I’m taking a forging & forming class right now. We started out by
making an acrylic (?) die to use w/annealed copper sheet and thick
pieces of urethane in a hydraulic press.
My design is probably a tad more intricate than I should have made
it, and the smaller and narrower details are not pressing as I’d
hoped they would. I tried softer neoprene, harder urethane, boosting
up the die with blocks of plastic beneath it, multiple annealings–
still no smaller details.
That is where Chasing tools come in. It 's hard to say much
without seeing your work and the die. It can take a lot of
pressure. If you are trying to get really fine detail like coins
you need a lot of pressure with steel dies. one cent copper coins
take a 35 ton press at the mint. Bigger money coins use to about
100 tons.
It’s not nearly that fine. If it survives, it may become a pendant,
about 4" from paws to tail.
The nose, ears, legs and tail are not pressing through. The neck and
body look great.
I don’t have photos of the project thus far, but I do have the
design and the die.
I know it will require some chasing for details such as muscles and
the eye, but I hadn’t expected that to be required to get the
outline.
Design idea:
{image removed}
Acrylic die:
{image removed}
Suggestions? I haven’t had a chance to buy Susan’s book yet – it’s
on the recommended reading list for the class though.
What you need to use are called “intensifiers”. This fancy-sounding
name means small bits of urethane. Usually, I add them, on top of
the regular urethane pad, over the problem areas. Sometimes, though,
I simply put the bits of urethane over the areas that are not
forming. Usually, intensifiers are cut from 1/8-inch thick 80
durometer urethane. The intensifier does not need to match the shape
that you are pressing. What you are doing is focusing the force of
the press on that little area where you need the detail—hence, the
word “intensifier”. I have tin boxes from mints that I keep various
sizes of these intensifiers in for these situations.
What you need to use are called "intensifiers". This
fancy-sounding name means small bits of urethane. Usually, I add
them, on top of the regular urethane pad, over the problem areas.
Sometimes, though, I simply put the bits of urethane over the areas
that are not forming. Usually, intensifiers are cut from 1/8-inch
thick 80 durometer urethane.
Cynthia, thank you! I got to try this in class tonight. The teacher
had some scraps of 80 durometer and let me cut some of it up. It
worked on all but two small spots on my design. I tried the
intensifiers four times, but those last two spots wouldn’t budge no
matter what I did. But the rest of it looks much better now. Thank
you!!!