Contributing Member JLSleather Posted September 10, 2016 Contributing Member Report Posted September 10, 2016 Latest die I purchased was through Tx Custom Dies. Reasonably priced, arrived quickly, geometrically correct, and cuts cleanly. Nice work. "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members OLDNSLOW Posted September 10, 2016 Members Report Posted September 10, 2016 I just ordered one from them yesterday for a reasonable price, another company said that it would cost 300 to make getting it done for less than half at Texas.
Members Sonydaze Posted September 10, 2016 Members Report Posted September 10, 2016 Here is a die I recently had made by Economy Die Makers. This one is made with 3/4" cutting rule and cost C$94.00 (approx US$72.00) It has done about 200 clicks so far and works great. http://www.bound2please.com Sewing machines: 3 - Sunstar 590BL, Artisan Toro 3200, Juki LK-1900HS, Juki DDL-8500-7, Juki DDL-5550N, Pfaff 138-6/21, Pfaff 546-H3, Pfaff 335-H3, Adler 221-76, Singer 144WVS33, Singer 29K-51, Siruba 747B
Mark842 Posted October 16, 2016 Report Posted October 16, 2016 On 8/26/2016 at 0:35 PM, JLSleather said: ONE of those questions... yes, they DO make dies which cut on both edges (top / bottom). There is a bit of an increased cost, but for items which use a matched left and right (or front and back) this is money well spent. At risk of sounding ignorant...I've been using a clicker press for a few years for my products. Have never had a need for a die that cuts top & bottom but every time I hear them mentioned I wonder how this is done without ruining the die? I assume you have to replace the metal plate on your swing arm with a cutting board type plate? School me please..just very curious. Mark
RockyAussie Posted October 17, 2016 Report Posted October 17, 2016 8 hours ago, Mark842 said: At risk of sounding ignorant...I've been using a clicker press for a few years for my products. Have never had a need for a die that cuts top & bottom but every time I hear them mentioned I wonder how this is done without ruining the die? I assume you have to replace the metal plate on your swing arm with a cutting board type plate? School me please..just very curious. Mark Both clicker presses I have , have an aluminium plate at top and the double sided knives have not given any problems but these are just the regular 19mm knives for wallets and such. Wild Harry - Australian made leather goodsYouTube Channel Instagram
Mark842 Posted October 17, 2016 Report Posted October 17, 2016 10 hours ago, RockyAussie said: Both clicker presses I have , have an aluminium plate at top and the double sided knives have not given any problems but these are just the regular 19mm knives for wallets and such. So you click right against the cutting edge, metal on metal? How does this not destroy the cutting edge? that's what my Fipi press has also...aluminum plate on the swing arm. This is hurting my brain...
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted October 17, 2016 Contributing Member Report Posted October 17, 2016 (edited) Yep, aluminum plate. I assume that your press has some adjustment in height, so no need to take out any plate already there- just "stack" it. As for "needing" double-edged dies, They're useful any time you need a top and bottom that match. Or a left and a right. I'll make this a little longer than maybe you need for the benefit of others. If I make a product like that, then the person making the die (whether that's me or not) would need to match two "mirror image" dies to see them fit. Say a 1/32" tolerance is acceptable variation. Now if LeftDie is 1/32" under and RightDie is 1/32" over, they are both "within spec" but the pieces will not match. If on the other hand ONE die is made with two cutting edges, then even if the die is made 1/32" under OR 1/32" over, teh two sides would still match. There is a way this could be not true, but at this point we're not discussing draft angles. The folks at Tx Custom Dies tell me theirs are made with a 3/4" die height only, so any angle introduced would be very minimal (a fraction of the fraction). There are of course people who purchase and use these dies entirely for speed, and precision isn't even part of the equation. I know of one batch on ebay who appears determined to be the king of $39 holsters (and they DO sell volume). Their product is cheap, but clearly little thought went into the design (beyond what we can "put out" quickly). Each his own, I suppose... I don't currently own any 2-sided dies. I'm not a boot maker, and my holsters are generally NOT the same front and back. But the aluminum won't harm high carbon steel, assuming you're not running the die deep into it. Edited October 17, 2016 by JLSleather "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Mark842 Posted October 18, 2016 Report Posted October 18, 2016 10 hours ago, JLSleather said: Yep, aluminum plate. I assume that your press has some adjustment in height, so no need to take out any plate already there- just "stack" it. As for "needing" double-edged dies, They're useful any time you need a top and bottom that match. Or a left and a right. I'll make this a little longer than maybe you need for the benefit of others. If I make a product like that, then the person making the die (whether that's me or not) would need to match two "mirror image" dies to see them fit. Say a 1/32" tolerance is acceptable variation. Now if LeftDie is 1/32" under and RightDie is 1/32" over, they are both "within spec" but the pieces will not match. If on the other hand ONE die is made with two cutting edges, then even if the die is made 1/32" under OR 1/32" over, teh two sides would still match. There is a way this could be not true, but at this point we're not discussing draft angles. The folks at Tx Custom Dies tell me theirs are made with a 3/4" die height only, so any angle introduced would be very minimal (a fraction of the fraction). There are of course people who purchase and use these dies entirely for speed, and precision isn't even part of the equation. I know of one batch on ebay who appears determined to be the king of $39 holsters (and they DO sell volume). Their product is cheap, but clearly little thought went into the design (beyond what we can "put out" quickly). Each his own, I suppose... I don't currently own any 2-sided dies. I'm not a boot maker, and my holsters are generally NOT the same front and back. But the aluminum won't harm high carbon steel, assuming you're not running the die deep into it. Thanks for the in depth. Helpful info, even though I was just curious. My products don't have a left and right or front and back but I can certainly see why you would want it for some products. Tx Custom Dies has made all my dies with some costing over $1K. I can imagine hitting the sharpened side with 20 ton even though its aluminum to high carbon steel. That being said I get the feeling you would laugh at how I baby my dies but I have a boat load of money tied up in them and I click high volume with them. Would be curious to hear what the life cycle is on a double sided die compared to a single.
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted October 18, 2016 Contributing Member Report Posted October 18, 2016 Next time you're talking with the folks down there, ya might ask 'em about shelf life. I personally can't imagine a die costing $1k -- that must be quite detailed! "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Mark842 Posted October 18, 2016 Report Posted October 18, 2016 56 minutes ago, JLSleather said: I personally can't imagine a die costing $1k -- that must be quite detailed! The most expensive I have has 260 linear inches of cutting surface. Cuts out the product shape and 11 strands of 20" fringe and has 36 holes.
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