Cones, Hydrolic press

Jewelry Discussion
1

I am interested in the purchase of the borax cone but so far I can
not find where to buy them. I have seen a small marble dish in the
cost plus store I haven’t a clue what they are for) but they have an
egg shaped area that is rough on the surface, would this be ok to use
with the cone, providing I ever get to purchase one?

For those of you that use a hydrolic press do you use mircarta to cut
your pattern from, and if so what blade do you use to cut the mircarta
with as it is VERY hard stuff, and taking forever. Is there something
else out there that is sufficent that is eaiser to cut? I would
appreciate any feed back on these questains and I thank you all ahead
of time for sharing your knowledge.

Got the Lapidary and drooled through it twice now the,
congratulations to those of you who have articals … looks great!
Karen in el cajon, ca

2

Karen, I use plexi glass to cut my patterns out of. (and even my
wife’s plastic cutting board, hope she never finds out :o)

Chris

3

Karen: I have used micarta, and phenolic with great results. Phenolic
(sp?) is a fiber reinforced material made from a formaldehyde base
(or so I have been told) so be careful of the dust and fumes when
cutting. I use an electric scroll saw to cut either. Provides a more
vertical wall and easier on the hands. In a pinch I have used
plexi-glas although it can be brittle and tends to break after one or
two uses. I have also used liquid steel to make a mold that the metal
was then pressed into. I had limited results with this method though
think it would improve with a fiber binder in the liquid steel.
Perhaps fiberglass or chopped jute??? Good luck and hope this helps
some. Frank Goss

4

You might try cutting your patterns (dies) from sheets of Lucite
plastic—about 1/8 inch thick or thereabouts. I cut mine with my
jeweler’s saw frame and spiral blade—the kind used for hard carving
wax. cut it just as you would a piece of metal. After sawing out
your pattern, file the cut edges to make them smooth and parallel.
(straight up and down–not sloping). Alma

5

Alma; Have you ever tried the skip tooth saw blades for wax? They are
much more accurate and leave a smaller trail, they also work great in
plexi. I no longer use the spiral blades since I tryed the skip tooth. Frank Goss