Diecutting
Diecutting. A mechanical process of milling a design from a pattern by cutting cavities in a die block using a tracer-controlled cutting point; or preparing a machined die by any method, particularly by a die-engraving pantograph. Diecutting, diesinking and hand engraving, while similar in that all three methods prepare a die suitable for striking, differ in the manner of their preparation. Hand engraving, oldest of the three methods, is the meticulous cutting the design in the exact size by hand carving with burins, chisels, gravers and files. Diesinking is accomplished by hubbing, a process of pressing a hard pattern of the required size into a soft die block, under pressure from a strong press, transferring the design from one into the other. Diecutting is the cutting of the die cavities by mechanical means where an oversize pattern is reduced and cut by a tracer-controlled milling process. See pantograph.
Die-cut is hyphenated, diecutter and diecutting are not.excerpted with permission from
An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology
For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators
COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON
Roger W. Burdette, Editor