Tool and die maker with 25 years at the bench here, without getting super in the weeds with details yet, great job so far. To ease up on the die and material: the material will always break when using any radius smaller than the thickness of the material at full smash. Solve by putting 1mm min radii in all sharp edges or radii on both upper and lower die. Next, put maybe 2-3 degree walls in contour geometry. In an art peice, it won't make much visual difference, but sheet metal will be happier and ease of separating the dies is nice also. Good luck!
@Stickshiftgarage1 suppose I should throw out, 2-3 dungarees is a guess. 3d printed dies aren't exactly a thing in the pro world. Results may vary with the layers
Heat is the killer of PLA. A lot of heat being generated during the press. In addition to echoing the suggestings of tool radii not smaller than material thickness, additional walls and draft angles, I'd suggest low and slow, small increases in pressure over a longer duration. Give the PLA tooling a chance to not heat up to quickly and cool down incrementally. This will increase the life and reusability of your tooling. Very cool stuff. You got a new sub.
Really nice job. I like that you showed your development process and your community's comments have been equally as helpful. Quality content. Will be using it to restore an antique tin-paneled chest that's missing a couple pieces. Thanks!
I love this idea!! I read an article some years back where guys who home built airplanes would use a negative die and a sheet of rubber as the positive. The rubber holds the plate in place as it flows under pressure into the metal, pressing it into the die. You would want to have a metal box around your die to contain expansion to the sides and a fairly snug fitting thick metal plug for the ram to push down upon.
Man, I needed this. I have been wanting to use my printers for molds for creating belt buckles for my fashion startup, and this is my next method. Thank you for the inspiration!
This is bloody great. I had initial doubts... for eg, the presses used to make car body panels, fridges, washing machines, cookware are all the size of a small planet and the dies are made of super-hard unobtanium, and I feared the PLA dies would crap out very quickly... but your results are straight-up awesome. Perfect for a small run custom job. A thought for version 2.0... pressing more complex shapes is often done in multiple steps, so you effectively use a first pressing to get the material in the general shape you need, then fine-tune it with subsequent dies and pressings. You could prolly get some very intricate results with a stepped approach. Thanks for the video, this is fantastic!
Round the edges of your die and look up "K" factors when it comes to bending sheet metal. Your clearance should be the thickness of your metal +K factor. Good job🎉
@DaSmokeDaddy to put it simple, K factor is the amount the metal that will give in or out, on each side of the bend. Google K factor, a picture will give you a better visual.
New subscriber! 😎 I’ve been doing press forms with 6mm steel on cold rolled 2mm steel. It’s amazing how much a tool can handle when sandwiched. 🫣 Your work looks great.! Definitely pointing people in the right direction.
Using a 3D printer to make forming dies for short runs is so much more cost effective than machining custom metal dies. I wish 3D printers had been available when I was making aircraft parts back in the 80s and 90s.
Consider doing a multi stage press. Similar to what you ended up doing with the upside down flattening, but with an additional die set or two between flat sheet and final impression. Each die does less work and can be tailored to the depth of the impression for that step allowing more control over the movement of the metal and less stress to the die in each step.
These turned out great with tons of really good advice to make them that much better. My 2 cents after redesigning the edges like other suggested, i would print the next one in a clear PETG. PETG is a bit more rigid and should deform less over time. I always feel like adding color weakens the filament some, plus clear let's you look inside from the top and bottom before opening.
"Will it survive?" Wahrscheinlich ist ja nur der erste Versuch gemeint, denn alle solche Tools unterliegen einem Verschleiß. Man kann mit dieser Methode auch Papier oder Filz prägen, da lockt "ewiges" Leben. Eine Alternative ist Galvanoplastik. Da sind Erfahrungen mit Filamenten/Kunststoffen gefragt, die elektrische Eigenschaften haben, die Galvanoplastik unterstützen. 5:49 Diese runde Druckplatte ist suboptimal, denn die Hauptbeanspruchung entsteht dort, wo das Blech "sich kräuselt", "Wellen schlägt" oder wie auch immer man jenen Bereich nennen will, wo besonders viel Druck nötig wird. Im aktuellen Fall also eher eine genau angepasste Platte verwenden !
you need a set of dies to stretch material more evenly, easing it into the shape before going at full depth. A proper designed set of dies should solve tearing and wrinkling issues.
