RT/Pancake Dies, Minus the Tab!

Jewelry Discussion
1

Anyone interested in the continuing evolution of the pancake (RT Die)
die cutting process might want to mosey on over to the Bonny Doon
forum for a look. I’ve posted a number of pix of recent/past projects
as well at

http://www.bonnydoonengineering.com/ceilidh/ceilidh.html
scroll down a bit to find the most recent pic of mine from July 9.

Though fairly simple in concept, a tabless RT die presents several
major challenges, and these 2 star dies even more so because they
are cutting 3 and 4 parts at a time, respectively. They also had to
be very symmetrical and precise so that any tip of any star would fit
into the nifty hole punch I made for my manual Diacro press. It may
be useful to remember that I am not a machinist and don’t have
anything resembling a modern tool& die making shop. These tools are
mostly handmade, with just the basic drillpress, bandsaw, no lathe
or mill or cnc. So if I can do it… well, no, actually I don’t
suggest trying this at home. The unpleasant aspect of any tabless or
"donut-hole "

die using the RT concept is that the stock or part you’re cutting a
hole into the middle of gets trapped inbetween the 2 main plates of
the die. With a donut die the hinge (secondary) plate must be left
intact, and this makes part extraction a slow and awkward affaier.But
with a tabless die (as seen on these 2 star dies )that secondary
plate can be cut away all except the minimum needed to attach the
cutter to it and for it to continue on down and function as a hinge .
This makes it quite a bit easier to cut the scrap/stock and pull it
back over the cutter instead of… what you have to do with the donut
die.

A little video clip would do wonders here, but lacking that, you’ll
have to use the photos and your imagination. In the end, I was able
to do a few thousand perfect little stars -with no nasty tabs to trim
and sand off, and punch a clean hole in each one with no
centerpunching, drilling, or cleanup - in a boatload less time than
previously possible.

So welcome a little further into my world, somewhere inbetween
low-tech and high-tech, between jewelry making and machine shop, and
as always, here to serve.

Dar Shelton, (“The Sheltech Guy”)

2

Dar -

Just catching up on reading Orchid - that star die is cool! Can you
do other shapes as cleanly as that?

Ivy S. Fasko
Contemporary Handcrafted Jewelry
http://www.ivysfasko.com

3

Dar -

When I need to, yes, I can be very accurate sawing dies. The star
was a challenge because all the tips on all 7 stars (2 dies for 2
sizes of star) had to be very consistent so that they'd fit into
the hole-punch jig exactly, leaving the holes located properly in
the stars' tips. You can also see other examples at
http://www.sheltech.net

That’s assuming you meant accurate when you asked “cleanly?”. If you
were meaning the neatness of the cut as opposed to a ragged/burred
edge, then also yes, I do that well too. That has to do with having a
tight tolerance in the die. Loose dies leave

burrs or bent edges, and worst-case, the metal sticks/jams in the
die. Dies need to be extremely tight for very-thin metals like 28, 30
ga. and even thinner.

Dar Shelton