Arbor Press And Die Cutting

[mrtreat32]

I read some topics awhile back on here discussing manual and electric clickers for cutting out leather using dies. I am not yet at the point in my leather production that I want to shell out that type of money ($1300 for a manual clicker) seems to be the going rate?

I recently came across a leatherworker on my instagram feed who uses dies and mentioned he uses a arbor press to cut them out. This seems like it would be too obvious and cheap of a solution. I have never used a clicker so I have no hands on experience with one. What do they offer that a arbor press does not? I would assume the cutting area is much bigger? anything else?

BTW I make mostly small leather goods and use calfskin and other leathers usually 2-5oz. The guy on my instagram feed makes thicker bridle and veg tan wallets which look like 6-7oz pieces from what I can tell. For the leather thickness I am using would this work?

I am curious if anyone can tell me the drawbacks and what benefit I would get from a actual manual clicker.

Look forward to hearing anyones feedback

thanks

[builderofstuff]

I use an arbor press from harbor freight as a clicker once in a while. I also use it to do the larger 3d stamps. They work pretty well, but there are limitations, such as size of item. My die is about 2 1/2" x 5" approximately. One thing about the arbor press, if the die is over a few inches you might have to click it in one spot then move it over a bit and do it again. Which for me has worked out fine, you just have to make sure not to lift up the die, otherwise you can mess up your cut and get messed up edges. I've also seen guys using the larger hydraulic presses from harbor freight to stamp out larger pieces.

Chris

[mrtreat32]

Thanks.

I understand moving it to a few positions before cutting through might be needed but that doesn't seem like too much trouble. Do you use a 1 ton arbor press or you think more would be needed for leathers going up to about 6-7oz max

[billybopp]

There have been a few threads about using an arbor press for clicker dies recently. Mostly centering on 6 or 12 ton hydraulic presses from Harbor Freight and the like. They need to be modified to work as a clicker press. Some people can to that themselves. If you can't, you'd have to pay somebody to do it. Mods mostly consist of a large metal base plate with plastic atop it, and a matching metal top plate for the ram to act upon.

Since these presses are hydraulic, they are not as fast as a devoted clicker, but otherwise should work OK.

If you search around, you should be able to find those recent threads.

Hope that helps

Bill

[Glendon]

In my openion you do need a shop press at minimum. I currently use a 6 ton shop press for clicker dies and it works ok. It takes a bit more effort then I would like. A 12 ton or stronger I think would be prefect for smaller dies. There are a lot of people on here that seem to have no problem with those presses. A regular arbor press that is under 2 tons of force, I don't think would work. Too little force spread over too little area.

[Northmount]

Really depends on the size you are trying to click out. 1 ton on a steel rule die about about 3x5" cuts nicely. I'm thinking of doing wallet backs. Need a steel plate, cutting board, leather, die, steel plate so all stays square, and cutting force is consistent across the die. If the die is too big, then as above, take a bite, move over, take another until it is cut all around.

The limitation that might irritate you is arbor presses don't have a lot of throat depth. For small items, that shouldn't be a problem.

An arbor press is faster than a shop press, as long as you have enough leverage. Just one stroke. Shop press needs many strokes on the hydraulic jack to get a 1/2" stroke on the ram. So trade offs between ease versus speed.

Shop press takes up more space too. I have both, 1 ton arbor, and 20 ton shop press. My shop press is an hour's drive away, so doesn't get used very often.

Tom

[whipstitchwallets]

I use this: http://texascustomdies.com/Products/manual_12_ton_shop_press_clicker_large.jpg

It's perfect for what I do, which is all small wallet parts from 2-3 oz leather. I would NOT want anything weaker than this 12 ton press, even for 2-3 oz. I also get my dies from them.

[builderofstuff]

I used the 1 ton harbor freight arbor press on 4 to 6oz leather on a regular basis. It works fine. A lot of times though to make it require less effort I'll use a piece of tubing over the handle as a lever. Makes it much quicker and easier. Another thing that I've found is important that no one seems to mention is how sharp you maintain the edge on your dies. The sharper that edge the less effort it's going to take to push it through the leather.

Chris