Paulette Carr on wed 13 feb 02
Hi, Paul!
I want to make my own aluminum extruder dies, so I checked the archives. In
one of your posts you mentioned (in '96) cutting 1/8" scrap aluminum with a
little motorized jigsaw made by Dremel. What they now have available is a
variable speed scroll saw. Is this the tool of which you were speaking? I
called Dremel, and they said that I could cut the metal with a metal piercing
saw blade. It sounds too good to be true ... It is very expensive, and I am
sure that there is a steep learning curve, but I really want good dies.
Thanks, and my best,
Paulette Carr
David Hendley on thu 14 feb 02
Paulette, save your hard-earned dollars and buy a jeweler's
saw. It's about $15. The blades are about $2 a dozen (plan
on breaking them). Buy several dozen #3 or #4 blades, which
are very coarse to jewelers, bur very fine to potters.
Aluminum highway signs are great for dies. They are thinner
than 1/8", easy to cut, and durable. The plastic (lettering) coating
makes them easy to clean. You don't have to steal them, just
find a scrap metal yard that specializes in recycling aluminum
and they will be bound to have some.
My instructions for using the jeweler's saw and making a 2-part
die are in the Winter '99 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated,
and 'The Extruder Book' by Daryl Baird. They were lifted from
a 20-year-old article, and show steel being used for the die.
Just substitute aluminum for steel and everything else is the
same, except easier, since aluminum is easier to cut and file.
Love,
Paul,
aka
David Hendley
Maydelle, Texas
hendley@tyler.net
http://www.farmpots.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paulette Carr"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 5:43 PM
Subject: Paul Lewing: Cutting extruder dies from aluminum
> Hi, Paul!
>
> I want to make my own aluminum extruder dies, so I checked the archives.
In
> one of your posts you mentioned (in '96) cutting 1/8" scrap aluminum with
a
> little motorized jigsaw made by Dremel. What they now have available is a
> variable speed scroll saw. Is this the tool of which you were speaking?
I
> called Dremel, and they said that I could cut the metal with a metal
piercing
> saw blade. It sounds too good to be true ... It is very expensive, and I
am
> sure that there is a steep learning curve, but I really want good dies.
>
> Thanks, and my best,
> Paulette Carr
>
>
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