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PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2012 7:39 am 
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good morning...

i'm thinking about ordering this set...(guess i'm ready to trade up from my homemade sharpened water pipe punches)...
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Gasket-Punch-Set/H3329
i have purchased tools from grizzly over the years...never had any problems with quality or customer service...

here's a set of small diameter punches i just bought last week from harbour freight...can't beat the price...
http://www.harborfreight.com/9-piece-hollow-punch-set-3838.html

i know there are many other punches that are available...i like what are called "arch punches"...they are available from leather working suppliers...but they are not cheap...

my very best regards...

howard

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PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2012 9:09 am 
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Thanks Howard--and maybe???????

Those of us who craft—or at least try to craft—our own Christmas putz houses are always wishing for a punch that would make the windows and doors—quite stressful to cut out with an exacto blade—regular paper punches may be great for paper—but approach a heavier cardstock or cardboard and forget about it. Then we made this discovery—a product called Sizzix Paddle Punches---you hit them with a hammer! Here’s a list of the punches available—and it seems that EBAY is the best place to find them; here’s the list—it seems the rectangle offerings might work out for windows—perhaps on smaller houses http://sizzixmasterlist.wordpress.com/2 ... e-punches/ and here’s a simple explanation of how to use them http://www.ehow.com/how_8530930_use-siz ... nches.html


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:55 pm 
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The original houses were die cut. If you are going to make the same shape over and over again you can make your own dies.
Finding the steel rule die in smaller quantities is the bigger problem. Making the dies is not too bad, it just a groove in a block into which you insert the steel. You can have the base blocks laser cut. But you do need to be careful as this stuff is super sharp. If you browse through there list you will see they even have die rule for making perforated cuts.
http://www.helmold.com/products/steelrule.pdf

If your dies are small enough, such as individual ones for windows or doors, you can use an arbor press to make the cut instead of hammering on the die. Much faster, safer and easier on your hands as an arbor press has the mechanical advantage of leverage and gears. You can get arbor presses at Harbor Freight or used ones on craigslist.

A clever person might be able to adapt arc punches so they can be used in an arbor press. You would need a custom anvil for underneath as in a replaceable piece of moderately soft plywood. :)


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:51 pm 
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Karin,

I get overwhelmed just looking at the catalog. Don't let Maria near those steel edges - she does enough damage with the Xacto knives.

Seriously, have you been using this stuff to make your own stamp? Next time, you could take lots of photos and notes, hint, hint.

Thanks for chiming in,

Paul


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 3:56 pm 
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paulrace wrote:
Karin,

I get overwhelmed just looking at the catalog. Don't let Maria near those steel edges - she does enough damage with the Xacto knives.

Seriously, have you been using this stuff to make your own stamp? Next time, you could take lots of photos and notes, hint, hint.

Thanks for chiming in,

Paul


Paul, making a die rule cutter is much like making a hand bent cookie cutter :) same concept except much sharper. But you need a groove track cut to insert the top edge in. You can find some good videos around on cutting grooves into wood for marquetry details or string banding on guitars. Watching those should help. Just use the recommended width of groove for steel die rule material.

I cut my designs with either a laser cutter or a drag knife cutter. We have both of them here. In addition to being an artist who creates buildings in miniature I also have a background in manufacturing including CNC machining. I do all my design work in 3D CAD so outputting to machines is a natural extension of the process and I have been doing it for more than a decade now. I have run room size drag knife cutters on carbon fiber materials. A bit more sophisticated machines but essentially the same as running a little desktop one other than the parts on the large one are held in place by vacuum pressure on a perforated table instead of a sticky backing sheet and the head of the machine moves instead of the carrier board.

