Leather Embossing Die - Material Used

[Adrianh]

I live in Cape Town, South Africa and I'm new to the forum so please excuse my ignorance. I need a bit of advice. One of my customers wants me to make him various embossing dies. He came to me because I already provide a range of services which would enable me, one way or another, to make the dies. I do 2D & 3D cad, laser cutting, cnc machining, resin casting and I am starting to dabble with white metal casting.

Theses are some questions that I need to resolve

1. What materials are appropriate to make embossing dies.

2. I can cnc them from aluminum or brass - will the last?

3. What material could I use to make them on the laser? again, what about longevity?

4. I could cast them in some sort of resin as well, I just don't know whether one could find a material that is hard enough.

5. It looks as if some dies are heated, are the dies manufactured to fit into specific "heaters"? They seem to fit into a soldering iron-like device, is the shank diameter standardized?

[King's X]

I have purchased one from Phillips Engraving, and steel stamps. There are some brass makers out there and cast aluminum makers that have had good luck.

[SantaFeMarie]

Do you know what your client's intended use/expectations are? If he wants these for a one-time project (i.e. only a few impressions) then you'd be OK with the aluminum; if they are for repeated use, then you'd want to move up to brass; if they are meant to be used "forever", then steel. As for the resins, impossible to say, they come in some many different hardnesses. Ditto for white metal, but I personally would be a bit dubious about its potential for this application.

[Adrianh]

Brass seems to be the metal of choice.

This device looks really interesting;

http://lwleathers.com/product/500w-digital-electric-branding-iron-for-leather-wood-temperature-adjustable

[Sonydaze]

The dies I get made for hot embossing are made of magnesium, they are good for a couple of thousand impressions. My die supplier also offers copper which is better for longer and harder use.