{"id":5321,"date":"2017-06-11T10:48:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-11T17:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=5321"},"modified":"2017-06-11T10:48:02","modified_gmt":"2017-06-11T17:48:02","slug":"hydraulic-press-inlay-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=5321","title":{"rendered":"Hydraulic Press Inlay Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nAnother hare-brained scheme – I have a couple of leftover stainless steel cutouts from making my better half’s earrings. It occurred to me to press them into thick copper for a pendant. Here’s the result so far\u2026<\/p>\n

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\nAbove are the two stainless steel remnants and a 1\/8 inch thick piece of copper bar.<\/p>\n

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\nI\u2019m pretty much ad libbing this as I go along. I\u2019ve placed the two steel remnants in a \u201cpleasing\u201d arrangement and superglued them down so they won\u2019t move.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove, I\u2019ve placed the copper and superglued steel remnants in the press. The big round chunk of steel I\u2019m using as a \u201cpusher.\u201d My press is designed for forging hot steel, so the surfaces are a little rough, and the smoother face of the steel \u201cpusher\u201d won\u2019t mar things as badly.<\/p>\n

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\nHere\u2019s the entire hydraulic press, with the pusher and victim installed.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove, I’ve pressed (3 times at 20 tons) the leftover 410 stainless steel cutouts into the annealed 1\/8 inch thick copper bar. Notice how the sides of the copper bar are no longer straight, and are bulging a little bit. When the press shoved the steel into the copper, the incompressible metal has to go somewhere, hence the bulges.<\/p>\n

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\nI was planning to remove the cutouts and solder them in, but they’re stuck tight, so I’ve just used a textured punch to move the copper over flush to the steel, very similar to Japanese-style inlays. These steel inlays aren’t going to budge\u2026 Compare how tight the copper is against the sides of the steel in this image with the previous image. The previous image has large, obvious gaps, and now I can\u2019t even see the cracks between the copper and steel in the microscope.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove, I\u2019ve shaped the copper bar into a teardrop pendant shape.<\/p>\n

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\nHere I\u2019ve engraved the steel gecko and frog man with crosshatches reminiscent of Australian Aboriginal art. As I indicated, I\u2019m pretty much just going with the flow here.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove, I\u2019ve begun carving the copper surface with small carbide burs. I don\u2019t really have much of a plan here <\/p>\n

buy kamagra<\/a><\/div>\n

, just to do something that looks a bit like rough rock.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"
\nHere’s the Frog Man Gecko Pendant finished. 410 stainless steel and copper, about 2 inches tall. I’ll call this another successful hare-brained scheme with a promising technique. Easiest inlay I’ve ever done\u2026I\u2019m beginning to think there\u2019s something in this technique\u2026<\/p>\n

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\nThe press\/inlay harebrained scheme worked out so well I decided to see if it was a fluke.\u00a0So, here’s a 410 stainless steel dead dried minnow on the beach, in copper.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove <\/p>\n

puttygen<\/a><\/div>\n

, I\u2019ve engraved my dead minnow into 1\/16 inch thick 410 stainless steel. I\u2019ve found that engraving patterns into the metal before I saw them out with a fine jeweler\u2019s saw helps the tiny blades to track better.<\/p>\n

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\nHere\u2019s the sawn out minnow in place on 1\/8 inch thick copper bar. I\u2019ve superglued it into place.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove is the steel minnow installed with a single 20 ton press. Only one was needed since there’s not much surface area to this tiny minnow. Looking good so far\u2026 Notice how much the sides of the copper have been distorted by the metal being shoved out of the way. Don\u2019t get your finger caught in the press!!!!<\/p>\n

