jdowney Report post Posted January 31, 2011 A friend of mine makes these for cutting soft sheet metal, and while discussing other things it occurred to both of us that these would cut leather too. The die is a flat piece of steel with a shape plasma cut in it, a heart in this case: The die has a long lever arm cut out on the end of the shape, and this is pushed out so the material to be cut can be slid in the die and cut like a big flat scissor using a hydraulic press. Probably wouldn't need the hydraulics for leather, I bet a broach press would do it. The disadvantage to this type of die is you have to complete the pattern where the arm blocked the cut (the point of the heart in the above pic), but on the other hand, the dies are durable and cheap to make, and can be set up to make cut outs very quickly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
