Customer Reviews

Hydraulic Die Forming for Jewelers and Metalsmiths

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although the title sounds like a technical tome, this this book has a strong emphasis on the creative uses of the hydraulic press for forming and blanking metal. Kingsley explains how to easily make your own dies from a variety of materials. This is an excellent book for the creative metalsmith, jewelry designer and artist. It provides the technical information you need to use hydraulic forming, and offers a variety of techniques that will expand your creative reservoir.

A very good book which explains in depth most hydraulic die forming. a must-have for metalsmiths.

This well written book covers a subject that has only been treated lightly in other art metal books. The pictures done for the book are not the best of contrast and size. But they do show the subject matter that the number of the picture list to the description. That really is the only fault I found with it.Covering the use of equipment and materials. some people will be in the shop or studio after the first 10 pages looking for the sheet of rubber and the car bottle jack. This is and will become the first classic in this subjects field. I own it.

I feel this book's title should have "An Introduction To......" in it somewhere, because that's really what it is and no more. The pictures are very small, some as small as 1" x 1", and that's significant because the book relies heavily on the pictorial content to provide examples and explanations of concepts. Some of the images' quality are, in my opinion, not up to the task.

However, the book does give what I think is a thorough introduction to the subject and provides plenty of examples of techniques, processes and ideas that provides the reader enough information to decide whether or not this craft is what you want to try. The author does a good job of accurately explaining the tools, equipment and processes needed to accomplish certain tasks and effects. The author has also effectively shielded the reader from the more technical jargon and concepts, and provides a comprehensive and concise, logically progressive "story line" that makes it easy for the "uninitiated" to understand and follow. I have found that to be very hard to do in my own endeavors and my hat is off the authors and editors for that accomplishment.

The book is worth the Amazon price in my opinion, but for some reason I don't yet understand, the price of the book other than at Amazon can be easily double, or more. So, if you are thinking about expanding your craft into metal forming with simple dies and molds, this book will go a long way to giving you the information needed to make a more informed decision. If your thinking about more complicated projects, like die forming in stages or more complex shapes other than the very simple, this book won't satisfy, but you still should get it if you are a novice and need to learn the first concepts, ideas and see some real forming going on.

In a nutshell, if you are a craft-person looking to expand your repertoire into simple metal forming and shaping by hydraulic persuasion, then this is the book for you. If you are building a gadget(s), machine, or something that needs a more complex shaped part, cover, or whatever, then this probably won't do. But at the Amazon price, you should get it anyway; you'll enjoy and appreciate the variety of information, ideas, projects, illustrations, etc.

Excellent tutorial on using the hydraulic press for making small scale jewelry and large scale vessels. A good place to start learning how to form using the press.

Susan Kingsley takes you by the hand and leads you to a higher level of metalsmithing. A perfect addition of shapes and dimemsion to my existing work.