Thanks to a post on the Bonny Doon forum, I changed the die program to have a "moat" or channel rather than just the die standing proud. 1/8" wide and .1" deep.
The channel worked! Cut the piece and formed it perfectly.
There is a lot of waste with this method, although silver is quite recyclable.
The silver cut smoothly, copper had those breaks around the radii. I should figure out something to do with those silver pieces...
Inspired, and infused with hubris, I decided to try a large die for a barrette
Same width and depth of channel.
A row of cheerful skulls, .02" deep inset into the die surface.
Well, I'd be lying if I said it went smoothly. Turns out I don't have enough 80 durometer rubber on hand, so I had to press half the die and then the other half using the rubber I did have. MSC will make some more money soon, although I should probably shop around for a good price, as I suspect I'll be buying a bunch to support this venture.
The only real flaw is that the eye sockets and nose sockets were sharp, and cut through the 30 ga. copper. I'll have to smooth the die a bit, radiusing the edges of the skulls. The dimples are for holes that will affix it to the barrette with rivets. But that will have to wait for the next attempt!
2 comments:
What's a rubber durometer? Something that measures the strenght of 80 prophylactics?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durometer
It's the measurement of hardness of rubber and polymers...
So prophylactics do likely have a durometer, but only because they are made of rubber...
Post a Comment