Brian Ross
rossoon@imag.net

If my water jet guy is to be believed, no. Not that is it isn't hard enough. The problem is that you get transfer of material from the die to the work; and reverse. I believe the technical term is galling. If you want something easy to cut, use brass or bronze. At least the colours will match.

The labour and machine charges for having a die made (even doing it yourself) will be the greatest part of the cost. I would not advise economizing on the material - though you might be able to do with out heat treating. Ask the die maker. Lee's kevlar plates might also be  an option.
Brian Ross