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The First Press

Pat Accorinti came over to spend the afternoon making silhouette dies. She created a shield shape and cut it out of brass and masonite.

16 ga brass and 2 pieces of tempered masonite cut into shield silhouette die by Pat Accorinti thinnest red urethane sheet 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press
16 ga brass and 2 pieces of tempered masonite cut into shield silhouette die by Pat Accorinti, thinnest red urethane sheet, and 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press

While she filed the edges of the silhouette smooth, I annealed some 24 ga copper sheet. We placed the copper in the press with the stiffest urethane, per the guidance of Susan Kingsley’s Hydraulic Press book “Hydraulic Die Forming for Jewelers and Metalsmiths” We pressed the metal and there was hardly any deformation.

16 ga brass and 2 pieces of tempered masonite cut into shield silhouette die by Pat Accorinti Yellow urethane sheet 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press
Second attempt with thicker yellow urethane sheet. 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press.

We switched to a thicker softer urethane and pressed again. Voila! A nice first press result for the 20 ton hydraulic press.

16 ga brass and 2 pieces of tempered masonite cut into shield silhouette die by Pat Accorinti Yellow urethane sheet 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press
(left) 16 ga brass and 2 pieces of tempered masonite cut into shield silhouette die by Pat Accorinti, (center) yellow urethane sheet , (right) 24 ga copper sheet pressed in 20 ton hydraulic press
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Starting a Silhouette Mold for the Hydraulic Press

Drilling starter holes in the brass sheet
Drilling starter holes in the brass sheet

The scrap metal yard was a great place to find 16 gauge brass sheet for the top of a silhouette mold. And, they cut it into squares for us with their massive digitally controlled brake.

Jigsaw ready to cut general shape in tempered masonite
Jigsaw ready to cut general shape in tempered masonite

The lumber store cut the tempered masonite into squares for us.

Now it’s up to us to cut negative space into all the pieces so we have molds to use with the hydraulic press.

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Organizing the Workshop

After many many months, the hydraulic press is in it’s final home. Now it looks like a very tall person with a white shirt on; the white shirt is the fancy dust cover. Yes, I’ll need a foot stool to place items on the press; luckily there’s one out there because the cabinets are also too tall for me to reach past the first shelf.

Without the cover, the hydraulic press looks like this (in it’s old location taking up workbench space.)

The vacuum caster is also in it’s permanent location. All that’s needed is a mirror so I can see the oil level while it’s running.

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Hydraulic Press Demo

At last weekends Metal Arts Association of Silicon Valley meeting we watched a demonstration of the Hydraulic Press by local artist and educator Edith Sommer.

Here are some of her aluminum dies and resulting copper forms, along with some of her other tricks such as gasket rubber to make the shape deeper and wire taped to cardboard for embossing.

Edith Sommer demonstrating the hydraulic press