Making Clicker Dies - And Need Clicker Suggestions

[Dink]

Ah the down side, It took me quite a while to find the bender but between the bender, two roles of rule, the barrels (containers for storing rule), all the dies and saw, I already had welders is about a $5000 investment. I looked at this when I purchased it as a complete stand alone, additional business to my leather business. Do you have interest in making dies?

Dirk, very cool. What does a setup like that cost?

[Prince]

Yes I do, but not as a supplemental business to my leather or metal works, but rather to save in the long haul by making my own as opposed to outsourcing them. I didn't think I'd need a special bender to do them though so it may not really save me so much as I thought. I figured I'd be able to do them with my current tools I've got for making knives and such.

I don't really know what clicker dies cost anyway though so it might easily enough not really have saved me so much anyhow.

[kevinhopkins]

Yes I do, but not as a supplemental business to my leather or metal works, but rather to save in the long haul by making my own as opposed to outsourcing them. I didn't think I'd need a special bender to do them though so it may not really save me so much as I thought. I figured I'd be able to do them with my current tools I've got for making knives and such.

I don't really know what clicker dies cost anyway though so it might easily enough not really have saved me so much anyhow.

Hi Azmal,

For what it's worth, the steel that clicker dies are made from is purchased as just that. You don't have to sharpen it, just cut, bend, weld, and all that stuff. The steel rule dies are a totally different animal. Usually they're either formed around a wood pc, or inset into a piece of wood, like 3/4 plywood or something similar. They have some drawbacks, especially if you're wanting to click a lot of pcs. If they're made in the style that is inset into a pc of wood, you can't see to rapidly position your die, and this will waste a lot of leather in a fairly short time. When we first started manufacturing wallets, we had all of our dies made of steel rule, because of the cost. It turned out that we eventually had them all remade from standard clicker die material, and it was the smartest thing I ever did. The steel rule dies also didn't have the life that a standard clicker die has. it doesn't take much for a steel rule die to get a nick in it, or for it to have a chip come away from the welded seam, and then you're forever having problems cutting clean. If you're not ever cutting any qty of anything, then steel rule might be ok, but I don't think I'd be using it on leather. All boot and shoe factories, (the few remaining) use standard clicker dies. If it will help, I'll gladly give you the phone number of the guy that I think is the cheapest die maker in the country. We just had a wristband die remade the other day, and it cost me 38 bucks, and it had 2 holes in it. If you'll either email me ( kevin@springfieldleather.com ) or call me, ( 800-668-8518) I'll give you his number and address.

Sorry to be longwinded!

Kevin

[Dink]

Kevin

just trying to clarify what you said about dies. The dies you are refferring to as standard clicker or steel dies, are the ones like we produce out of 3/4 or 11/4" pre sharpened steel rule that is bent and welded with braces but has an open top. And the ones you call steel rule are the ones that are either bedded or wrapped around a wooden form?

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