[One of Many]

Thanks for the overview. Yes, I would certainly agree that it would be better to buy the die instead of trying to do it in house. I was just thinking that it might be useful to do some simple dies for prototype leather goods, so I can fine tune before I go into production.

That said, I suppose the real question is whether it is feasible to do such simple dies on a limited budget. More specifically:

This is not a bad plan. It is just the overall investment to get started can get pretty high for less than 10 dies per year. This could turn into another nitch market service for your area though!

1) Is it possible to bend rule by hand using, for example, wooden forms of some sort:

Mandrel bending on a diacro type of radius hand bender would be a ton more accurate with the rule spring back requiring some over bend. You could simulate this with dowel pins and various disks, but the idea is to get smooth radius's without kinks.

2) Is there a make-shift way to notch the rule without having to buy a professional notcher?

Look into a uni-punch and possibly place that on an arbor press etc.

3) How is the rule bonded in the areas where the terminations meet (such as on a circle)?

The ends are ground to a tight fit, butting up together when pressed into the saw cut slot. The saw cut curf needs to be slightly smaller than the rule stock thickness so it grips tight as a press fit into the ply.

I certainly believe that this type of work is best left to the pros, and if I could find a die shop willing to do work with a 2-3 day turnaround and at prices in the $30-$45 price range, I wouldn't even bother with this experiment (most of the estimates I've gotten have been much higher -- perhaps I've been talking to the wrong shops or my patterns are too complex).

The west coast seems to have several of these shops in each metro area. Competition helps keep the prices reasonable, but sometimes getting quotes from multiple shops will give you an idea who is willing to compete. I don't mind calling the high bidder back and let them know how far off they were if it goes beyond a 50% difference in price.

DC