DIY Metal Embossing - 3D Printed Dies

I've asked the question "How do you emboss metal?" to a few other "famous" KZbinrs...what are the details? I received no response. So when the need arose and I wanted something special for my new English Wheel - I did it myself.
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[@josefodium8888]

A dedicated episode (or few) about that car’s history could be quite nice. How you got it, how decided to turn it into a project, how that project evolved. That kind of stuff. Maybe some photos that show what you started with and some sketches to know what you are aiming for (inside and outside). I believe quite a few people would like to hear the story. Don’t get me wrong. Plastic dies are great and all, but not like that story.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Coming up in the next episode. It's got a great history and I've never shared that. My bad.

[@stytos]

Commenting mostly for the "mighty algorhythm" - I started watching your channel for the car mods; but you go so in-depth for many other things that I wish I had time to do. Still, nice to try and live vicariously through another - so thank you.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

And the algorithm approves! Thanks for the kind words. More car focus coming as I'm moving along on some silly little time vortices.

[@bake162]

Love it when a plan comes together

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Now I've got the A-Team theme playing in my head...thanks!

[@TheRealStructurer]

Fantastic! I have made some stamps for leather but did not expect that you could do this for aluminum. Great stuff! Thanks for sharing 👍🏼 Will have a look at your other videos

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Stay tuned...some day I may stamp some leather!

[@joell439]

always exploring clever ideas in your shop ------ thanks for sharing 👍👍😎👍👍

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thanks 👍

[@wollibar5263]

very well done and explained, thank you for sharing

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Glad it was helpful!

[@fooquestionmark]

Thanks for making this content and then just giving it away for free. Its a wild time to be alive.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

For sure - can't imagine how any of these things would have been done by people in their garage without a ton of tooling and experience. Trying to answer my own questions with many of these things.

[@macoygunida]

Amazing job!

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thanks

[@marcjordan29]

Awesomeness as always.. !

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@laurensbruins]

You're so genuinely happy. How do you do it? Haha. You're a joy to watch. I wish you all the best!

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thank you. Making things in my garage (even if they don't work) is my happy place. I derive a lot of comfort from creating, learning and sharing.

[@tano1747]

You aren't sweating moisture out of the metal when you hear it with a torch. You are condensing onto the cool surface, the water out of the combustion by-products from the torch.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Yes...I know.

[@MJPilote]

Little bit shallower die and it’s going to be perfect! I have pressed some shapes with aluminum dies on blank rubber. You don’t all ways need negative for the underside. Awesome project as all ways.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thanks - another viewer mentioned having it a little shallower and having the leaf engage before the ring. Things to try.

[@CeeCeeOy]

Again, I like your prijects and the channel. Keep it up. Finland is as cold as Canada👊 I've done these with success just plain PLA. Like others stated, model the male die shallower so it dosent bottom out and break. I've done similar things. Also dimple dies, oval dimples and bolt recess dies.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thanks - next time I'll try timing the elements of the dies!

[@lesgaal4017]

Well done mate its great when it turns out first time, to stop gathering try to pree stretch your metal with English wheel in longer strips .Then cut them to size very nice maple leaf from down under.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I'm going to try this on the next experiment. It won't happen for a while, but that's for sure the plan. I've got to get a set of dies to work in steel.

[@Squintanditsmint]

Another great vid. I was going to comment about pre-stretch but then you did. I'm thinking I could do this for wheel centers.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Some stiffer dies and a little prestretch and I'm sure it will work.

[@raynyhus2026]

I figured as a Canadian you would've did a semi truck air horn. Just kidding, great ideas to use no matter the vehicle being customized.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

LOL of all the things this find country could be known for...snowmobiles, insulin and poutine!

[@VacFink]

If you try again, consider making the positive a smidge shy of the full depth and it might not cut under pressure. Great stuff. I'm a big fan of 3d printing in custom automotive work. I'm working on door cups, and dash vents now.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I should have measured that dimension on the male die. I didn't think of it at the time. Next time. I'm going to use this technique for a few parts that I need when I get to those jobs.

[@DanBader]

Sharpie trick, NICE!

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thanks!

[@rkalle66]

If you have pins to align your press plates then print your dies just in a way that they are aligning on this pins, too.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

The pins in the press for this one worked just fine.

[@WildWestGarage]

Thank you, I always hate it when I find something I could have used after the project is completed.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Wait..what? Projects get completed? Can you explain this to my wife?

[@WildWestGarage]

@@ThrottleStopGarage ok, let me rephrase this, I hate it when I find something when a project is nearing completion and I realize too late that I could have used it.

