How to make a press for moulding leather pouches and such

[MY63]

I usually use wooden moulds for forming leather so don't have any experience of printed ones. if you are concerned about strength why not add a top to the upper part. Or make them stackable and add the top part to the base of the second one to sit on top.

I hope that makes sense the first base will be flat the second one will have the top of the first as part of its base.

I used a similar style of handcuffs during my service the press stud fastener had a longer tab after the stud to make it quick release, generally when you need handcuffs you need them quickly. 

[RockyAussie]

4 hours ago, MY63 said:

I usually use wooden moulds for forming leather so don't have any experience of printed ones. if you are concerned about strength why not add a top to the upper part. Or make them stackable and add the top part to the base of the second one to sit on top.

I hope that makes sense the first base will be flat the second one will have the top of the first as part of its base.

I used a similar style of handcuffs during my service the press stud fastener had a longer tab after the stud to make it quick release, generally when you need handcuffs you need them quickly. 

Like you I have mostly only ever done moulds with wood and I have not done any with pla before. What worries me is the very tight fit for such a high wall. If it fails I will try a little wider opening and make it a little higher and more rounded off. I hope to have it work out as the advantage with the 3d printing is that although it takes hours to do them they all come out the same and you can keep on working on other stuff while that is happening. If that fails I'll probably just get a heap of outer shell parts laser cut out of aluminium or something.

Thanks for mentioning the quick release I will check for that in my design. Regards Brian

[plinkercases]

I use a press made with a wine press screw unit and for the kind of forming you are doing.... works just fine and cheep... and I get a little exercise..

for the kind of moulding over something for detailing I use a one inch sheet of 40 duro and also work just fine but I still prefer hand molding/boning for the volume I do...which is very low.

[RockyAussie]

That is a nice and strong  looking press there @plinkercases. sort of looks a bit like you've used a step tread the other way to what I'm thinking. Here is the plans for what I am thinking and a list of the parts and costs so far. In the second picture you see -

2 x 3' threaded rods at 3/4" round = $31.80au

16 nuts to suit =$11.04au

16 washes to suit =$6.72au

1 x stair tread at 4' long by 2" thick hardwood (Very dense) = $34.40au

Scissor jack from the wreckers ( short one for Honda civic) $10.00 au

Total so far $93.95

Still to get 1 of  3/8"x 2- 1/2" bolt and nut and 4 screws to attach jack to moving board.

I will do some pictures of the making this weekend.   Brian

PS. I know I didn't draw the thread on the rods or even the jack either .........SO WHAT .... and 38mm is close enough to 2"

[Double Daddy]

I, myself, went with a vacuum setup, in the same fashion as the one by Particle and a few others...veneering bag and Harbor Freight pump along with misc. hosing and pieces...super-easy to use (can mold multiple items at once) with good results. Additionally, I've seen some fine work many of the craftsmen on here have delivered using vertical presses like Plinker and Dwight have shown above.

Brian, I look forward to seeing how your build goes...

[mikesc]

Wow..you pay 4 times the price even I pay for threaded bar at those dimensions..unless you are talking "stainless" ?

[RockyAussie]

9 hours ago, Double Daddy said:

I, myself, went with a vacuum setup, in the same fashion as the one by Particle and a few others...veneering bag and Harbor Freight pump along with misc. hosing and pieces...super-easy to use (can mold multiple items at once) with good results. Additionally, I've seen some fine work many of the craftsmen on here have delivered using vertical presses like Plinker and Dwight have shown above.

Brian, I look forward to seeing how your build goes...

Thanks @Double Daddy I hope to get it done tomorrow and load some pics by Monday. I would have liked to use the vacuum but I don't know how to do it then keep the shape compressed while drying while I do more. Minimising the leather usage and lining up are other issues as well.

I said earlier 38mm was close enough to 2".........I was tired ......I meant to say 1+ 1/2". Sorry. Regards Brian

[RockyAussie]

7 hours ago, mikesc said:

Wow..you pay 4 times the price even I pay for threaded bar at those dimensions..unless you are talking "stainless" ?

No I wish it were stainless. Bunnings hardware price here in Australia on all but the scissor jack. And people wonder why our prices barely compete.

[Itch]

On 10/11/2017 at 5:12 PM, RockyAussie said:

Like you I have mostly only ever done moulds with wood and I have not done any with pla before. What worries me is the very tight fit for such a high wall. If it fails I will try a little wider opening and make it a little higher and more rounded off. I hope to have it work out as the advantage with the 3d printing is that although it takes hours to do them they all come out the same and you can keep on working on other stuff while that is happening. If that fails I'll probably just get a heap of outer shell parts laser cut out of aluminium or something.

Thanks for mentioning the quick release I will check for that in my design. Regards Brian

Whenever I go about something like this I will stack leather to make a mould .. A lot of the time I will take scrap leather pieces and stack ,glue ,and a few brad nails to make any shape that I am looking for . Hope this helps .. 

[Wedgetail]

4 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

No I wish it were stainless. Bunnings hardware price here in Australia on all but the scissor jack. And people wonder why our prices barely compete.

It's commonly called the Australia tax.

How does it work? Let's do the math.

Take the price of something overseas, in its local currency.

Add the shipping cost to get it here from international (measured in kidneys), including any import duties and taxes (at least GST applicable, which is 10%)

Convert it from the local currency to AUD (currently about US $0.75)... so multiply base cost + import tax + shipping by 1.25

Add a minimum markup of 20%

Then add another 20% to total that for the Australia tax... which is an extra gouge at the price because it costs too much and takes too long for someone to get just one of that thing from overseas.

Then add GST, which is a government tax of 10% charged on to the end customer.

Australia tax... It's how we go from $12 per sqft leather to $29 at some (actually quite popular) suppliers here.