hand crank 5 ton clicker presses

[NickM]

Can anyone give me some info on those little hand crank 5 ton clicker presses. I have been making holsters and would really like to quit cutting the same peice's over and over by hand. What would be a fair price for a used one? Is it the right tool for making holsters? How much do the dyes cost? Am I missing anything?

Thanks,

Nick.

[Dink]

Nick

I have no idea about the hand crank clicker, But I use dies from Texas custom made dies thay are very good dies and reasonable, unless you want something very elaborate, I have seen very few dies over $100 and many in the $30 to $40 range. I do not have their number handy but can get it if you like. If interested, once you get your die made. we click for $2.00 each.

Dink

[Luke Hatley]

Can anyone give me some info on those little hand crank 5 ton clicker presses. I have been making holsters and would really like to quit cutting the same peice's over and over by hand. What would be a fair price for a used one? Is it the right tool for making holsters? How much do the dyes cost? Am I missing anything?

Thanks,

Nick.

HELLO NICK, if i was going to buy a clicker press and not spend a large amount of $$$$$

i would get mine from TIPPIMAN INDUSTRY,

[bruce johnson]

Nick,

I had a friend with one of the round platen hand operated clickers Weavers (and I think Leather Factory) used to sell. The handle seemed about 3 feet long, and was a headknocker. I talked to a few guys who have the Mach III, which is probably what you are talking about. They cost around $1100 or a bit more. One guy liked his for a pair of spur straps, but much bigger than that was a "push". They do about the equivalent of 5 tons over an area about the size of a sheet of paper. He also said the heavier leather was more effort, even with smaller dies. They are a real precision item, and easy to use and adjust from reports.

I looked into the pneumatic ones. The satisfied customer they referred me to offered to sell me his smaller one. He said he could use his shop press faster on skirting leather and using two dies, than the pneumatic. His bigger pneumatic one was good for the heavier leather and bigger dies. I think someone who makes holsters (?) mentioned the same experience on this forum somewhere.

On the advice of a guy I talked to, I got a 20 ton shop press from a local industrial supplier (under $200). Better quality and about the same cost as Harbor Freight. Cost difference for the 20 ton vs. lesser capacity was negligible. I put a piece of cold roll steel scrap on the rails. I lay a piece of HDPE cutting board over that, the leather. the die. I then lay another piece of cold roll to cover the die and spread the force of the ram. Jack it down and it really does "click" when it goes through. You only have to raise it up enough to slide out the die and leather, reset with another piece, and go on. I can cycle through pretty quick. Obviously this is not a production setup, but I had at least $900 in savings in my pocket before I bought the first die. It has enabled me to buy more dies to make life easier with less investment. I use mine for spur straps, latigo and cinch carriers, that kind of stuff. My wife does coasters and key fobs (buckle end of spur straps). I have dies from Texas Custom Dies and would not hesitate to recommend them. I also have some off-the-rack ones from Big Sky that I got off ebay and at a show, they are good too.

[CitizenKate]

Nick,

I've got one made by Lucris ("Series 3"), and I love it. I got it used a couple of years ago for about $600. Very useful for quickly cutting out smaller parts. (Smaller being, about .7 square feet or smaller.) I get dies from Texas Custom. Most of mine are just simple outlines (no holes in the middle), and I've paid about an average of about $30 for each, pretty affordable.

I also use it to stamp my business cards, which is done with a custom stamping plate I got from Grey Ghost Graphics (aka Jeff Moseby). A business card sized plate ran about $80. (See the attachment - I added some border stamping of my own to complete the piece.)

Can anyone give me some info on those little hand crank 5 ton clicker presses. I have been making holsters and would really like to quit cutting the same peice's over and over by hand. What would be a fair price for a used one? Is it the right tool for making holsters? How much do the dyes cost? Am I missing anything?

Thanks,

Nick.

[Tangent Creations]

We did what Bruce did... Bought a 12 ton hydraulic shop press ($100 at Harbor Freight) and rigged it for the upper plate and cutting surface. My husband clicked out about 300+ lamellar pieces surprisingly quick. He wants to convert it to pneumatic, but that's a whole 'nother issue. We also use Texas Custom Dies. If you go the way of a shop press you can use the savings to buy bookoo dies If you don't need super serious production.

