and size, how tightly multi-layer features register, whether the mode is kiss-cut or through-cut, and which tool type fits the feature and run. The detail below is the reference an engineer can lift directly.
Tolerance classes by material and feature [RMA] [ISO 2768]
Die-cut tolerance is a function of the material and the feature size, not a single fixed number. Firm films and laminates hold tighter than soft, compressible foams because a soft material deflects under the die edge. As a working frame, machined-die work on dimensionally stable material can hold to about ±0.005″, general steel-rule die work on foams and rubber falls nearer the RMA dimensional-tolerance tables for the part size, and general-tolerance expectations track ISO 2768 medium or fine where a drawing does not call out a specific value.
The achievable class is confirmed against the material and the drawing during material review, never assumed.
- Stable film / laminate
- Tightest class; machined dies to about ±0.005″ on the controlled features.
- Soft foam / sponge rubber
- Wider class; RMA size-dependent tables; the part deflects under the edge, so size drives tolerance.
- No callout on the drawing
- General tolerances track ISO 2768 medium or fine; we confirm before committing.
On multi-layer and adhesive-backed parts, registration of cut features to laminated layers and adhesive windows is set with the construction and held through tool design and material feed control, not after-the-fact trimming.
| If your requirement is | Material family to start from | Cut mode and tool | Tolerance frame to confirm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compression gasket or seal | Silicone sponge, EPDM, or foam | Through-cut, steel-rule die | RMA size-dependent (TDS) |
| Adhesive-backed peel-and-place pad | PSA-laminated foam or film | Kiss-cut on liner, steel-rule die | ±0.010″ typical |
| Thin dielectric or insulator film | Polyimide or polyester film | Through-cut, matched-metal die | ±0.005″ (machined) |
| Fine features below the die limit | Thin film or thin laminate | Route to laser or knife | Feature-size dependent |
| Thick soft foam above 0.250″ | Open-cell or soft closed-cell foam | Route to waterjet | Material deflection (review) |
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1Send drawing & materialShare a DXF, DWG, PDF, or STEP with the material callout, thickness, critical tolerances, and any adhesive or liner spec. A sample part works too.
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2DFM & die reviewEngineering reviews the part for manufacturability and selects the die type (steel-rule, machined, or matched-metal) against tolerance, feature size, and volume.
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3PrototypeSamples typically 3-5 business days for common configurations once the die is built. Standard production 2 weeks; special orders run custom lead times.
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4ProductionDie-cut, laminated, and finished to drawing in one coordinated workflow, with first-article inspection and lot-code traceability carried through the run.
Send the part and get a DFM review
If your drawing has the material, thickness, and critical tolerances, send it over. Engineering reviews manufacturability, selects the die type, and comes back with a quote.
What we die-cut, and for whom
Custom parts — gaskets, seals, insulators, thermal pads, and EMI shielding components — ship into medical, aerospace, defense, electronics, industrial, energy, and transportation programs.
Die-cut gaskets & seals
Environmental, flange, cabinet, and housing seals, from soft BISCO® BF-1000 for low-closure-force enclosures to dense 70A EPDM for high-bolt-load flanges. BISCO® sponge and kSil™ V-0 for IP65/IP67 electronics; MIL-spec neoprene and EPDM for defense. From our catalog: BISCO® 7304 silicone sponge · kSil® US400.
Insulators
Kapton®, Nomex®, APTIV® PEEK, and mica cut into motor slot liners, transformer barriers, busbar separators, and high-voltage phase insulation. Matched-metal or machined dies for tight tolerances on dielectric parts. From our catalog: Kapton® PST polyimide film · 6113-10 PTFE film tape.
Thermal pads
Sil-Pad® and Gap Pad® cut with PTFE-coated tooling to manage surface tack; NeoGraf® graphite with delamination-prevention techniques. For power electronics, EV battery thermal management, and LED interfaces. From our catalog: PORON® AquaPro® 4701-41 · PORON® Medical Firm.
EMI shielding gaskets
SSP502 conductive silicone, BISCO® EC-2130 soft conductive solid, and fabric-over-foam, cut with controlled parameters that preserve shielding effectiveness at the cut edge. Combined shielding-and-sealing multi-layer constructions are a specialty. From our catalog: BISCO® 7304 silicone sponge · kSil® US400.
SSP502-40 EMI shielding gaskets with silicone PSA for avionics enclosures: ±0.008″ tolerance across 8 part numbers, machined dies with controlled cut speed to preserve conductivity, parts inspected to a Cpk target of 1.33 or higher. Quality systems are built for medical, aerospace, and defense programs, with lot traceability typically retrievable in under 2 hours.
Die cutting questions
Common questions from engineers speccing parts.
What tolerances can die cutting achieve?
Steel-rule dies hold ±0.010″ to ±0.015″, machined dies ±0.005″ to ±0.010″, and matched-metal dies ±0.003″ to ±0.005″ on films. Per RMA guidelines, achievable tolerance also widens with part size, and soft cellular materials are harder to hold tight than dense elastomers.
What are the design guidelines for parts?
Minimum wall at least the material thickness; minimum hole diameter at least 1× thickness for foams and 0.75× for solids; internal corner radius at least the material thickness; feature-to-feature spacing 0.030″ for steel-rule or 0.015″ for machined dies; part size roughly 0.250″ square minimum to 36″ × 48″ maximum. Our engineering team reviews designs for manufacturability before tooling is committed.
What materials can H-O Products die cut?
687+ SKUs across 50 chemistries: BISCO® silicone foam (100+), PORON® and HyPUR-cel® urethanes (80+), solid elastomers including Viton® and FFKM (153+), Kapton®, APTIV®, and Nomex® films (86+), EMI and thermal materials (73+), acrylic foam tapes (126+), adhesives (28+), and specialty materials (40+).
What drives die cutting cost?
Five factors: tooling ($400 to $5,000+ one-time), material (type and yield), setup (per-run die mount and calibration), per-part converting (which falls with volume), and finishing such as adhesive lamination, liner configuration, and packaging. Volume is the biggest lever; tooling amortizes to near zero at high quantities, after which material yield is the primary driver.
Related converting capabilities
Capability overview
Converting & Fabrication
The parent hub: how die cutting, waterjet, laser, rotary, slitting, an.
Read the overview
Related capability
Rotary Die Cutting
High-volume rotary converting for acrylic foam tapes and thin foams.
Read the page
Related capability
Waterjet Cutting
No-tooling cutting for thick BISCO® sponge and dense rubber.
Read the page
For an accurate quote, include the following with your drawing or sample:
- DXF
- DWG
- STEP
- Material callout
- Thickness
- Critical tolerances
- Adhesive or liner spec
Request a die-cutting quote
Send a drawing, a sample part, or a description of the part. Engineering reviews manufacturability, selects the die type, and comes back with a quote. Prefer to start with a conversation? Contact our engineering team directly.
Material data & standards. Material properties, tolerances, and die-cutting parameters on this page come from the source manufacturers’ technical data sheets and cited references; H-O converts these materials and does not independently re-certify them unless stated on the quote. Achievable tolerance is geometry-, material-, and die-dependent. Lot-specific documentation available on request.
Capability scope. Die cutting, kiss cutting, scoring, perforating, and in-line adhesive lamination are performed in-house in Winsted, CT. Lead times and minimums vary by material, die type, and construction; expedited handling can be arranged.