Orchid Notice:
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If any of you are truly interested in a workshop on coining &
embossing, I have spoken to John Freestone and found that he would be
willing to instruct…
What we discussed would be an “intro”, to include two days of lecture
here at SJAS, two days live demonstration at John’s shop, and
possibly one day visiting Bay Area tool & die shops or manufacturers.
(If the trip to other shops proves to be logistically impossible,
then we will spend the last day producing parts with dies, and going
over “problem” dies.)
John would cover the basic construction of the die - design, cutting,
hardening, mounting, & uses. Blanking/forming dies, as well as
embossing or coining dies. Tonnage requirements for different
materials and thicknesses.
Used commercial presses available in the marketplace - by
brand/model/price and capacity. (Most of these presses are less
expensive than the 50 ton Bonny Doon, faster cycling, easier to
obtain used tooling for, and some are designed to have the capacity
to produce thousands of finished pieces per day. Disadvantages are
their size, the noise that some of them produce, and a 220 volt power
requirement.)
What specifically to look for in these presses for your individual
requirements. Suppliers, sources, and references.
What we need to do now is put together a group of six to eight
students, a time frame/dates, and a general idea of what you will
expect to receive from taking this workshop - apart from what I have
listed above.
This is a rare opportunity for those of you interested in coining,
die struck findings and parts, or expanding/increasing your
production.
John is extremely well qualified, having done this work for 45 years
now - and having invented several of the techniques he will
demonstrate. Although none of this requires computer/CAD/CAM, the
methods are adaptable. He specializes in dies that would be very
difficult at best, to get fine detail from, in a computer driven
program.
Let me know if a workshop of this kind interests you, and whether you
know of others who would be interested. This workshop will not be
offered more than twice, as John is getting ready to retire.
Brian P. Marshall