{"id":2181,"date":"2013-06-24T18:26:06","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T18:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2181"},"modified":"2013-06-24T18:42:33","modified_gmt":"2013-06-24T18:42:33","slug":"press-forming-adventures-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2181","title":{"rendered":"Press-Forming Adventures Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\n<\/a>Above is the finished press die installed on a 1\/4 inch thick aluminum disk (bolted on utilizing the hole I drilled and tapped on the bottom of the steel owl skull form). \u00a0The copper piece in the center is the first failed attempt at pressing copper sheet. \u00a0You can see the copper decided to fold along the edges, so I had to figure out something to do about that. \u00a0The copper piece on the right side is the next attempt, which was successful after I figured out what to do about the folding problem.
\n
\n<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/a>And a view from the bottom.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>I also changed from cutting out a 2 inch diameter circle of copper sheet to using larger rectangles. \u00a0Easier cutting, and with less critical issues getting the press die centered in the middle of the metal, fewer gaps. \u00a0Note the red center line I’ve drawn on the fully annealed<\/strong><\/span> rectangular sheet to help centering the die in the press. \u00a0By the way, there’s nothing special about this sheet of copper – it’s just an inexpensive 18 gauge sheet from the hobby metal display at my local Ace hardware store.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Above, I’ve placed the urethane container, sheet metal and press die in my little hydraulic press. \u00a0I’ve slowlyy raised the ram until all the parts are in contact with each other, then carefully centered everything. \u00a0I’ve also made certain the parts are directly above the hydraulic ram. \u00a0I don’t want anything to get caddywhompus, because that might cause something to be ejected at high velocity – I value all of my parts and would prefer not to be injured! \u00a0By the way, proper safety equipment like eye protection is a must here! \u00a0Here’s a link to a build-along of a press similar to mine.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Above, I’ve begun squishing the die down into the urethane. \u00a0You can see the copper is beginning to take the shape of the die, and starting to fold along the edge. \u00a0It is this folding we need to watch carefully, and take action to correct before going too far.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here is about as far as you want the folds to go. \u00a0Much more than this, and it might not be possible to correct the problem for the next pressing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Above, I’ve removed the die from the press. \u00a0The folds on the left side (bottom of the image) are almost too far gone. \u00a0I had to do a little fancy planishing to hammer them out. \u00a0Don’t let them get this bad!
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Above is how to fix\u00a0the fold problem. \u00a0I’m using the horn of my anvil as a planishing stake and gently hammering on the “up” side of the fold (the top of the hill). \u00a0In this case, you can see there are two “up” folds here.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Above, I’ve completed planishing (hammering) the two “up” folds flat, and need to do the other side. \u00a0Hopefully, you can see the cup I’m beginning to form on the planished\/hammered side. \u00a0I want this area to be in a cupped shape, and not back to plain flat sheet. \u00a0This will help with the pressing, reducing fold formation a bit. \u00a0However, you don’t want this to be so deep of a cup that the copper sheet will hit the press top before the aluminum base of the die does.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here, I’ve planished both sides, ready to be fully annealed and pickled before the next pressing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Above is the second pressing, ready to planish away the new folds.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>And, here is a view of the second pressing from the bottom side.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Above, I’ve planished all the folds away. \u00a0Notice this time I’ve begun planishing the end of the beak as well. \u00a0Notice the cup forming, and how the edges of the copper sheet are no longer straight. \u00a0The edges are being pulled in towards the areas where the most deformation is occurring. \u00a0This is a good sign, because it means the copper isn’t being stretched and thinned too much by the pressing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here is the fully planished piece, ready for annealing, pickling and the third pressing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And, above, is the third pressing.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Planished, ready for\u00a0ready for annealing, pickling and the fourth (and final) pressing.
\n<\/a>
\n\"\"<\/a>The third pressing and planishing, from another angle.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Above, the fourth and final pressing. \u00a0My copper sheet rectangle was a little narrow, or I didn’t get it quite centered. \u00a0This side is a little short, but still usable. \u00a0By the way, I made my steel owl skull form a bit taller (top to bottom) than the finished piece will be, just to accommodate problems like this.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A view from the right side.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n<\/a>Above are the failed original and the three successful pressings. \u00a0You can see the high degree of repeatability in the process. \u00a0The skull in the upper right is the one we’ve been working on in this posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Above is the finished press die installed on a 1\/4 inch thick aluminum disk (bolted on utilizing the hole I drilled and tapped on the bottom of the steel owl skull form). \u00a0The copper piece in the center is the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[23,5,30,28,35],"tags":[9,17,16,44,10,12],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6qLAy-zb","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2216,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2216","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":0},"title":"Press-Forming Adventures Part 3","date":"June 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Now it's time to begin the finishing process. \u00a0I'm going to be \"chasing\" the final details here, so will be filling and embedding the copper piece in pitch. \u00a0But, since I intend to use my Lindsay Airgraver in the chasing process, I'll need a fixture I can place in my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Press_Formed_Owl_Skull_Pendant_60.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3960,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=3960","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":1},"title":"Hummingbird Skull with Silver Helmet Pendant","date":"July 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Starting a new press-formed hummingbird skull , this time with a twist. Here are several pressings, and carefully forging away the wrinkles in the copper sheet caused by the pressing. Here's the beginning of the twist - I'm upcycling a failed silver pressing (it cracked!) to become a helmet. Trimming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Silver_Helmet_Hummingbird_Skull_8.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3657,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=3657","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":2},"title":"“Greenman in Autumn” Pendant Dagger, Part 1","date":"December 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0\u00a0 Above images courtesy of Bladegallery.com Beginning a new project - a tiny pendant dagger in my signature \"Knapped Steel\" style. Here it's been cut out from 1084 carbon steel. Decreasing weight of the dagger, left to right - drilling areas in handle - jeweler's saw cutting through the web\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/93308_3_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2248,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2248","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":3},"title":"Press-Forming Adventures Part 4","date":"July 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, the owl worked out so well, I decided a hummingbird was in order. \u00a0If you recall the \"encouraging failure\" from the first post in this series, I used the copper sheet pressing from that to chase a small hummingbird skull. \u00a0That became the model for a press die. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Hummingbird_Skull_Press_Form_11.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2143,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2143","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":4},"title":"Press-Forming Adventures Part 1","date":"June 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Above images courtesy of BladeGallery.com And a work-in-progress image of my own. In the past I've experimented with carving bird skulls from antler, and some with small helmets. \u00a0While they proved popular, all of the above works were terribly labor intensive. \u00a0While stumbling around the Internet, I found some videos\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Press_Formed_Owl_Skull_Pendant_16.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2292,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2292","url_meta":{"origin":2181,"position":5},"title":"Press-Forming Adventures Part 6","date":"July 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Above are all of the hummingbird and owl press forming works I've been working on...an interesting ride, I must say. Above is the completed silver hummingbird skull and titanium pendant, with leather neck cord. Available soon at\u00a0BladeGallery.com Below are images of a Hummingbird Medicine Pouch. \u00a0This one is for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Hummingbird_Skull_Press_Form_35.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2181"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2215,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions\/2215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}