Design problem: Die-cutting at an angle

A message to my partner in the six-month startup:

Just spoke with someone at in New Hampshire, who designs dies for die-cutting presses.

He said it's not possible to design dies that go at an angle. This is what you originally thought (the cookie cutter model). I spoke with another die designer in Wakefield, who confirmed this but added that when you are stamping foam, it usually ends up with concavity because the foam compresses as you push down (this kind of jives with what seemed to think it was possible). However, the Wakefield die designer said that he is not sure if you could design a die that tried to get a uniform concavity every time. He noted that it's usually something people try to eliminate with foam.

He suggested that different cutting techniques -- reciprocal knife cutting and water jet cutting -- might be possible, although the latter might not be appropriate for foam.

I got another piece of intel from someone who actually operates die presses -- she said it's basically 15 cents every time the press comes down.

So, we have a few options:

- Pursue die cutting, test concavity on different foams with different foam densities
- Explore alternate cutting tech (reciprocal knife cutting)
- Molds?

Die cutting costs, and a metrics mistake

Talking to a local die-cutting shop, as I research potential suppliers and prototype manufacturers. Found out that the creation of the die is actually done elsewhere, and that once a production run starts, "every time the press comes down it's 15 cents."

Then there was this, when I was describing the dimensions of the product we want die cut in millimeters:

"What's that? We don't do millimeters."

Chalk it up to quirks of the American manufacturing industry ...