A press slide is a tool used to stamp a wire or other metal design onto an object that is being worked on. These tools are used to press decals and other logos onto metal objects for industrial branding. Press slides have been in use since the Industrial Revolution for this purpose.
This slide is used by a worker who feeds wire or metal into the machine. Various moving parts and tools on a press slide are then manipulated by the worker to form the image that the he or she desires. When the image is created, a tool on the press slide trims the excess stamping material and presses the image down onto the object that is supposed to be stamped.
Originally, this mechanism was entirely hand powered. The current version of a press slide is powered by engines which make the tasks easier for workers. They also have additional tools built into the device itself for increased ease of use. Many of the parts are detachable or movable to suit the unique needs of the various objects that need to be stamped.
A press slide can also be used to shape sheet and bar forms of metal into smaller usable objects. It does this by combining cutting materials with the strong presses that can force metals into a mold or cast. The use of electric or gasoline powered motors on newer press slides increases the ability of presses to perform these functions as some used to require more strength than a typical worker was capable of exerting for long periods at a time.
While a press slide may be one of many large machines in a factory or industrial work site, there is a market for outsourcing the use of press slides to qualified professionals. These professionals may have a warehouse with nothing but press slides in them. Warehouses such as these create small metal objects and decals for many companies simultaneously.
This process, like most forms of outsourcing, allows for workers to specialize and become skilled in the many possible functions of the press slide. This is sometimes preferable to repeatedly creating the same or similar objects on a single machine at a factory that performs many different functions of manufacturing. Whether they are used by a business that dedicates itself to strictly pressing metal objects, or as a component in a multitasking factory, press slides continue to be essential components in manufacturing. The large number of decals and the importance that businesses place on branding ensures this.