Today I made the decision to make a flange die out of wood -- used a piece of white birch I had lying around. It only took a couple of hours on the lathe to turn it. I drilled a 1/4 inch hole through the center for a guide pin, basically a 1/4 inch bolt. I recessed the head on the bottom of the die. I simply put the shear web on the die, and then give it two blows with my shot filled rubber mallet. It gives it a nice flange and adds quite a bit to the over all stiffness of the part. The only problem I've encountered is that I need to be careful to keep the flanges the same on all sides. It is easy to get it cocked a bit and get more flange in one direction than the other.
