I take back every mean thing I’ve ever said about my LDS.

[Eric Sedletzky]

Eric, is the profile the same among the sizes? (I'm not sure I'm asking clearly -- let me phrase it another way.) Before the rails are added, do the shapes of different sizes nest? Where I'm headed is this: could a single forming die with common central locating pins be used for all the sizes?

No, the three sizes are all different.
There aren’t rails welded on anymore, there is an optional bolt on wedge which took the place of fixed rails.

 

[The Ruttmeister]

I have a sneaking suspicion that the curves and radi'i are simple enough that you could press it with a relativity low force press. Well, I assume. I'm not actually a pressed metal engineer or anything.
But those edges look fairly easy.
I'd go chat to an engineer at MetalFX, they normally have lots of good ideas.

 

[happy-diver]

Magnificent!

 

[Akimbo]

@Eric Sedletzky

You might be interested in this:

This is a diving helmet made by Joe Savoie. All of it was made in his shop/yard. I never saw the tooling but @captain may have. As I understand it, he made the tooling, pressed (deep drawn really) it on a shop-made hydraulic press, and TIG welded it together. I have no idea if he had to heat the metal or not. There might be some inspiration there. Like your Freedom Plate, the Savoie hat was a superb piece of craftsmanship.

Have you ever checked into the cost of a stamping die? There are a lot of overseas CNC machining operations that are surprisingly competitive. It's not like you need to tool for high speed production or millions of parts.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

@Eric Sedletzky

You might be interested in this:

View attachment 657571

This is a diving helmet made by Joe Savoie. All of it was made in his shop/yard. I never saw the tooling but @captain may have. As I understand it, he made the tooling, pressed (deep drawn really) it on a shop-made hydraulic press, and TIG welded it together. I have no idea if he had to heat the metal or not. There might be some inspiration there. Like your Freedom Plate, the Savoie hat was a superb piece of craftsmanship.

Have you ever checked into the cost of a stamping die? There are a lot of overseas CNC machining operations that are surprisingly competitive. It's not like you need to tool for high speed production or millions of parts.

I know people in the custom car building business that can shape metal so well that you could leterally sand and polish the metal and it’s metal finished so well it’s almost perfect.
I’ve seen this with aluminum car bodies. There was an English guy I new that was a genius on an English wheel. He would use a full size three D plug and shape sections of the body panels, then gas weld the aluminum together, file/grind the welds, hammer and dolly it, file it some more, sand it and it some cases polish it.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

@Eric Sedletzky

You might be interested in this:

View attachment 657571

This is a diving helmet made by Joe Savoie. All of it was made in his shop/yard. I never saw the tooling but @captain may have. As I understand it, he made the tooling, pressed (deep drawn really) it on a shop-made hydraulic press, and TIG welded it together. I have no idea if he had to heat the metal or not. There might be some inspiration there. Like your Freedom Plate, the Savoie hat was a superb piece of craftsmanship.

Have you ever checked into the cost of a stamping die? There are a lot of overseas CNC machining operations that are surprisingly competitive. It's not like you need to tool for high speed production or millions of parts.

It almost looks like pewter or titanium.

 

[Akimbo]

It almost looks like pewter or titanium.

316 stainless for sure. Here is the polished hat:

The signature looked stamped to me but was probably cut with a pantograph using a ball end mill and bead-blasted. The metal at the bottom left on the neck ring was lead for balance.

 

[OTF]

Holy crap that's some impressive craftsmanship.

How is the window made? Acrylic pressed in a mold? Cast glass?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

316 stainless for sure. Here is the polished hat:

View attachment 657601

The signature looked stamped to me but was probably cut with a pantograph using a ball end mill and bead-blasted. The metal at the bottom left on the neck ring was lead for balance.

Wow! Impressive!

 

[The Ruttmeister]

Holy crap that's some impressive craftsmanship.

How is the window made? Acrylic pressed in a mold? Cast glass?

Its bonkers.

Given the amount of scratching on the window, I'm guessing either acrylic or polycarbonate. Either of which can be vacuum formed easily.