Jo - thanks! I'm very pleased to hear someone else has gone down this route. I got a very reasonable quote from Dar for the pancake dies, but still need an answer to my original question - what sort of press to use?

You said you use a bench press - sorry but can you tell me which one. When I googled "bench press" I got some images of men pushing weights, which whilst nice to look at isn't, (I don't think!) what I am looking for!

I have however sucummbed to peer pressure somewhat and diarised a couple of hours to try some real piercing this weekend, but it's never going to be feasible for me to hand saw these components as they are cheaper to buy from my current supplier than the cost of my time to pierce and finish them. Knew concept saw is still on my list of things to buy, but I really need to fall in love with piercing first, and it falls lower down on my list of current priorities. I guess I'm more of a basher than a piercer. (Please don't hate me for that ;-) ).