[@chrisshorman522]

I've messed with this a few times Craig it's fun. I find if I trap the material better it is more successful. Tried making a die to use on my buddies high end tubing bender for 1.25" od aluminum tubing. 44 hr print on the XMax that looked lovely. Annealed the tube still a total failure. Oh well $20 of ABS down the tubes. Made some floor patch plates with this technique though and they came out pretty good.

[@JeepTJay6]

11:50. Might help if you make the perimeter of the bottom half of the mold wider and have it extend up around the outer edge of the top half of the mold. So there’s sort of a pit in the bottom half that you can just drop the blank down into. You wouldn’t have to worry about lining it up that way. Cool experiment BTW. I might do something like this and have it machined out of aluminum for my own logo. Thanks for sharing. Definitely worth a like and a sub from me. 👍

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thanks - glad it helped.

[@kennethdong8490]

Hey Craig: I used to have dog dish hubcaps for a 1960 Frontenac - a one year Canadian Falcon that had an embossed maple leaf in the center. You could get into a very limited reproduction parts business.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Weird...but I know a guy who owns one in Calgary. The last thing I need is another niche market business where I only succeed at losing money!

[@thephranc]

with a die like that youd want the center relief to engage first. If both the inner and outer engage at the same time youre more prone to ripping.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

How much offset would you suggest?

[@scatdawg1]

"Let's stop talking and get back to work" That earnt you a like and subscribe.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Well thanks for that.

[@nilton61]

A plate holder would definitely help with the waviness and wrinkles

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

For larger parts with higher pressures as well.

[@thephranc]

The car audio fabrication channel did a great video about embossing but on a different scale (?) he used the practice to shape screen mesh for speakers.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

The more I think of it the more applications there are in the car fab game. Really no reason to have stuff in or on your car that looks like it was made at home.

[@CinnamonBluegard]

I watched before how to emboss metal at other projects and few guys used few (I believe 3 pairs) 3D printed dies for more crisp edges without such stress in material.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

That's a good idea.

[@keithwinsor8361]

20 ga steel needs more pressure. I am building a 36 international and embossed "INTERNATIONAL" into the firewall. You can use acrylic and have the male / female dies cut with cnc or what I did. I used a laser cutter. You get slight deformation of the dies but you need 10-12 tons to get the steel to "flow". My firewall stamping is about 10 inches wide, it worked great. I'm working on a 36 inch wide stamping for the tail gate.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Great information. I've got a laser cut die sitting in the garage to do something on my firewall. What was your male/female gap?

[@keithwinsor8361]

@@ThrottleStopGarage there are two types of acrylic from my tests one is more resistant to "crush" than the other. One is extruded the other is cast, I believe cast is the preference. The type that sign shops use either way. I calculated the material thickness and added 20 % , this was a suggestion from a friend who happened to be a tool and die maker. Use clear acrylic if possible, the off gassing from colored acrylic is awful.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

@@keithwinsor8361 thanks this is very helpful.

[@eedesign878]

I never thought it would work. Especially with only 75% infill.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I was surprised it worked as well as it did.

[@eedesign878]

@@ThrottleStopGarage yes pretty great result. I can only imagine using PC as material would make great results. Ofcourse CNC:ing that logo and both halves would be also reasonably cheap.

[@IcaroMorse]

Before finding your channel I've asked questions to some people doing carbon fiber work and like you said nobody answers. Sometimes it's as simple a question as "how many layers did you use in this or that part?" I'm glad I found your channel, keep up de good work.

[@fredygump5578]

Yes, but what fabric weight did they use?

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Always happy to share what I've learned...and when I've failed.

[@IcaroMorse]

@Driftwood&Sagebrush I understand your reasoning for not sharing your knowledge and experiences with others. Thanks for your feedback.

[@fredygump5578]

@Driftwood&Sagebrush lol! "Properly" just means with lots of money! If you are expecting that everyone will hire a certified engineer to help them with DIY projects, you are living in some kind of weird dream world!

[@pawpawtina]

Just my 2 cents... If you did find that the print needed to be more robust, bump the infill to 100%. that last 25% makes a huge difference in strength. as for the aluminum having the waves or potentially cracking, hit them with a sooty flame from even and overly gassed BBQ lighter for those small guys, otherwise a torch with the flow turned down. will anneal them and make em soft as butter.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

True - I just think that PETG is the wrong plastic (it's just what I had). I'm going to try something similar in nylon. The problem was at the edges and the plastic flowing with the pressure. I find sharpie is a little more accurate than acetylene soot for annealing. I did anneal the parts - I just don't know the alloy - it did get softer but it for sure is not 3003.