Super cool video mate! I am definitely for to make some custom parts trays. Also I like the insulation in your shop too hahah; first time I have seen someone do that. Do you have any videos touring your setup?
Thanks, this is 9mm foil type insulation popular in Australia here. We are mainly trying to keep the heat out here in summer. Our summers are hot and winter is not crazy cold.
brilliant i do a lot of vacforming try putting a 5 degree draft angle on your mold and it should stop the problem of tearing but well done definitely something im going to try well done
In so far as the .5 material: Would relieving a boarder around, off-set from the die, give the wrinkle a place to go? It could just be cut off at the end adding another step but not having to press each twice. Regardless. Really cool process!
Instead of the male die in plastic you can use urethane of various durometers - hardness - without having to print the male die. I use flat urethane dies to do similar pressings. Also you could anneal the 1mm aluminium with a propane torch (look it up on the 'tube) if you wanted more definition, it will work harden again when you press it. Great video and I will certainly try 3d printing some dies!
Btw, for better integrity of the 3d print, use 1 wall with half the nozzle as offset and/or increase the overlap between infill and wall. You can also anneal the print in the oven at 60°C... 100°C should be fine.. If you print at slower speed it shouldnt warp. If it does, heating with a heatgun until you get a slight shine should help at least a little bit
Could it be worth trying making the die positive and negative have a smaller extrusion. that way when you fully press the metal it flattens the metal around the outside as well? Great video!
This is how we did have them designed. The male did have less height than the female but at 3mm it seemed we asked too much of the material to get them to bottom out.
Also some lubricant as previously mentioned - use water based such as dishwashing detergent with a little water. Carbon fibre filled PLA or a stronger plastic filament will help with prolonging the life of the dies. Another possibility is to 3d print the outer shell of your die and fill the inside with two part epoxy resin or builders bog or car panel filler - might give a stronger less compressible die and all so speed up 3d printing process.
If you have a CNC plasma table or know somebody with one you can make the die from steel. And, you only really need the female side as you can use an air hammer with a plastic or rubber tip to push the material into the die. Karl from the Make It Kustom channel here on UA-cam has a video on this. He used it for a different application (simulating bead rolling) but it would work just as well for this. If you don't have access to a plasma table you can order the laser cut die from any number of companies that charge very little for what it is.
@@Stickshiftgarage1 Yeah, so if you have the air hammer, you can 3D print or just turn a soft tip for the hammer and just use it to push the aluminum into the female side. I mean, unless you're planning on doing a thousand of them there's no need for the male side and the press. And now that I'm typing it, you could prob use a 3D printed female die the same way. Anyway, this was a really great video. I'm glad you did this. Can't wait to see where you go with it next.
Someone might have said this already but in fusion add draft angles about 3° and should help alot instesd of dremeling the edges. And as someone else has said 3d prints the walls/outer shell number is true srength.
I’m curious how stamping/pressing against hot metal would go. One would need a die that could survive higher temps though as PLA/PLA+ softens at around 50°C
@@Stickshiftgarage1 if you use cura for slicer, 99.9% infill use the proper infill pattern. At 100%, it switches to the floor pattern. If you do 99% you can also use variable infil density, to be less dense farther away from the surfaces.
These will just be plaques to go on my equipment and tools around the workshop. I have bigger plans to press .9mm mild steel for my Ford hotrod project in the future.
I disagree. I hate to sit through the fluff waiting to get to the money shot. I viewed the whole thing because i wanted to see and learn with this guy.
Tool and die maker with 25 years at the bench here, without getting super in the weeds with details yet, great job so far.
To ease up on the die and material: the material will always break when using any radius smaller than the thickness of the material at full smash. Solve by putting 1mm min radii in all sharp edges or radii on both upper and lower die.
