I’d like to have some trivets on hand for the enameling classes in jewelry to help us fire more pieces at once. The enameling kiln fires to 1450. Google said 301S stainless is good for high temp applications.
It seems based on a quick recon 10gauge or similar steel is the standard for the pancake dies. Those are a cold process so can be any type.
If you are doing some projects and end up with scraps of either please let me know. The pieces needed to test proof of concept are quite small.
Is this Fahrenheit or Centigrade? If Fahrenheit (which I think it is), even mild steel would probably be OK. 1450 would be in the “red” to “bright red” stage for black smithing - “red” is the lower end at which we would be hammering mild steel, and probably too cool for working “high carbon” steel (steel with 60-80 points of carbon or higher). 1060 or 1080 steel would likely be fine.
Color Chart with corresponding temps can be found here: http://www.stormthecastle.com/blacksmithing/blacksmith-steel-heat-and-coloring-chart.htm
My mental image of the “trivet” you are looking for is a small metal plate or stand which would hold the pieces you are enameling off of the enameling kiln’s floor/shelves.
I have some high carbon (1080) steel farriers rasps which have a coarse tooth on them. Perhaps the teeth would work as trivets/standoffs to hold the enameled pieces above the body of the rasp (though they have much more mass and the teeth are smaller overall than something made from sheet steel). These are 14" long and can be cut into various lengths with a chop saw, but are only about 1 5/8" wide.
If you’re interested, I’d be glad to donate a couple to the cause for you to test. I can also cut some to length first if desired (or simply because they are too long for the kiln). If they don’t work out, I can later re-purpose the cut pieces into 'smithed items of various sorts, so they won’t go to waste.
FWIW, I really didn’t follow what you were saying about the pancake dies:
If the rasps are not a good fit, the CNC plasma cutter would make short work of any thin steel you’d like to slice up.
Here is what a sawtooth trivet looks like. I’d like to eventually make some of the adjustable ones for odd shaped pieces. It has to hold metal by the edges only. I’m certain we can do that for less than $12 if the metal is right. 1450F, but I want some running room on that in case the kiln has a firing issue and climbs a little higher. Red is fine as long as it won’t throw off bits of slag or flake into the molten glass.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/673090600/bird-pancake-die-metal-cutting-die-bird?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_structuretest2019_a-craft_supplies_and_tools-tools_and_equipment-tools-other&utm_custom1=kenshoo_clickid&utm_content=go_1730729683_66599076886_337577547594_aud-301856855998:pla-295604191622_m__673090600&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxYLoBRCxARIsAEf16-vRjY6SAgQ6BIgsLU84eAfHPOkAJwZPYX1fFIJZff7FSjB1cPjVCwgaAiYWEALw_wcB
Here’s an example of a pancake die. I was definitely thinking Dynatorch would be good for both of them. The guy who manufactures them uses a fiber laser but plasma would work fine and we can saw shapes for now. They’re not big, because jewelry. Blanks are usually sold 3inch x 2inch since it has to fit in the hydraulic anyhow
I see. I wonder if the wider kerf from the plasma cut might not work so well on the pancake dies. If you could play with the kerf placement and make two pieces (one cut outside the line for the inner part and one cut inside the line for the outer part). Weld the bases of the two together for a nearly zero-kerf fit, then bend to final 3D shape.
I was wondering about that too, the kerf spacing
It’s possible I might have gone down a rabbit hole a couple years ago about pancake dies for a production thing I was considering. How to make my own, etc.
Anyway, they depend on that shearing force between the inner and outer pieces. To get really technical, that space is best at a slight angle vs totally 90 degrees. Cleaner cut.
Although pancake dies are more common at the 90 degree because it’s easier to do them production-wise, whereas the angled ones are best hand-sawn. Anyway, it’s a thing, but I digress.
The main thing is it’s the equivalent of scissor action for thin metal vs time spent hand-sawing, just punches it out on a hydraulic press. Buuuut, too wide a kerf would be the equivalent a wide gap in a pair of scissors. Not a clean cut if it cuts at all.
Potter USA uses a lasers but I planned on torching the leads/relief cuts with the two circles in the end and sawing the rest…at least until the fiber laser shows up
He uses a source/maker that uses a water thingy (technical term) to cut them
(I talked to him quite a bit when I was researching. Interesting fellow.)
Water jet? Well then. That explains the flame war after the post I found on his manufacturing process lol. Either way, tolerances only matter when you get to the shearing part and that’s just a matter of sawing them with the saw frame. I think. Haven’t prototyped yet. I am not afraid to take my gauge ring to the ones at brookhaven though.