blank leather coasters

[acewoodturner]

Hi Matt

Its not that critical. I will sell them off cheaply or give them away at Christmas time.

Thank you for your kind offer though.

[Matt S]

2 hours ago, acewoodturner said:

Hi Matt

Its not that critical. I will sell them off cheaply or give them away at Christmas time.

Thank you for your kind offer though.

No problem Mike. Really jealous of your clicker -- I can't fit any but the very smallest powered ones through my shed door, and that's too small to do what I want! So I'm stuck with my handraulic machine.

[acewoodturner]

Thought I would update this thread as I have been using the clicker press for 2 weeks now.

I bought 3 big rotating caster wheels as I need to be able to move it about in the workshop. At 625Kg I had fun getting it off the pallet and the wheels on but I managed it on my own without ending up in A&E.

I got my 2 x 90mm cutters in an acrylic sheet from Arrow Cutters and ordered in my first 10 oz hide from J Wood Leathers which was 28 square feet. As someone who is used to working with wood which is a rigid structure, working with a hide which is malleable and floppy is a bit of a novelty.

The last photo is a coaster after being engraved with one of my lasers. Its is very sharp and looks excellent. I give it a brush with a small nylon brush before spraying with Fiebing's Resolene. I did try putting this on with a cloth but found spraying it gave a far better result.

The speed at which I can make 250 coasters out of this one hide, as compared to making them out of wood as usual, is about 5% of the time taken. Think I am going to enjoy using it!

 

[RockyAussie]

Excellent outcome. Got to say that's the first time I ever saw a clicker press on caster wheels.I love the coasters and glad to see you've done a double cut straight from the start.

[mikesc]

If the weight of that thing is 625kg, that is over 200 kg per caster ..What are they rated for ?

Make sure that you never get caught in it's way if it starts moving..great job

Love the acrylic knife boards..when I was a lad, they were always plywood..yours look cool .

Edited September 19, 2019 by mikesc

[acewoodturner]

The workshop is only 900 square feet and when I moved in there was a wall down the middle dividing it in 2. I have quite a lot of machinery and timber in it so everything has to be mobile in order to be moved into place and then out of the way. The floor is very level and it doesn't move of its own accord. The casters are rated at 250Kg each so there is no danger of them breaking up. Next year I am getting rid of my timber drying kiln as I will be no longer planking up trees with the chainsaw mill and then using the kiln to dry the timber. That will free up a good bit of space so I should be able to leave machinery where I want to use it.

The double cutter is great. I had to drill a 40mm dia hole so I could poke my finger through to get the leather out. I specifically asked for it to be acrylic so I could see easily where the cutters were being placed and I could avoid marks etc on the leather.

Edited September 20, 2019 by acewoodturner

[RockyAussie]

I should have thought to say earlier that with knives/dies you can generally get them supplied with an ejection rubber which is a little similar to a rubber thong material. Sometimes you may have to add a little to it in thickness and sometimes sand some off depending on what thickness you are normally running. This saves you having to waste time poking them out as they stay on the board until you want to remove the waste leather and then scoop them all up together. When you have to add some to the rubber you just cut out some leather and put it up above the rubber.

[WoodysWorkshop]

I cut leather glove parts for about 4 years for Wolverine in late 70's early 80s.

Our dies were thick carbon steel (not these thin cheep things they put out now) with the cut out part side vertical and the exterior at an angle.

The polyurethane blocks were rough from being chopped up by the dies and the cut outs would stick until you picked them up.

Not sure how much stretch you can get out of the thickness your cutting, but I made a lot of extra money stretching the pig skin before cutting it.

I was allowed so many sq ft to cut so many dozen pairs of parts. I got paid for every sq ft I didn't use.

From stretching that pig skin for 8 hours a day, I had one hell of a grip.

My press machine weighed 2-1/2 tons. Cutting block was 30x48 inches and the press head was 18"x 36" and swiveled on a 12" cylinder ram.

Took less than 1/2 second to travel 1/2" and back.

I also cut full and 1/2 hide bovine skins. Those didn't stretch so easy, but I always made extra for saving leather.

I just can't fathom a die being made of plastic! It would have been pulverized the first strike of the press head.