Next, put maybe 2-3 degree walls in contour geometry. In an art peice, it won't make much visual difference, but sheet metal will be happier and ease of separating the dies is nice also.
Good luck!
Thanks for the input. We will make the changes you have mentioned for sure and try again in the future.
@Stickshiftgarage1 suppose I should throw out, 2-3 dungarees is a guess. 3d printed dies aren't exactly a thing in the pro world. Results may vary with the layers
@@jeffwinkelman6574 It will for sure make them easier to separate. Appreciate your input.
Heat is the killer of PLA. A lot of heat being generated during the press. In addition to echoing the suggestings of tool radii not smaller than material thickness, additional walls and draft angles, I'd suggest low and slow, small increases in pressure over a longer duration. Give the PLA tooling a chance to not heat up to quickly and cool down incrementally. This will increase the life and reusability of your tooling. Very cool stuff. You got a new sub.
@@CAD_GEEKthanks for the suggestion
Really nice job. I like that you showed your development process and your community's comments have been equally as helpful. Quality content. Will be using it to restore an antique tin-paneled chest that's missing a couple pieces. Thanks!
Appreciate that, yes the community has really helped out in the comment section it has been great.
Thats really cool, im impressed how well PLA held up. BTW you can make custom bead roller dies with PLA, too
Yeah so was I. That’s a great idea i might have to try one day. Thanks
Gewöhnliches PLA halte ich für ungeeignet, aber es wird ja auf PLA+ verwiesen.
I love this idea!!
I read an article some years back where guys who home built airplanes would use a negative die and a sheet of rubber as the positive.
The rubber holds the plate in place as it flows under pressure into the metal, pressing it into the die.
You would want to have a metal box around your die to contain expansion to the sides and a fairly snug fitting thick metal plug for the ram to push down upon.
I will be testing out this method as well in a few follow up videos I have some polyurethane on the way. Thanks
Man, I needed this. I have been wanting to use my printers for molds for creating belt buckles for my fashion startup, and this is my next method. Thank you for the inspiration!
Glad it was helpful!
This is bloody great. I had initial doubts... for eg, the presses used to make car body panels, fridges, washing machines, cookware are all the size of a small planet and the dies are made of super-hard unobtanium, and I feared the PLA dies would crap out very quickly... but your results are straight-up awesome. Perfect for a small run custom job. A thought for version 2.0... pressing more complex shapes is often done in multiple steps, so you effectively use a first pressing to get the material in the general shape you need, then fine-tune it with subsequent dies and pressings. You could prolly get some very intricate results with a stepped approach. Thanks for the video, this is fantastic!
Thanks for the input. That is a solid idea you have never thought about it that way. You could be on to something for sure.
Round the edges of your die and look up "K" factors when it comes to bending sheet metal. Your clearance should be the thickness of your metal +K factor. Good job🎉
Thanks I will look into it we did have material thickness but not k factor. Cheers
... just trying to learn, what is a "K" factor so I can read about it. Thanks.
@DaSmokeDaddy to put it simple, K factor is the amount the metal that will give in or out, on each side of the bend. Google K factor, a picture will give you a better visual.
Surprised, how good it turned out, look forward to version 2.
@@MrLittlemanB Heaps of potential for future details on my hotrod interior
Cool, plastic was more duarble than i would have guessed!
Yes me too
New subscriber! 😎
I’ve been doing press forms with 6mm steel on cold rolled 2mm steel.
It’s amazing how much a tool can handle when sandwiched. 🫣
Your work looks great.!
Definitely pointing people in the right direction.
Thanks. Yeah it has impressed me already lots of potential and other ideas I have to integrate this into my hotrod build.
New subscriber! I thought for sure it would break with the 1mm material! Great video!
Thanks
Using a 3D printer to make forming dies for short runs is so much more cost effective than machining custom metal dies. I wish 3D printers had been available when I was making aircraft parts back in the 80s and 90s.
Yes the tech is cool and fairly available now. A game changer in short run and one off items
really cool idea!