I can make rule die cutters myself but I have no reason to do so as I have those cutting machines. My tiny glitter houses are being done with the drag knife cutter as the laser has been out of town most of the last two years. But it just pulled into the driveway a couple of hours ago, I am very happy to see it again as well as my partner/boyfriend!
I am itching to play with the 3D printer he has recently added to our machine stable. We will be ordering a professional quality drag knife cutter this week; it has been paid for by my tiny glitter house sales this Christmas season.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:41 pm 
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a "drag knife cutter"...

that's a new one on me... :oops: never even heard of one until i read your post...i know for sure i am stuck in the last century...

please share with us in the old-school, analog world what you are able to cut with this tool...i'd like to see what the projects look like while under construction...

my very best regards...howard...

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:04 pm 
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Interesting thread.

Just a thought. Seems one could get a custom steel rule die made, for say a doorway.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/155343968/c ... 7AodsA4Amg

That and a inexpensive arbor press from Harbor Freight.

For a little under a hundred dollars you could have a door punch ready to go.

Steve


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:59 pm 
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Location: Houston, TX
My head is spinning with the possibilities of this!


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:51 am 
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Howard wrote:
a "drag knife cutter"...

that's a new one on me... :oops: never even heard of one until i read your post...i know for sure i am stuck in the last century...

please share with us in the old-school, analog world what you are able to cut with this tool...i'd like to see what the projects look like while under construction...

my very best regards...howard...



A drag knife cutter is a printer, same kind of programming functions as any printer that creates graphics. Vinyl cutters are drag knife cutters or as they are also known as plotters. Years ago you might have seen the Pen Plotters where you actually stuck a pen in a holder to draw lines on overhead projection sheets. This is the same machine with a few more whistles and bells. Most common use for the cutting plotters (drag knife) is for cutting vinyl. Not all vinyl cutters have the capacity to cut thicker materials such as light weight chip boards. Not all vinyl cutters have a strong enough motor for it either.

An optimal cutter will have a servo motor but you are looking at around the $2,000. price range for one of those and the are larger at 24" wide capacity versus the smaller desktop units that have stepper motors. At the very least you will want a micro controller stepper motor with a starting price range of around $1,000.00.

There is an issue of blades. For chipboard or cereal box thick cardboard you will want a 60 degree angle knife. The more common knife angles on the entry level craft cutters such as on the Silloutte Cameo is a stock 45 degree blade. That is suitable for thinner cardstock but to get really fine detail cuts you need to have less of the knife surface in the material or you can't get it to swivel quickly enough to make accurate tiny radius arcs. Not even an accurate 1/4" circle can be cut in 65 lb cardstock with a 45 degree knife. But those entry level cutters don't have any optional 60 degree knives. Therefore you have to purchase a knife holder and blades from outside companies. When you use one of those you will have to learn how to set the depth of the knife blade yourself instead of being able to use the built in functions that make it easy for beginners. There are lots of blogs about this stuff in the scrapbooking groups as well as utube videos.

Cutting by hand has its challenges but so does machine cutting. It is not impossible to learn but there is software involved and learning curves on the software and the machines. For the person who is only going to make a dozen or so buildings it is not a good investment, stick to a knife and ruler. If you want to make the little buildings as a commercial business save up your money for a professional machines.
If you are not computer and technology friendly stick to the knife and ruler method or have steel die rules made so you can stamp them out.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 8:10 am 
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Howard wrote:
a "drag knife cutter"...

that's a new one on me... :oops: never even heard of one until i read your post...i know for sure i am stuck in the last century...

please share with us in the old-school, analog world what you are able to cut with this tool...i'd like to see what the projects look like while under construction...

my very best regards...howard...



While under construction? You mean the cutting phase? That is just a piece of paper going back and forth. You can't actually see anything being cut as the knife is so tiny. You want to know what it looks like....it looks just like your printer at home going back and forth to put ink on the paper but instead of an ink nozzle it is moving around a little knife that is in a ball bearing so it swivels.

As to what my projects look like under construction. I have a special blog that has all the assembly directions in it. http://www.glitterhouses.blogspot.com


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Note: All content on this forum is Copyright (c) 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 by Paul D. Race
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or plans may be republished or sold, nor may any plans be used to make products to sell without prior written
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