Generally, it can be classified according to the following main characteristics:

1. Classification according to the nature of the process

a. Punching die: A die that separates materials along a closed or open outline. Such as blanking die, punching die, cutting die, slitting die, trimming die, cutting die, etc.

b. Bending mold: A mold that makes the sheet blank or other blanks bend and deform along a straight line (bending line) to obtain a certain angle and shape of the workpiece.

c. Drawing die: It is a die for making the blank of the sheet into an open hollow part, or to make the hollow part further change the shape and size.

d. Forming mold: It is a mold that directly replicates the blank or semi-finished workpiece according to the shape of the convex and concave molds, and the material itself only produces local plastic deformation. Such as bulging molds, shrinking molds, flaring molds, undulating forming molds, flanging molds, shaping molds, etc.

2. Classification according to the degree of process combination

a. Single process mold: In one stroke of the press, only one stamping process is completed.

b. Compound mold: There is only one station, and in one stroke of the press, two or more stamping processes can be completed at the same time on the same station.

c. Progressive die (also called a continuous die): In the feeding direction of the blank, there are two or more stations. In one stroke of the press, two or two passes are completed successively in different stations. Die for more than one stamping process.

3. Classification according to the processing method of the product

According to different product processing methods, molds can be divided into five categories: punching and shearing molds, bending molds, drawing molds, forming molds, and compression molds.

a. Punching and shearing die: the work is done by shearing. Commonly used forms are shearing dies, blanking dies, punching dies, trimming dies, edge dies, punching dies and punching dies.

b. Bending mold: It is a shape that bends the flat blank into an angle. Depending on the shape, accuracy, and production volume of the part, there are many different forms of molds, such as ordinary bending dies, cam bending dies, curling Stamping dies, arc bending dies, bending punching dies and twisting dies, etc.

c. Drawing mold: Drawing mold is to make flat blank into a seamless container with the bottom.

d. Forming die: refers to the use of various local deformation methods to change the shape of the blank. Its forms include convex forming die, curling edge forming die, necking forming die, hole flange forming die, and round edge forming die.

e. Compression die: It uses strong pressure to make the metal blank flow and deform into the required shape. The types include extrusion die, embossing dies, embossing dies, and end pressure die.