Dimple Die Question

So,
There was a thread here a while back and someone mentioned a dimple die...

Whutz this I sayz to self...

AHHH. Self. You need one of dem dies.

Seriously folks.

I was going to make a new battery tray for something to do.

Now that I know there's a magical dimple die that will make this thing 'pop', what's the thoughts on them?

I'm not looking for something I'll make a living at dimpling. I'm interested in an economical unit that will work...

Brands? Sizes?

Thanks in advance. Looking forward to your thoughts.

off to get me some

 

I was curious about them myself one day too. I started researching... I got sucked into the dimple die vortex. Opinions are all over the place on their practality vs necessity vs functionality.

Two hours into it, I ended up reading this 20 page research paper on lab results. It was surprisingly interesting. In a nutshell, they don't strengthen, but they do stiffen. One thing is for certain: they do look darn cool.

 

If you have a lathe make you one out of o-1 tool steel and oil harden it. These are not rocket science and unless you are using them daily for years a cheap one will last us forever. Brand will pretty much make no difference unless it is a chinese knock off that is not hardened.

 

Got it. Now I have a good excuse to buy a lathe; :grins:

Thanks though that's what I needed.

 

Do you have a hydraulic Press?............you'll probably need one...........although some have been made that act as a panel cutter and dimple die together...........Swag off road in Oregon makes a nice set that can be used in the press or on smaller dies squeezed together with a nut and bolt..........but I prefer the hydraulic press ............................

The dies are around on E-bay and maybe even HF........there was maybe five hundred of those sets a few years back that were ordered by the sand rail guys that came from off shore somewhere and were fairly reasonable and dynamite as far as hardness.......can't speak for anything current.........if your just dimpling 14 -16 ga steel or similar sized aluminum.......I would not worry to much about quality although most say they are heat-treated..........it's when your dimpling .125 or up to 3/16'" that your pushing allot of metal and will kill a cheap die quickly...........whatever size you buy a corresponding correctly sized hole saw is also needed to locate the die half's............I do use lube when pushing something thick.......but nothing on thin material.........great for lightening up brackets with a little flare and does stiffen up a light weight panel............