New Pancake Die Videos by Dar

Greetings,

After 30 years of making them, I’ve finally gotten around to shooting a few videos about them (what, no pancakes emoji ??!! I demand to see the manager!) .

Promotional, more than instructional , though one is useful as a compliment to the written instruction

sheet I send out to new die customers . These aren’t about showing you how to make pancake dies,

because doing that to the level I envision it needing to be done is something that’s always seemed

too big to tackle . How can I tell you all the things inside my head ? :microscope: (line from an ancient song by The

Moody Blues). These are about the wonderful things you can do with pancake dies, not the devilish

details of making them the right way.

Some of you know about me and my dies ("my dies and I " sounds silly!) , so you know that “RT”

or pancake dies can indeed work very well , but may not be aware of quite everything they can do.

Others may not have been exposed to pancakes the way I make them , and so, may think they

don’t necessarily work so great. It’s definitely a tricky technology , for all it’s simplicity , and there

are many ways they can be headache-inducing , but I’ve figured out how to minimize the problems,

and offer the results to those that desire them.

Mind you, I’m not a professional video artiste , I’m just a smartass with a pc , a digital SLR , and

something to yap about. I’ve tried to keep the “ums” and “uhhhs” to a minimum, but they sneak in,

because I didn’t like the feel of rehearsed/recited lines . For the most part I just show stuff and talk

about stuff I know , and the flow works better that way . So , on youtube, look for the DogBoyDar

channel , and “pancake dies” , and here are the links to the four I’ve made already . So far , I’ve

given overviews about dies and possibilities , with just one going into deeper material , about

one-step cutting/embossing pancake dies. Subsequent ones will cover using what I call “donut dies”

(pancakes that cut a part and a hole out of the middle in one step) , and also some about using

the dies in conjunction with formed parts , both single , and two-step procedures. Here youz go:

Get some views goin’ here… :smile_cat:

Muchas Gracias y you’re welcome !
:soccer: (icosahedron) ((yes, I know futbol balls
are icosidodecahedra , but that’s a dang icosahedron! :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: )

Dar

5 Likes

@sheltech1 Dar, this is amazing. Nicely done, and thank you!

Thanks! , just doin’ my job . I love the new forum ; way more functions!
DS

1 Like

Thank you for taking the time to make and share these awesome videos!

Much appreciated! I am working on a couple of designs right now and plan to contact you to order them soon! I am thinking of trying them out first, just by using a vice to pop them out.

Is this something you would also recommend that I can try out?
What would the maximum metal thickness be if I were going to use a vise?

are the pancake dies gauge specific? Meaning, do I need to decide what metal thickness I want to cut out before I order a pancake die? or just the maximum thickness?

Thank you in advance!

Julie

Dar - Your approach is sincerely appreciated. How long have you been working on it? Also, nice job on the videos.
Bob A. DeMarcki

Hi Julie,
Using a vise isn’t any good unless you have (or modify) it’s jaws smooth-faced , and large enough to cover the entire design area (and preferably the upper 1/3 of the whole die) .
Otherwise you’re asking for trouble. I’ve never used a vise , but some people do. Their force is very small compared to a hydraulic press , but I can’t say how much force that is, or exactly what ga. and size of part you can cut. Much better (on a low budget) to get a 1-ton arbor press and set it up with a couple of jewelers bench blocks to sandwich the die between . For more than 1-ton, , maybe a 2-ton arbor, but for the money, for more power, it’s cheaper and better to go hydraulic , as in a 6-ton benchtop shop press.

Dies are ga. specific , in that I use different thicknesses of steel for different ga. metals .
Since these are heat treated tool steel, they don’t need to be much thicker than the metal being cut , as the steel is exponentially harder to saw as you go up in thickness . Dies will cut their maximum , and anything thinner, as long as I know beforehand what your desired range is.

Dar

Hey Bob,
I started out when the RT Blanking System came out new in the Rio catalog in 1985 . There wasn’t much to go on , and the equipment was lacking , so I became obsessed with getting the process to work on a production level . Thousands of people sending me all sorts of weird stuff , and interesting, challenging designs over the years has forced me to push the limits of the technology (even though I don’t use high-tech machines to cut the dies).

Thanks on the vids. It’s weird how I can be self-conscious with nothing but a camera in the room, but that goes away when I get into my rap (with cheat sheet nearby :wink: ).

Dar