Thanks!
Good ideo aaaaaa i learn a laaaaaa lot really i will staaaaaaart doing
Consider doing a multi stage press. Similar to what you ended up doing with the upside down flattening, but with an additional die set or two between flat sheet and final impression. Each die does less work and can be tailored to the depth of the impression for that step allowing more control over the movement of the metal and less stress to the die in each step.
Yeah I never really thought about it like that. Great info thankyou
How neat
@@JohnChrysostom101 Thankyou
That worked out pretty good
Yeah for a first attempt very happy
These turned out great with tons of really good advice to make them that much better. My 2 cents after redesigning the edges like other suggested, i would print the next one in a clear PETG. PETG is a bit more rigid and should deform less over time. I always feel like adding color weakens the filament some, plus clear let's you look inside from the top and bottom before opening.
Thanks for your suggestions I like this idea of printing in clear with a stronger plastic.
"Will it survive?" Wahrscheinlich ist ja nur der erste Versuch gemeint, denn alle solche Tools unterliegen einem Verschleiß. Man kann mit dieser Methode auch Papier oder Filz prägen, da lockt "ewiges" Leben.
Eine Alternative ist Galvanoplastik. Da sind Erfahrungen mit Filamenten/Kunststoffen gefragt, die elektrische Eigenschaften haben, die Galvanoplastik unterstützen.
5:49 Diese runde Druckplatte ist suboptimal, denn die Hauptbeanspruchung entsteht dort, wo das Blech "sich kräuselt", "Wellen schlägt" oder wie auch immer man jenen Bereich nennen will, wo besonders viel Druck nötig wird.
Im aktuellen Fall also eher eine genau angepasste Platte verwenden !
Thankyou for your suggestions
Surely having one of them pressed into a body panel. Great episode m8
For sure in my interior somewhere a few other ideas as well
Really cool! Try PETG and PCTG (even stronger) I use these materials in my tube bending dies.
Thanks, I will check out your channel
Impressive for PLA. I'd bet even stronger filament types would be able to withstand more press cycles.
Yeah for sure we will be trying some different ideas and types in the future
Try using a little automotive wax on the aluminum before forming.
you need a set of dies to stretch material more evenly, easing it into the shape before going at full depth. A proper designed set of dies should solve tearing and wrinkling issues.
@@egemens yes I have made changes and creating another follow up video
Super cool video mate! I am definitely for to make some custom parts trays. Also I like the insulation in your shop too hahah; first time I have seen someone do that. Do you have any videos touring your setup?
Thanks, this is 9mm foil type insulation popular in Australia here. We are mainly trying to keep the heat out here in summer. Our summers are hot and winter is not crazy cold.
brilliant i do a lot of vacforming try putting a 5 degree draft angle on your mold and it should stop the problem of tearing but well done definitely something im going to try well done
Yes I will try some draft on the next version. Thanks
In so far as the .5 material: Would relieving a boarder around, off-set from the die, give the wrinkle a place to go? It could just be cut off at the end adding another step but not having to press each twice.
Regardless. Really cool process!
I’m not sure but the next version will press completely so the wrinkle should get pressed flat in one hit. Thanks
Instead of the male die in plastic you can use urethane of various durometers - hardness - without having to print the male die. I use flat urethane dies to do similar pressings. Also you could anneal the 1mm aluminium with a propane torch (look it up on the 'tube) if you wanted more definition, it will work harden again when you press it. Great video and I will certainly try 3d printing some dies!
Btw, for better integrity of the 3d print, use 1 wall with half the nozzle as offset and/or increase the overlap between infill and wall. You can also anneal the print in the oven at 60°C... 100°C should be fine.. If you print at slower speed it shouldnt warp. If it does, heating with a heatgun until you get a slight shine should help at least a little bit
@@Personnenenparle I do like this idea never thought about annealing it before
Is that a 3D plumbus.?? If you know, you know 🤣🤣
Could it be worth trying making the die positive and negative have a smaller extrusion. that way when you fully press the metal it flattens the metal around the outside as well? Great video!
