How to Use a Hydraulic Press for Jewelry Making

Use a hydraulic press to make jewelry.

The hydraulic press is often described as the biggest, strongest and easiest hammer to use in a jeweler's tool box. The hydraulic press is a great tool for silhouette die forming, fold forming, and synclastic and anti-clastic raising. Use a silhouette die in your hydraulic press to create beautiful art jewelry.

Things You'll Need

• Hydraulic press
• Silhouette die
• Sheet metal
• Rubber or urethane sheet
• Jewelry-making tools

Instructions

1. Select the silhouette die you want to use in your hydraulic press. If the die has more than one cut-out, decide which one you will use for your art jewelry piece. Note that if the form on the die is not symmetrical, then you will have a mirror image if you turn the die over and use the other side of the die.

2. Anneal a piece of metal that is larger than the cut-out in your die. You can use copper, sterling silver, gold, brass and most other sheet metals. Make sure the sheet extends 1 to 2 inches beyond the edges of the cut-out.

3. Place the sheet metal on top of the cut-out on the die form.

4. Place a piece of rubber or urethane sheet over the sheet metal in the die.

5. Put the die into the hydraulic press. Gently pump the press until you have reached a pressure of no more than 50 pounds.

6. Release the press, pull out the die, remove the rubber or urethane and check the metal. If you are pleased with the result, you are done. If you want a deeper form, then anneal the metal again and repeat these steps until the metal is drawn to the depth you want.

7. Once you are pleased with the result, use a jeweler's saw to remove the excess sheet metal. Use your imagination to integrate the die-formed component into your handmade jewelry design.

Tips & Warnings

• Rio Grande sells the Bonnie Doon hydraulic press developed for metalsmiths, jewelry making and other small art work. Rio Grande also sells a Bonny Doon silhouette die container and urethane kit along with many, many different shaped steel silhouette dies.

• Some of the most interesting die formed jewelry require custom made dies. Rio Grande sells Bonny Doon silhouette die blanks so you can make your own silhouette die to use with a hydraulic press for jewelry making.

• Always wear eye protection when working with a hydraulic press.

References

• "Glass on Metal"; Hydraulic Die Forming for Enamelists; Carol Holaday; April 1999