die forming

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frog113
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die forming

Post by frog113 » Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:12 am

anyone else doing hydralic die forming?

just started right before I bought "the" mill....and of course it got put on hold
have an order in the works for a solid 18kt T/T necklace and the client can't decide what size links she wants (probably long gold links with small wg andd hopefully 1/4ct dia's
milled links("engraved") with the mill apprx 2mm deep into scrap plex
pressed soft copper into it .....and instant hollow links!

and of course Jeff bailed me out when "Ijust didn't get it"!
the engraving/routing is really pretty easy

larry

my pics are taken with an old Sony Mavica (got it when it first can out)
low tech no light box etc etc
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Jwlrymkr
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Post by Jwlrymkr » Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:37 am

Cool stuff Larry!
I don't have a hydraulic press but years ago we bought out another store and part of the tools included an old stamping press. It has a huge and very heavy wheel that rotates at a few hundred RPM's. When the foot pedal is pressed, it engages a cam and the stamping occurs. I think it is rated at about 5 tons pressure. I'm too scared to use the thing! :o The guy that was using it before was stamping very thin parts using an epoxy type die.
I try to stay away from anything that is too "production" like because I get bored too easily. :D
I went to Stuller a couple of years ago when we got the laser and thought man, this would be a cool place to work at; until I saw people doing the same thing over and over day after day lol
Good luck on the necklace!
Ken

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frog113
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coin

Post by frog113 » Fri May 27, 2005 5:46 am

working on application to press dials
this was a sheet of 24kt .13mm thick and a litlle over 1 in diameter
and only weighed a strong dwt
milled at wax settings and pressed into resin
did not finish except buffed cheek area a little

Larry
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frog113
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dieformed cookie

Post by frog113 » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:09 am

had the artwork, 3de file, and an extra delrin pusher so set up the mill late Sat PM and let the mill run (really messy...worse than wax)
used cork settings and a 1.5 carbide round nose
took about 6 hours and still lugged down the motor sometimes
this is probably an ideal use for the mill :D
once you have the pusher, it's less than a minute until you have product
and if your sheet is polished....no cleanup!

this design was a strong 7 mm deep so would probably have to anneal
gold if you were pushing this far

Larry
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McCay
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Post by McCay » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:51 am

Nice work, Larry. I've always wanted to learn about hydraulic forming. Never seem to have the time, money, etc. Keep it up.

McCay

Jwlrymkr
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Post by Jwlrymkr » Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:15 am

Thats pretty cool Larry!
What size press you using to punch that stuff with?

Ken

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frog113
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press

Post by frog113 » Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:24 am

only using a 12 ton
but most of my stuff is small
a gts buckle would probably need at least 20 and probably 50 if there was any depth

small stuff you can mill in plexiglass and push into urathane
............probably a big vise would work

Larry
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martin james
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Post by martin james » Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:51 am

I have a 20 ton press, Pipe over threaded rod on 3 steel plates. The design is for forming, so it is hight adjustable. It is from that book on die-forming. I have been looking for a 100-ton jack. If I find one at reasonable cost (about $1000) I will weld up a frame. For die forming any strong frame will do.

Once was in a race car shop where they were using the I beam roof rafters to jack down against the bent frame of a crashed rail.

Every time the price of metals goes up I start thinking about die pressing. What I need to do is figure a good plan for backing material, so the results will be strong enough. Maybe copper.

On my list of things to try is bronze dies. Bronze has hi tinsel strength, so would make for good dies. Probably make several of the same dies and use one for forming and reserve one to finish with, like they do with EDM electrodes.

Try page belting for urethane.

Cheers Marty

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Winstone
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Hydrolic presses

Post by Winstone » Tue Aug 08, 2006 6:17 am

Marty,
You might try Harbor Freight for a low cost hydrolic press under $300.
We used to make dies for a Famco foot press that goes to 5 tons, but the fear of catching a finger in the jaws is a real risk.
We used a Preiss 3d Mill to make our positive and negative dies in steel, then we took them to a commercail mill over 10,000 lbs psi
There is a company called BonnyDoon in the Rio Grande catalogue which makes a jeweler's hydrolic press for forming cups, etc. hope this helps
Winstone

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