to the tecnical ones of the forum, do you think cast iron dies would work to press light steel, to make small section?
pete.

it should be alright, if your worried get the dies cast in SG instead

how thick is the steel your pressing? what size peice

sounds good, give it a go!

iv'e made plenty of dies, most are in cast iron, the big ones are done in SG iron

i worked in a iron foundry when i was a apprentice, we used to make the dies for bendix (now FMP) for the brake pad backings, the dies weighed 5 ton each!

if your in or near ballarat then i could cast the dies for you (off your pattern) if not any good foundry could do it for you

hi keeo, been looking on net for video or pics for engine casting patterns used to make the sand pattern for casting blocks etc have not found any good ones yet, also looking for panel dies etc.
read some where in the old days the dies were cast iron, i guess casting would be a easy way to make a die, once a hand pattern is made from wood etc it used to make a cast then this is used to press? not sure if this is true? also read to make a panel it may have serveral different presses (dies).
it amazing how they can get the creases out of the panel to say underneith where you dont see it.
pete.

Have either of you guys looked into ISF forming?
You dont need to make dies at all to form sheet metal if you use ISF (Incremental Sheet Forming)
You can scan a part using a hand held scanner and then load the info into the ISF machine. Not exactly backyard technology but very interesting.

I've seen these machines in action at QMIsolutions in Queensland
http://www.qmisolutions.com.au/article.asp?aid=223

"Incremental Sheet Forming (ISF) is a flexible process for forming sheet metal under the action of a mobile indenter such that almost any 3D shell shape can be made without specialised tooling. The process is recognised as a sustainable technology because it has the potential to enable a move towards small-scale localised production of customised sheet metal parts, as well as re-engineering of damaged or obsolete products.
This incremental forming process can be used for rapid prototyping, small production runs or low volume production"

As soon as I saw it I thought . . . CAR PARTS!!!

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59 Cadillac Coupe - 74 HQ GTS4 308 Cyan Blue - 74 HQ GTS4 350 Barbados Green - Nissan 350Z

Hi rig thats a inresting site, beleive they now have a laser which they can run over a item e.g guard and the demension come up in the computer program from there a cnc machine can make a die etc.
i guess with today thecnologies we should be expecting better repo parts.
Dave great pics is there any problems getting the alloy to flow betwen the two sand pieces in that manifold??? there was a chevy performance book in the front cover had a old photo of the guys making the v8 chevy cores it was like a v section and four to get the eight of course..
pete.