This is how we did have them designed. The male did have less height than the female but at 3mm it seemed we asked too much of the material to get them to bottom out.
Also some lubricant as previously mentioned - use water based such as dishwashing detergent with a little water.
Carbon fibre filled PLA or a stronger plastic filament will help with prolonging the life of the dies. Another possibility is to 3d print the outer shell of your die and fill the inside with two part epoxy resin or builders bog or car panel filler - might give a stronger less compressible die and all so speed up 3d printing process.
Appreciate the suggestions we will make some changes and try again in the future.
If you have a CNC plasma table or know somebody with one you can make the die from steel. And, you only really need the female side as you can use an air hammer with a plastic or rubber tip to push the material into the die. Karl from the Make It Kustom channel here on UA-cam has a video on this. He used it for a different application (simulating bead rolling) but it would work just as well for this. If you don't have access to a plasma table you can order the laser cut die from any number of companies that charge very little for what it is.
Yes I have seen him utilise the power hammer a lot. He has plenty of great ideas I purchased and built his profile hammer in my last video.
@@Stickshiftgarage1 Yeah, so if you have the air hammer, you can 3D print or just turn a soft tip for the hammer and just use it to push the aluminum into the female side. I mean, unless you're planning on doing a thousand of them there's no need for the male side and the press. And now that I'm typing it, you could prob use a 3D printed female die the same way.
Anyway, this was a really great video. I'm glad you did this. Can't wait to see where you go with it next.
@@WmSrite-pi8ck Thanks i have so many things to try out now from all these suggestions. For sure some follow up video
Someone might have said this already but in fusion add draft angles about 3° and should help alot instesd of dremeling the edges. And as someone else has said 3d prints the walls/outer shell number is true srength.
Yes i will make these changes. Thanks
Can you try and press some steel as well next time? This would be great to weld into car panels or rocker covers ect.
Yeah I have plans to try and press some .9 steel but may have to require some harder plastic than we are using for now.
I’m curious how stamping/pressing against hot metal would go. One would need a die that could survive higher temps though as PLA/PLA+ softens at around 50°C
I think metal would be your best choice for die material in that situation
Every time he says aluminum it reminds me of Matt riffe when he questioned his reality of the word alu-minum vs uhluminum
I had to watch this just then. Made me laugh though 😂
Try some Petg, might last a bit longer.
Thanks
Try lubricating the sheet.
I did forget to mention in the video but after the annealing we also started to lubricate the workpieces
Use 10+ walls and top and bottom layers way stronger than just using infill in the dies.
Do you think an infill percentage less than solid would be strong enough for what we are trying to achieve? It would be faster to print for sure.
@@Stickshiftgarage1 with that level of detail it would effectively be solid but also the amount of infill would be much less. wins all round
@@Stickshiftgarage1 if you use cura for slicer, 99.9% infill use the proper infill pattern. At 100%, it switches to the floor pattern.
If you do 99% you can also use variable infil density, to be less dense farther away from the surfaces.
@ Thanks for the info
hi, PLA will start to dissolve in oil you should try to print it with ASA
Thanks I did not know this
One-eyed snail
😂
.5mm what are you going to use that on?
These will just be plaques to go on my equipment and tools around the workshop. I have bigger plans to press .9mm mild steel for my Ford hotrod project in the future.
Damn you look like
DAN KENNEDY EATS
Maybe he looks like me 😂
1:52 300 DOLLARS FOR V2 NEO?! 😲
Australian $
This guy stamped successfuly 2 years ago
ua-cam.com/video/EhZmlTw2aUE/v-deo.htmlsi=Z2WhjnZnsSHe4JXO
Yes that turned out great
Make a punch now
Would be possible for sure, not sure how long it would last though
Too bad you are showing that it works in the first minute. It's like an American tv-show, it spoils the whole episode.
I disagree. I hate to sit through the fluff waiting to get to the money shot.
I viewed the whole thing because i wanted to see and learn with this guy.
Different strokes for different folks I guess. Appreciate your time 😃