How to Make a Ring Using a Hydraulic Press

Hydraulic presses can quickly and effectively crush, pulverize or shape a variety of materials with force and efficiency. From table top models to huge presses that exert hundreds of tons of pressure.

Discover the amazing design and form possibilities offered by the hydraulic press! Peter specializes in contemporary metal jewelry creation, custom die machining and making, and using his hydraulic press channel on YouTube to compress things.

Start with a Blank

Forged ring blanks serve as the starting points for bearing shells, crown gears, flanges, and other highly stressed structural components. Hydraulic presses designed for high forces, long strokes and an unlimited rated capacity are perfectly equipped to forge these blanks into structural components.

Peter is a contemporary jewelry artist who explores new forms and textures by compressing objects using hydraulic presses. In this five-day workshop, Peter will teach hydraulic press safety as well as demonstrate using bracelet and ring blanking dies from Bonny Doon Tools.

Set the Die

Hydraulic press sets offer many exciting accessories, but silhouette dies are one of the stand-out features. With them you can "puff" metal into intricate shapes like hearts, circles, teardrops, diamonds and more that would otherwise be difficult to create by hand or saw alone, such as hearts, circles teardrops diamonds etc. They come in different sizes with either or no curved bottom for creating open-ended forms (these dies can tear or bend thin metal surfaces if improperly used). While easy to use they require proper precautions as they could tear or bend thin metal surfaces over time if not handled properly (ie tear off/bend/bent due to force).

Ring Expanders are another powerful tool for producing strong, symmetrical rings with low production costs. It works by applying hydraulic pressure to expand jaws that press against piston ring interior surfaces and cause it to expand, creating strong blanks very quickly and at very affordable rates. They're great for use with all kinds of piston rings!

Jason's Works offers this set of stainless steel reduction dies to simplify the process of creating rings from minted coins, helping you start shrinking them down and shaping them into rings more quickly and efficiently. These precision machined 17-4PH stainless steel dies feature internal wrench engagement to address one of the main drawbacks associated with traditional ring dies; an inability to access tools between their dies. These dies are also more accurate, which aids with aligning ring blanks and eliminating gaps around your ring. When used together with the ring stretcher they produce consistent, uniformly-sized rings; additionally other dies can be combined for even more design options and shapes.

Adjust the Pressure

Hydraulic presses are among the most frequently employed machinery in industry. You may see them used for car manufacturing, crushing military shells and compressing particulate matter that makes up ceramics; indeed any task requiring high pressure over an area makes an ideal application of this machine.

Although all presses operate using similar principles, mechanical presses have one distinct difference compared to hydraulic presses: They have one specific point where full ram extension and shut height position is known as bottom dead center (BDC). Conversely, hydraulic presses can generate their maximum force at any point throughout their stroke stroke for increased flexibility in production processes.

Adjusting force requires just turning a handle, while this handle also serves as a release valve when reaching desired pressure. Most basic hydraulic systems offer repeatability of +0.020 to 0.030 inches which should meet most applications requirements.

Hydraulic presses equipped with pressure-holding capabilities, or dwell systems, are capable of handling more demanding processes such as compression and impression forming. Dwell systems range in complexity from simply providing a pressure lock valve and small accumulator to maintain targeted pressure over short periods to more complex circuits that include additional systems.

These systems not only facilitate more flexible production processes, but they can also help manage overshoot and reduce noise exposure - an essential feature given that prolonged exposure to excessive noise exposure may cause medical and mental issues that lead to absenteeism and production downtime.

Close the Die

Ring expanders are used to produce strong and symmetrical rings for use in aerospace turbine engine manufacturing. To use one effectively requires placing an expanding cone on the inner surface of a ring and using hydraulic pressure to activate jaws that gradually open outward until reaching desired size. Once this process has completed, hydraulic pressure can be released and jaws retract - saving both time and creating stronger rings with greater symmetry than using rolling or hammering techniques alone.

Silhouette dies can form shapes like hearts, teardrops, crescent moons and diamonds without cutting through metal like punches do; rather they force puff out through negative space of their dies to leave an outline for you to use to form earrings, pendants and bracelets with simply drilling holes and adding jump rings.

Puffing produces stronger and more unified pieces than their cast counterparts that may be susceptible to porosity, making the pieces suitable for carving, piercing and chasing techniques such as carving and chasing to produce stunningly beautiful jewelry pieces. For instance, this heart created from 18-gauge brass sheet took only five minutes from start to finish and can easily become part of a necklace or bracelet by adding jump rings.

Master Goldsmith Peter Skalny will guide students in using a hydraulic press safely and effectively to create exciting metal designs and forms in this five-day workshop. From best practices and press safety to exploring jewelry forming and design with embossing dies and silhouette forming dies; and 3" deep draw tools used to form vessels or seamless ring blanks, students will take away an incredible skill.

Finish

Hydraulic presses are integral parts of manufacturing processes. Stamping requires applying static pressure to shape specific parts and components to their desired form. A hydraulic press also serves well in performing operations that would otherwise be challenging or impossible with conventional vertical presses; its immense amount of pressure can be tailored specifically for the task at hand.

H-frame hydraulic presses are an extremely popular type of hydraulic press used to cut, bend, form, mold, draw punch or coin metal objects. Like pneumatic presses, hydraulic presses use compressed oils rather than compressed air for driving their ram and anvil as well as having much higher pounds-per-square-inch capabilities for heavy duty tasks.

Hydraulic presses can easily adapt to suit various production and assembly tasks by altering their die, stroke speed, or processing position settings. This enables them to fit seamlessly into an organization's operations while taking up less space in a workshop.

Hydraulic presses are essential pieces of machinery in industrial machine shops, yet they're not without risks. Their immense power can cause catastrophic failure if not properly cared for and maintained; fortunately, routine repairs and preventive measures can often help mitigate such issues and extend press life over time. Taking these preventive steps will save time and money in the long run while guaranteeing future productivity from your hydraulic press.