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\nThe above two image illustrate pushing the copper up flush against the steel sides of the dead minnow with a small textured punch.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove is the business end of the tiny punch I use for moving the copper. It also leaves a nice texture. I simply ground a 3\/32 inch square piece of high carbon steel round, and to the diameter I thought I needed, then engraved crosshatches in the face. Hardened with a plumber\u2019s torch and quenched in beeswax, I don\u2019t even bother to temper these.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove, I\u2019m using flat gravers and a flat punch to sculpt and detail the dried fish.<\/p>\n

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\nHere\u2019s a closeup of the minnow\u2019s head after trimming the sides with a flat graver.<\/p>\n

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\nAbove, I\u2019ve spent some time refining the flat facets left by the flat gravers with a small round flat faced punch. Also beginning to detail the gill section.<\/p>\n

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\nI haven\u2019t given you much of an indication of the size of this tiny minnow, so here you go…<\/p>\n

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\nWell, I guess by now you know how I operate, so there has to be a little gold\u2026<\/p>\n

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\nI envision this pretty classic Japanese themed dead fish as drying on a beach, so there needs to be some small rocks\u2026<\/p>\n

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\nI\u2019ve used a graver in several passes around the rocks to cut their outlines quite deeply.<\/p>\n

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\nHere , I\u2019ve used carbide burs to excavate around the rocks to expose the sand.<\/p>\n

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\nAnd a little patina since I\u2019m dying to see how this will look when finished\u2026 I’ve also used a tiny flat faced punch to round and slightly texture the rocks.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a>
\nI\u2019ve used a really tiny bur to put in what I call \u201cscribble\u201d texture. To the naked eye, this really does look like sand.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a>
\nWith the addition of rocks and sand texture, the Dead Fish on the Beach Pendant is finished. Looks like my hare-brained inlay scheme is a success…<\/p>\n

Thanks for Looking!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tom Sterling<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.sterlingsculptures.com<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TomSterlingHandEngraving#<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/instagram.com\/tom_sterling_hand_engraving<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another hare-brained scheme – I have a couple of leftover stainless steel cutouts from making my better half’s earrings. It occurred to me to press them into thick copper for a pendant. Here’s the result so far\u2026 Above are 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":[23,35],"tags":[9,3,7,17,16,41,44,10],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6qLAy-1nP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5248,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=5248","url_meta":{"origin":5321,"position":0},"title":"Stag Beetle Tavern Ring Tutorial","date":"June 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Starting a \"Tavern Ring\" (with thanks to http:\/\/hellgnome.rocks for the name I blatantly stole from him...), in tellurium copper. I'm planning to add a stainless steel inlay using my hare-brained scheme technique. Hope it works... Marking out and cutting the blank to size. The little walnut doodad on the left\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/TomSterling_Stag_Beetle_Tavern_Ring_Tutorial_6.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5474,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=5474","url_meta":{"origin":5321,"position":1},"title":"When god was a Woman Earrings","date":"October 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I've always loved the prehistoric \"Venus\" carvings K\u00c3\u00b6p Kamagra Receptfritt , so I decided to make a press forming die for some Venus of Willendorf earrings, and maybe some other uses. Above is my computer model of the Venus of Willendorf, originally sculpted in limestone. She is one of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/TomSterling_Venus_of_Willendorf_Earrings_3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3657,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=3657","url_meta":{"origin":5321,"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":2143,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2143","url_meta":{"origin":5321,"position":3},"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":5506,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=5506","url_meta":{"origin":5321,"position":4},"title":"Hummingbird Skull Reliquary","date":"May 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Starting a new reliquary project. This is the first of several elements, a 1075 carbon steel blade in my signature \"knapped steel\" style. Using a small drum sander, I'm carving in the flake scars that would be left from knapping stone blades... 1075 carbon steel blade, one of several elements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Carving"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/TomSterling_Hummingbird_Skull_Reliquary_15.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2181,"url":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/?p=2181","url_meta":{"origin":5321,"position":5},"title":"Press-Forming Adventures Part 2","date":"June 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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_37.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5321"}],"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=5321"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5368,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5321\/revisions\/5368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sterlingsculptures.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}