Cheap die cutting jacket options

I have a brass plate that was used on my Golding. I’ve wondered if offset printing plates could be used, though I think those are aluminum.

I don’t have a plate for my kluge, I just remove some packing and tape old cutting rule to the tympan using just enough to cover the area of the cutting die. use the same thing on my c&p and my golding.

first off are you using .918 cut rule?

Get an offset plate.
Turn it around.
Tape it to your platen at the bottom and on the sides, with a bit of overhang at the top. Bend the overhang down over the top of the platen.

Pack out to the correct height for the die you’re using by slipping some manilla undersheets folded around whatever hard packing you would normally have access to.

(Folded around, and taller than the die jacket- so you can pull the packing back out and add/remove from it.)

For many die-cutting jobs involving simple straight lines, metal crate strapping fills the bill. Extremely hard (yet easily severed with tinsnips), it is easily obtainable as it is often discarded along with the crate. Or, the local iron works will have small pieces of black iron sheet that will serve as well. Either will affix with masking tape to the tympan sheet. Stainless steel seems to have a certain cachet, but that’s overkill for most applications; and far too expensive.