[@pawpawtina]

@@ThrottleStopGarage petg is really strong at 100% its all i use. but if edges are failing there are tricks in cura to address that... but if you are already setup for abrasive filaments, no reason to bother with it.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

@@pawpawtina It's worth trying it with some different filament next time up.

[@pawpawtina]

@@ThrottleStopGarage the nylon carbon fiber stuff is pretty strong

[@rongarza9488]

Great! Now you can make business cookies! Won't the customers talk? Maybe, maybe even well LOL, but all advertising is valuable.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

If needed.

[@buzzpatch2294]

cool

[@bewernia]

Have you thought about angling the walls of the leaf/circle? I'm wondering if that would reduce the force needed to emboss the image.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Good point. I was not able to do that because of the leaf geometry. Fusion didn't like it at all. The circle did get a few degrees added to the walls.

[@scatdawg1]

@@ThrottleStopGarage could potentially add them in with a file after the fact on the parts that fusion can't get

[@insAneTunA]

👍

[@user-wh2gv6hn1i]

iam going to bronze cast some 3d printed dies, and then do brass sheeting, this is very close to what i was going to attempt. thank you! what 3d program did you model in?

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Fusion 360 is what I 'm using for all my CAD work. Good luck.

[@anidiotinaracingcar4874]

PLA would probably hold the force better *and* require less cleaning post-print (less stringing). Also: you didn't mention including a draft angle: wouldn't that make the embossing easier?

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I don't normally have any PLA in stock for printing. I just don't have a use for it. My PETG settings result in prints without stringing. I normally print in ABS. If I was doing this again (and I will be at some point), then I'd switch it up and use some glass fibre reinforced nylon (PA6) or similar. I did use a draft angle on the outer ring. The leaf was complicated enough that Fusion refused to compute one. So I sent it without for that part. A little more clearance was all that was needed I think.

[@95LegendGS]

@@ThrottleStopGarage PLA works better than ABS or PETG for this

[@zenginellc]

Ironically, PLA works better for these since it's stiffer than PETG. More brittle in general, but it doesn't usually break in these conditions. Could even get PLA+ if you think it'd help any, but I doubt it'd make a significant difference. Additionally, the edges could've potentially been rounded in CAD, depending on the source file.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

That was the consensus when this was released. I've not needed anything embossed since, but would try PLA...but then I'd have PLA for ages as I rarely use it.

[@zenginellc]

@@ThrottleStopGarage Makes sense, rock on! 😎

[@ndav8r]

Super video! I have made metal embossing dies with 2 part Polyester Casting Resin, and also embossing dies for leather with my 3D printer, both with great results. What part of Canada are you from?...I live in Sunny Warm North Dakota.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Thanks - I'm from Manitoba - but now live in Alberta.

[@lisajarvis3820]

Where can I find your two part resin embossing metal die video please Sir?

[@ndav8r]

@@lisajarvis3820Amazon

[@deanvigna7519]

Nice. That’s a railway track. Not a tie. A tie is the creosote soaked wood that holds them together

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

That's what happens when you're unscripted.

[@poptartmcjelly7054]

10:15 The moisture is not coming from the metal. Water is a byproduct of the combustion process from the flame of the torch and simply condenses on the cold metal.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Yes...already been told.

[@AlmightyRem]

Would a small air gap tolerance between the dies help?

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I had a small gap. It needed a little more.

[@riverrat7529]

That would work for ceiling tiles

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

It for sure would. I mean, I've got a few other parts that I've got to stamp before this is done, so just picking up some knowledge on this one.

[@predragbalorda]

Maybe some lubricant like they use in stamping parts?

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

The plastic really doesn't need lubrication. It's just not hard enough. I'm sure some nylon would do the trick!

[@PAPO1990]

You could try printing the die in something like PolyCarbonate, if you give it enough infill I'd bet it would handle that steel

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Next time...I see people even using PLA because it's stiff.

[@PAPO1990]

@@ThrottleStopGarage PLA is stiff, but quite brittle, and while it IS stronger than most people give it credit for, it still has its limits. I have only done a VERY little bit of printing in PC, but it’s strength is baffling, even the raft I printed my parts on was unreasonably strong

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

@@PAPO1990 Excellent information - any specific challenges to printing PC? I print a lot of ABS - so I'm not afraid - LOL.

