Canuck Report post Posted December 5, 2007 My father is in the process of making some dies for me. We are recycling old band saw blades. The wrong side of the blade is sharpened He mounts a plywood template of the pattern to a 3/4" plywood base. He then form fits the bandsaw blade around it. He pins the blade to the template and then sandwiches it with the negative template cut out. Glues some foam rubber inside and I have an economical die. I use a 3 ton arbor press that I have modified. I attached a 12"x12" x1.5" steel plate to the ram of the press. I have a thick nylon cutting surface. So far it has worked out well. For limited production I think it will hold up. I will report back later on the success or failures of this project. Cheers Robert Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CitizenKate Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Huh. That's something I think even I could do! Thanks for sharing that, and I'll be interested to know the results from your trials. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bcurrier Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Very original, and bandsaw blades are really tough (should hold up). How is he sharpening them? Seems the problem would be to keep a level surface. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canuck Report post Posted December 5, 2007 Very original, and bandsaw blades are really tough (should hold up). How is he sharpening them? Seems the problem would be to keep a level surface. My dad lives 7 hour drive from me so I'm not in his shop to supervise. However I think he is using a bench grinder with a sharpening jig. I don't think it takes much to put an edge on it. I have used it to cut 8/10 weight leather as well as garment an so far clean easy cuts. I'm not sure how a it would stand up to a true clicker press. With a manual press you can gage how much pressure is needed and you can hear that distinct scrunch sound when the die has cut through the leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Canuck Report post Posted December 7, 2007 I have received the dies today and tried them out. I am very pleased with them. The second batch I received, my Dad pinned the blades into the template for added security. The one die is large 12"x8" so I have to move it around and press it a few times but it sure beats cutting it out by hand. Total cost is hard to say because the base plate and templates were made from scrap pieces of plywood. Box of screws. scrap pieces of foam rubber a couple of worn out bandsaw Blades. Labour....my dad made 10 dies for me in about 20 hours. I will post again regarding how durable they are. Cheers Robert Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Northmount Report post Posted April 27, 2012 I will post again regarding how durable they are. I know this is a five year old thread, but would be interested to know how well these dies have worked for you. And if you have any other new info to add. Regards, CTG Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
