Die Turnover operation: Flying the die open

A recent inquiry from an SME forum had me scouring the net to find video of the operation of "flying open a die". Turns out that while it was ubiquitous in all the die rooms and press rooms I have worked at there was little to no video footage of it happening; nor much in the way of procedural documentation.

A post to the LinkedIn Stamping and Dies community yielded paydirt. After only one month. so without further delay here is the video. Thanks to the folks at F&P America for the courtesy of the video.

With this video of course there is no warranty or promises. Will not be held responsible if you try to replicate and can't manage it. Bear in mind that in the video they are using appropriate die handling and their tools have been designed with this operation in mind.

1. pick up top half of die using syncro'd bay cranes (4 pick-up points)
2. with upper clear of the lower lower one side of the die until upper is fully held by one side
3. un-hook the slacked lines and re-attach after rotating the die 180 degrees
4. Lift the slack side (or lower the other crane line)
5. put it down when safely horizontal again