A method of making a pair of rotary die cylinders with lands having coacting
cutting edges which
cut blanks from a web of material passing through the nip of the rotating dies. In cross section each land has an outer face and a pair of spaced apart side faces which are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the chord of the outer face to provide a clean
cut and facilitate release of the
cut blank from the
cutting blades as it emerges from the nip of the dies. The die cylinders are journalled for rotation by recesses with frusto conical locating surfaces in their opposed ends. Each die cylinder is made by
machining the recesses in the opposed ends of a generally cylindrical workpiece of
tool steel and then utilizing the recesses to locate and orient the workpiece relative to a
cutting tool to produce a cylindrical surface on the workpiece concentric with the axis of the recesses and then to
machine away portions of the periphery of the cylindrical surface to form the cutting blade lands thereon. After
machining is completed the cutting blade lands may be hardened by
heat treating utilizing a
laser beam directed onto the lands to heat them at an elevated temperature so that upon
quenching they are hardened without any substantial hardening and resulting
distortion of the core or body of the workpiece.