[CitizenKate]

I was considering one of those hydraulic presses, but couldn't find any information on how to "rig" them with the right attachments (plates, etc.) for cutting. Not even the local machinist could give me any useful advice.

Kate

[Tangent Creations]

One flat plate to support the cutting pad.

One flat plate attached to the pressing part (ours isn't attached because we still use the press for other things.

Put your leather ontop of the cutting board/pad, put your clicker die in place, place your flat plate on top and use the press to click it out! It's really simple. I'll get some pics for you.

Here's a question for Bruce, what do you use for your cutting surface???

[bruce johnson]

Like Tangent, I didn't attach the upper plate to the ram. I also use mine to press molded things with. I attached a pic of a cell phone case front mold. I mold the leather with the ram just on the male portion of the mold first. Then I put a bigger piece over the whole thing and press again. The second pressing really sharpens up the angle and flattens the lip for sewing. When the piece has lost enough moisture to stamp, I back it up with the male portion of the mold. I make the molds out of scraps of cutting boards. The HDPE and LDPE both work up nicely with woodworking tools. I have made cell phone cases for several sizes, bottle pocket bottoms for medicine bags, and tunnel loops for cinches.

I also attached a pic of how mine is set up. I use a piece of HDPE cutting board to click against. Once you have clicked through the first one, you only need to let off the pressure enough to raise it slightly more than the leather thickness. Sldie it out, slide another in, and go on. Usually 5-6 strokes will cut through heavy skirting, so it goes pretty fast. I have a few pieces of cold roll scraps to cover the different size dies I have. You really want to cover as much (and probably all) of the die to prevent bending it.

[Regis]

Bruce,

Did you make the press frame? Does it have weld joints or all bolts? Is that 4" U-channel or an I beam?

Regis

[Tangent Creations]

As far as clicker set up, that looks like how ours is. Could you elaborate some more on your molds?? Those are cool (considering how much busted up cutting board we have )!

[bruce johnson]

Regis,

I bought the whole setup for under $200. Some parts are welded and some are bolted. Originally I wanted a benchtop, and a guy on another list sent me pics of his. He was one that suggested the 20 ton jack, he had broken smaller jacks. I left the pics with an ag welding shop a couple years ago. They stayed busy and never got to it for a while. Finally the price of steel got too high combined with their labor to make it viable to build. Mine came from a local industrial supplier. It is sturdier than HF and the ram is straight. Some of the Harbor Freight 20 tons had the ram welded on crooked. The cold roll steel plates are 1" thick. A guy could use thinner I think. I got them from the scrap pile at a local steel yard. They cost me about $30 for the bottom and three sizes of tops. They will rust and also transfer iron marks,so I am pretty careful about handling them with one hand and the leather with the other to avoid iron marks later.

Tangent,

I just cut the molds from scraps of HDPE or LDPE with a jigsaw. I screw them together with drywall screws. They can be smoothed up on a belt sander. I can make these up faster than I can fight a molded piece over a block. You need to allow for the planned leather thinkness in the kerf. I usually cut the female part slightly oversized. I then true up the male part, widen the gap, and knock off the square edge on a belt sander. They don't have to be pretty, just smooth. Dremels also will clean up a sharp edge.

[T Moore Medicine Hat Saddlery]

what brand is your press

[Luke Hatley]

Regis..... i see now, that Basement is going to be Full of

some Great Leather Working Tools.

[bruce johnson]

what brand is your press

Trying not to sound like a smart alec here, but it is a "red one'' and came from China. There is no brand name on it. I got it from Rayco which is a local industrial equipment supplier (Modesto, CA). There is a Rayco that comes up on internet searches, but this isn't part of them to my knowledge. Rayco has a lot of shop equipment that is a step above Harbor Freight, but the price difference is visible in the quality.

