Posted on by sherryc

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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