[@PAPO1990]

@@ThrottleStopGarage mostly the heat and the warping, plus it fuses to build tack so hard you can destroy the build tack removing the part. It kind of makes ABS look easy, but IMO ABS doesn’t actually give you anything for it’s printing difficulties, PC however, is worth it IF you can get things running smoothly, worth doing some research tho, it’s been a LONG time since I printed it. Good Luck 👍

[@retroclassicsgarage]

How did you polish the railway die😮

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Sanding disks on my grinder then surface conditioning belts on the big belt sander. Worked great.

[@procrastination_builds]

I wonder if a resin 3D print would work better bc its pretty dense and thick with very small printlines

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Yes - even PLA would be better than the PETG that I used.

[@procrastination_builds]

@ThrottleStopGarage do you have a resin printer? I have one and a laser printer if you'd like to try round 2 with resin and acrylic. I'll print and ship them to you to try.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

@@procrastination_builds thanks. I'm stuck in to some other parts of the project. I will look into it when I need to do some more embossing.

[@hu5116]

Nice vid! But you should not have used an AL black. It just bows and then let’s the steel plate bow.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Interesting. It worked for what I needed. I've got more pressing in the future.

[@fredygump5578]

If you want a tougher die, you could cast them from urethane? You can get urethanes that are shore 80D hardness, possibly harder. (Epoxy is typically around 80-90D.) You could 3D print the mold. But then again, maybe that is one rabbit hole too far?

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I was actually thinking that it may be useful to make a die with plumbers epoxy or even short-strand fibreglass bondo. I'd print the inverse of what I made this time so that the 3D printed parts would be pressed into the epoxy/bondo and the resultant die would be much more durable (guessing here). Even some 3D printed nylon would make for a decent die.

[@fredygump5578]

@@ThrottleStopGarage It's worth a shot. My gut says polyesther or epoxy resin will be too brittle. But if you soften the edges, it may do fine.

[@MrBoosted26]

Dude its condensation on the metal.But good stuff mate. 😎🤘

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Fair point - there is moisture in the mill scale but not the steel.

[@JanetDiaz6152]

Ohhh show us how you did it on fusion ..

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Nothing special, just a little face offset.

[@kathysarmcandy1992]

Just catching up, did anyone suggest lubricating the dies? WD40 or something...

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Yes - the plastic was providing lubrication. Just too soft.

[@donanderson9269]

That’s an odd looking railroad tie! It looks like a section of railroad rail to me.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

LOL - that's the risk with a single take.

[@littlehills739]

try urathane 90 over the female hole side

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Will do.

[@leahannwhite1111]

3mm - 8th of an inch size? Ok

[@leahannwhite1111]

Just taking notes here!

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I'm not sure I understand - sorry. I made the raised section around 3 mm and that did work for this die set. I also made the female die around the material thickness larger than the male die.

[@leahannwhite1111]

@@ThrottleStopGarage thanks!💖

[@riverrat7529]

Other side the link

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I know now...LOL.

[@EddieVBlueIsland]

The aluminum in the annealed state does not necessarily good formability.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I didn't know that...I figured softer was better.

[@cherr979]

Did you get the Volvo on the road yet ?? kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZXdmZqoa5inaas

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

LOL...Struggling to get time in the garage. Just mopping up a few projects that are in need of attention.

[@sierraecho884]

Why so complicated with epoxy ? You donßt even need to glue it at all, but if you want it just fixed in place hot hot glue.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Mostly because I had a tube of epoxy. I've used hot melt for other metal die work lately and other than my garage being cold, it works OK for a few parts.

[@sierraecho884]

@@ThrottleStopGarage It´s great if you want to fix some plastic parts around the house, has great gap filling properties. Or for metal work if you want to fix something quick and easy into place RIGHT NOW. That´s why I mention it. Epoxy is a great glue BUT it´s a pain in the ass to work with and can be extremely toxic.

[@forthwithtx5852]

Can you make coins? 😉

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

Only if they're thin aluminum.

[@peterhoffman2597]

wd 40

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

On what?

[@SomeNameGoesHere]

How thick were the walls on your 3d prints? The Classic-Car.TV channel has a video named "3D printed Dimple dies for sheet metal shaping" where they claim PLA can handle up to 1.2mm of steel with a 3mm wall thickness.

[@ThrottleStopGarage]

I used 2 mm. PETG is not as hard as PLA and I don't have PLA as I have little use for it in the shop. The shape matters in the context. I'm sure the settings I've used could handle dimples fine...these are some complex shapes.

[@SomeNameGoesHere]

@@ThrottleStopGarage Good to know. I just started trying thicker-walled prints for strength, but I couldn't use PLA due to the heat exposure the parts will endure.