I have to come clean on this deal too, under threat from another member who knows this. My wife uses this a LOT more to click out stuff than I do. She started out making coasters a couple years ago. Simple stamped, but mostly hair on hide scraps glued to scrap skirting and then clicked and edge sewn. She was hand cutting them to start with, and got the attendant oddballs from handcutting anything. I ordered her some dies, and they arrived just before Feb 14th. Guys, clicker dies for your wife are not the most appreciated Valentine's Day gift. Any gift you give her later seems like an afterthought. Seemed like it would be funny at the time.....

[Mike Craw]

So, I guess that riding lawnmower you were going to get her is out...?

[Canuck]

Here is the link for the clicker press. http://lucris.com/index.php?option=com_fro...ge&Itemid=1

they are for sale on ebay but do cost a considerable amount. Currently $1200 US.

I use a 3 ton arbor press. ($100) I got a longer handle (40") 1" round rod.

I made a base by laminating four 12" squares of 3/4" plywood. I put a 12"x1/2" nylon cutting board on that. As mentioned in previous posts it's also advisable to have a thick piece of steel to evenly distribute the pressure over the die. I use 1 1/2" steel.

I'm cutting billets and straps as well as ranger belt components. 6-8 oz leather is realatively easy. 8-10 oz takes a little more effort. I found that a quick downward thrust, replicating a clicker action works best.

You have to make sure the arbor press is bolted down well to a workbench.

I have since modified the press. I now have a 12"x12"x1.5" piece of steel attached to the ram. I slide out the nylon cutting board place the leather and the die on the board then slide it back into place then drop the ram.

I'm pleased with the results.

You may want to check with the die maker how much pressure is required for the die to work properly. The more intricate the die and size will determine the size of clicker press you will need.

All the best

[sheathmaker]

Up until about three weeks ago, I used the Tippmann 12"X12" 7 ton pneumatic clicker for about three years. It performed flawlessly, and I literally clicked thousands of items with it. I think full retail on them is about 1495.00 now but I only paid 1100.00 for mine and passed it on to a saddle maker who was glad to get it for 1000.00. That wasn't a bad three year "rental" for a real time saver and money producer.

I'd surely recommend that anyone wanting a clicker to investigate the Tippmann pneumatic choices, along with your other selections.

Paul

Edited November 10, 2007 by sheathmaker

[maven05]

Does anyone has images of that manual clicker?

I would like to find out how it works. Really wonder how with bare hands one can pull out 5 ton.

Max

[Tex Shooter]

I have two Lucris presses and for what I do they are hard to beat. If you do small item clicks, there is nothing faster. Here is a link to there web site. I have one of mine for sale, but will not ship it!

Diecutting Press

[bylinesupplyco]

As far as using a shop press from harbor freight or anywhere else, how did you guys go about attaching your steel plate to the ram?

[chrstn53]

bylinesupplyco, I cut the ram off and welded a 1/2" 10 x 20 Steel plate to the top and bottom cross bar. I welded some nuts to the top cross bar/attached two eyelet bolts and drilled/added two bolts to the top of the frame to add two extra springs to the top cross arm to help support the added weight. It has worked wonderfully for me over the past two years, but it has it limits. Unless your working with scraps you have to precut a lot of your leather to get it to fit under the press, so you will have quite a bit more waste compared to a traditional clicker press. As far as the minimal investment you can't beat it, I picked my press up for $150 on sale at harbor freight. Too bad your so far away, I finally decided to purchase the weaver 8 ton press due to the volume of work I have been doing lately and will be selling my press shortly.

[bylinesupplyco]

where are you located?

[chrstn53]

Southern Indiana

[wmartin636]

I have to come clean on this deal too, under threat from another member who knows this. My wife uses this a LOT more to click out stuff than I do. She started out making coasters a couple years ago. Simple stamped, but mostly hair on hide scraps glued to scrap skirting and then clicked and edge sewn. She was hand cutting them to start with, and got the attendant oddballs from handcutting anything. I ordered her some dies, and they arrived just before Feb 14th. Guys, clicker dies for your wife are not the most appreciated Valentine's Day gift. Any gift you give her later seems like an afterthought. Seemed like it would be funny at the time.....

They say it's the thought that counts, but... I once asked my ex what she wanted for Valentine's Day - she said "anything gold". The golden retriever puppy wasn't exactly what she had in mind.