Yes, that's the one. I see you can get an Indian one now which is much cheaper.
Yes, that's the one. I see you can get an Indian one now which is much cheaper.
Yes you can Ally. I use mine a lot for just that purpose. I have to ensure bangles are completely flat before I can engrave them on my machine.
Super, thanks Carole. I've been after one of these for aaaages! And an engraving machine, but I suspect that I better start another thread for that!
Hello James,
When using the brass small Easter egg punch in your arbor press did you use contained urethane resting on the baseplate to form the metal around the punch? I can understand how the punch itself can be made on a lathe but am a little puzzled how - without using urethane - I would go about making the female form to precisely match the male punch.
Many thanks.
Ramsay
This may be a really dumb question James, but here goes.......is it best to preform the lead block with the punch before putting the silver between punch and lead block, or do you just go for it with the press and metal in place. Also do you buff the side of the formed shape that has been in contact with the lead block to ensure that there are no traces of lead present, before going onto any further work with the formed piece??
Many thanks,
Jill (aka Tabby)
Yes Jill I preform the lead block with the punch, there are limits to the ability of pressing this way though. Always clean off the surface that touches the lead before using any heat treatments, if you anneal without cleaning you may get lead eating into the metal. Please remember that when I was taught these processes there were no urethane compounds or other modern methods available which may be better than lead blocks, but I do not have any knowledge of these compounds so they may be much better than lead. So many new ideas, materials and machines these days that sometimes I feel that I am living in the dark ages, although my knowledge of how my trade is these days is a bit depressing, many hand skills are being lost as machinery is taking over.
James
Thanks James, that's really helpful.
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