[TheForge] Making dies for cutting sheet metal?

[Bob]

      For 7-8 teeth I would opt for a sabre saw with metal blade - cut 
just outside the lines - file to finished dimensions.

Bob Willman
The Eagle's Anvil
Bowling Green, Ohio
WB8NQW

Educate and inform the whole mass of the people...
They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.

Thomas Jefferson

On 3/15/2014 7:42 AM, Bruce . wrote:
> Okay, I think I count the following "votes" in favor of
> ​
>
> dies
> ​​
>
> ​      ​
>    1
> chisel
> ​
> ​
>        ​
>        1​
>
> ​
> ​
> Forge
> ​and​
> grind
> ​  ​
>   1​
> ​
> ​
> ​plasma
> ​     ​
>
> ​
> ​
>       ​
> ​ ​
>      1
> water jet
> ​
> ​
>            ​
> ​ ​
>    3
> laser
> ​
> ​
>        ​
>          4
>
> ​... with five people "voting"!
>
> Only one vote for punch and dies -- or maybe 1 and a half.  Okay. on to the
> next idea.  (BTW, I was thinking of making punch and dies myself, not laser
> cutting them, using Streeter's method or something such.)
>
> The chisel idea is interesting, but I expect it would involve a lot of
> clean-up.  It occurred to me on reading this that I might be able to
> combine techniques and acheive the end:  Punch a hole, shear to the hole to
> make the "raw" tine, then use a smaller punch to form the end of the tine.
> I may look into this.
>
> I've tried forging and it works well, but is very slow, and not very
> reproducible.  I started making a "die" (really just a support apparatus)
> to facilitate forging, but ran into some troubles and decided to
> investigate alternative approaches.  I may change my approach and try it
> again.
>
> Same for grinding.  If I change my approach as suggested, I might make it
> feasible.  (I doubt that combining it with forging would be necessary.)
> I tried milling, but I lack a milling machine.  Using a milling attachment
> on a lathe, I ran into problems that might not be worth the bother trying
> to overcome.  What comes to mind is to  mount a Dremel in the 4-jaw chuck
> of the lathe (which would act only as a holder), then mount a stack of
> stock in my milling attachment, and have at that with the Dremel.  The
> milling attachment provides fairly close control of the motions, thus
> compensating for my lousy hand-to-eye coordination.
>
> I have been considering sawing these out using a jeweler's saw -- tedious,
> but I can work from a pasted-on drawing and get the result I need.
>
> So much for techniques I can do myself.  On to the ones I'd have to
> contract out:
>
> My limited knowledge of plasma cutting suggests it won't produce a clean
> enough cut.
>
>
> Waterjet and laser sound attractive, but I haven't the foggiest idea how to
> get started with these.  Any pointers?  Do any firms advertise onesy-twosy
> production?
>
> As for the questions asked:
> I'm aiming to make the combs from stock between 1/32" and 1/8" (1/16" is a
> good choice).  I need at least 7 teeth so am aiming for 8 or more teeth for
> now.  Later I might want to go to much larger numbers, but smaller sizes.
> For the current design, the teeth would be 1/4" wide and spaced 1/4" apart,
> and 2" long, including the complication on the end. The combs must be
> reasonably identical -- not rocket science, but they must work together in
> the final device, so must be compatible.  I would have trouble achieving
> this with hand work, but any ordinary machining approach would be fine.
>
> ​Thanks for your input.​
>
>
> Bruce
> NJ
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