Steel rule die fabrication table

[George1520]

20 hours ago, sbrownn said:

I had this idea to make a 3D printed die and then leave a slot in the bottom of it where a thin gauge rule could be hand bent and inserted.  The 3D printed part of the rule would take most of the stress and the rule would be there only to cut.  The problem I ran into was that the rule I purchased was too heavy of a gauge to hand bend to fit the die I had printed; the curves were just too tight.  Nevertheless, if you had some thin gauge rule and a light weight bender it would probably work.  The advantage is that you can make a CAD drawing of the shape you want and when you print it it is going to be exact.  I have purchased a number of dies that were made by various manufacturers from CAD drawings I sent and I have yet to get one back that was completely accurate.  I totally understand why that would be the case.

That is the idea behind dies used in printing. Cut the pattern in plywood, bend the rule close enough and then hammer the rule in the cut. No screws, the rule is free to move up and down but  not sideways. 

The cut has to be accurate. Most dies are laser cut, but for leather work scroll saw is definitely good enough

The other thing is that the die can be made out many smaller pieces of rule not just one continuous piece. 

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[Ferg]

I have made a number of dies with steel rule.

I have a CNC router and router bits sized to fit different gauge/thickness of rule. I make my dies from 3/4" Apple Ply or Baltic Birch Plywood.

I also do my own G-Coding. If anyone wishes to make an accurate die with steel rule there are a number of things you have to do correctly.

Depth of the groove you router is very important. You can make the dies of small pieces. Ends that meet another have to be perfectly square.

The joints have to be welded, a wire welder will work. I try to make my dies with as few joints as possible. Now you don't just "Pound" the steel rule into the routed slot.

You have to use a mallet that is not so hard that it will damage  the sharp edge. Go at it easy and wear leather gloves, this stuff is really sharp.

All of the rule has to be the same height above the board it is mounted in. When the rule is installed drill a half inch hole in each of the spots the material may "stick".

Use a wooden dowel to lightly force the material off the rule through those holes.

A mallet to pound the die over the material will work if the die isn't very large, in a hydraulic press of some kind is much easer and better.

So many folks advise careless ways of making dies. I want mine perfect and a hack job will not accomplish anything but junk.

BTW: I have a Laser and I cannot imagine making a good steel rule die with it. 

Ferg

[toxo]

I don't get all this talk about spending loadsa money.  If setting up to sell lots of dies that's fine but for most leatherworkers just using a die for a limited run  a plywood plug as I describe above is a no brainer. It can br done in a fraction of the time, it negates the necessity of most of the conversation above. No worries about the depth of the groove (the press hits the back of the steel rule so a perfectly even cut every time)  If the  groove is too deep or the blank is made from too soft material and the steel rule cuts through the back end the center plug is gonnaq fall out.

[sbrownn]

1 hour ago, toxo said:

I don't get all this talk about spending loadsa money.  If setting up to sell lots of dies that's fine but for most leatherworkers just using a die for a limited run  a plywood plug as I describe above is a no brainer. It can br done in a fraction of the time, it negates the necessity of most of the conversation above. No worries about the depth of the groove (the press hits the back of the steel rule so a perfectly even cut every time)  If the  groove is too deep or the blank is made from too soft material and the steel rule cuts through the back end the center plug is gonnaq fall out.

I haven't been able to cut a plywood plug as accurate as the 3D printer will make one but just fastening it to the outside of a plug is a good idea.

[toxo]

35 minutes ago, sbrownn said:

I haven't been able to cut a plywood plug as accurate as the 3D printer will make one but just fastening it to the outside of a plug is a good idea.

Never been aginst the idea of a printed plug but fixing it to the outside leaves you with the same thing as a welded die. it's never gonna last as long and putting in the secondary cuts like hole cutters etc are outside my scope but probably doable with 3d/cnc.

[Ferg]

Didn't spend loads of money, already had the machinery.

I repeat, "If you want quality out, put quality in".

The band sawn block works if it isn't complicated.

Ferg

[Ferg]

A welded die isn't formidable?

Come on, I have some welded dies, heavy, that I didn't make and they will last a lifetime if taken care of and not misused with a steel hammer.

Ferg

[toxo]

8 minutes ago, Ferg said:

A welded die isn't formidable?

Come on, I have some welded dies, heavy, that I didn't make and they will last a lifetime if taken care of and not misused with a steel hammer.

Ferg

Who said that?

[sbrownn]

38 minutes ago, Ferg said:

Didn't spend loads of money, already had the machinery.

I repeat, "If you want quality out, put quality in".

The band sawn block works if it isn't complicated.

Ferg

"The band sawn block works if it isn't complicated."

Indeed.  And that is the crux of the issue.

[sbrownn]

51 minutes ago, toxo said:

Never been aginst the idea of a printed plug but fixing it to the outside leaves you with the same thing as a welded die. it's never gonna last as long and putting in the secondary cuts like hole cutters etc are outside my scope but probably doable with 3d/cnc.

The main advantage of fixing it to the outside is that it gives you something to form it around.

You could learn enough CAD in one day to create the files needed to 3D print any plug you wanted on a $200 3D printer.

Here's an idea:  print a plug to form the rule around and then print another fixture to hold the shaped die.  While you are at it might as well print a die you can use to bend the rule around the printed plug using a bench vise.