Greetings from Kentucky
 

Hello:

I came across this forum in my search for information to build a hammer for my jewelry business. I have been a studio production jeweler for nearly 30 years and have experience with lost wax casting, centrifugal rubber mold casting of pewter, CAD/CAM, Zbrush, and fabricating jewelry from sheet metal and wire. I have also learned basic metal spinning and produce a line of pewter cups.

I have a small machine shop as part of my setup which includes a Logan lathe, Atlas metal shaper, Taig CNC Mill, and a Tormach Mill.

Lately I have been learning more about fold forming jewelry from sheet brass and copper, a process that has been popularized by Jeweler/Sculptor Charles Lewton Brain.

I look forward to becoming a part of this community and participating in this forum to learn more about metal shaping and to share what knowledge I have of working with metal.

Ken, welcome and thanks for the introduction. There are several members here that work with copper and product some beautiful art work. Working with jewelry uses the same techniques just on a smaller scale. Hope you find the site informative and helpful. Thanks for joining us. Looking forward to seeing some of you creations.

Joe:

Thanks for the welcome. I sorta figured that jewelry making is metal shaping in miniature. Glad to know I am on the right track.

Ken

Welcome, Ken.

I am also interested in the fold forming and metal shaping in smaller scales. There are lots of interesting possibilities. Hope you post some pictures of your work.

-Mark

Marks:

I am just experimenting with some very basic fold forming so far. I am doing some research on what type of small power hammer would be appropriate and safe to use for jewelry size forging. I agree that fold forming offers unique opportunities.

Thank you for the welcome.

Ken

There's a guy near me who likes to use a small drop hammer for shaping originals in silver before he goes to wax. I wonder if a "one shot" riveting hammer with flat dies in a c-frame would do a similar job in less space. I haven't used one bit I think they give just one hard blow per tigger pull. Just a thought-

Rivet gun based machine.
 

Not familiar with the one shot rivet guns. However, you can adjust the regulator down far enough on the rivet guns I do use, then simply hit the pedal for a single hit. Reducing the pressure does reduce the force of the hit and the beats per minute - but if you went with a large rivet gun, I think it would still hit plenty hard for soft metals.

Expert on the rivet gun type machines is Kent White at www.tinmantech.com

Mark:

I am not sure if a rivet hammer would work or not. The work of fold forming seems to be a mixture forging and planishing. What would make me nervous with a power hammer is the proximity of my fingers to the hammer blows, being that jewelry is so small. To fold form some things takes hundreds or thousands of hammer hits and numerous annealings. I have been reading up on helve hammers, planishing hammers and reciprocating hammers.

The specific work I am needing a hammer for seems to be in the realm of a miniature forging hammer with a 1/4" stroke. I am not sure that exists, unless I have described a reciprocating hammer.

Ken

Hi Ken . Welcome to the site. Is this what you mean, by folding metal. This is by an English silversmith. I hope I don't get into trouble posting this on here.


Liner Jug" by Toby Russell, 2010

Sterling silver - scored and folded by hand from flat sheet

In order to produce his scored and sheet folded jug, Toby Russell had to overcome the challenge of converting his final design from a card model into silver. He explains “Paper has its own unique quality and in some ways is less flexible than silver sheet. I never truly know how the design will convert or how far the silver can be pushed”.


The image that inspired Toby throughout the design process was that of a prow of a boat cutting through water and as a keen swimmer and surfer, he is naturally drawn to images of waves.

Mark Fox:

Thank you for the welcome. I imagine that the piece you have shown is done by fold forming. You can see many examples of fold forming here,

http://www.brainpress.com/Foldforming.html

Welcome to Allmetalshaping Ken!:D

Rick:

Thank you.

Air Hammers
 

I think you have the wrong idea about the hammering with a rivet gun based hammer. You hold the metal on the lower die, the upper just rests against the subject metal. Inside the rivet gun, there is a piston that moves up and down hitting the upper die. So, yes, if you get your fingers in there, it will pinch. However, you'd have to work at lifting the upper die (it will only move a little) and getting your finger in there.

Now with a typical power hammer, trip hammer or helve hammer, it lifts the upper head off the material and slams it back down - so finger pinch is a real concern.

I'd look at a small rivet gun, 1x to 3x size, perhaps Kent's dies, perhaps home made to replicate the hammers you are using. Of course, regulator for air control.

Kent has done brass, copper and art work. If you look at his website www.tinmantech.com you'll find where you can send him a question and he'll get back to you.

Might not be the answer, but it's a lead.

Welcome Ken,

Just a point of clarification. The correct term is reciprocating MACHINE. They are not hammers and have no provision for storing/releasing energy. Tim Doty gave a great example..."Hammers HIT, reciprocating machines PUSH". If you start getting die to die contact with a reciprocating machine, loud, expensive things start to happen.

If you have an opportunity to get down to North Alabama, stop by for a shop visit and I can show you some of the various machines.

I have a local artist friend (Barb Lawrence aka Copperetta on the site) who works in copper and makes the most amazing copper art. Several years ago she was out and we were talking about how the group build reciprocating machines were just too big for her work. I had a momentary brain storm and came up with this:

http://allmetalshaping.com/showthread.php?t=2494

It's been several years now and Barbmax is still going strong. I'd think something like this would work well for jewelery.

John:

You are absolutely correct I had the wrong idea about rivet guns. Thank you for clarifying how one works. A rivet gun may very well be the best solution. Thank you for pointing out Kent's site again. I will research that option and learn more about how he has worked copper and brass. I have been wondering if there were any hammers that use an internal hammer striking a tool and the rivet gun answers that question.

Kerry:

Thank you for pointing out that a reciprocating machine is not a hammer. I am slowly grasping diversity of tooling available for shaping metal and thank you for offering to let me see your shop and machines in North Alabama, I may very well take you up on that some time in the future.

I bet your machine made Barb Lawrence a happy jeweler. The right tool can make all of the difference in the world when faced with production work and deadlines.

Well it looks like what I need to do is continue to experiment with hammers and make some specific anvils or stakes until I develop the best way to do the work I need to do by hand. Continue to do research about available equipment and eventually should be able to determine the best way to step up my game so to speak. I will post some pictures soon of some of my work and challenges.