Press Forming

Process & Production

The samples given of press forming are all made from .7mm copper sheet. A texture has been acid etched into the surfaces, before they were press formed, or they were enamelled after being press formed. The method of press forming uses pressure to manipulate and stretch metal into pre-made forms. In the case of the samples the pressure was applied using a Fly press and the premade forms where laser cut perplex.

However smaller forms can be made using a bench vise and hand cut templates. An essential part that is needed in both methods is the need for urethane or rubber sheets. The metal sheet is placed in the centre of a urethane, metal and template sandwich and placed into the vise grips or the fly press. The sandwich is them pushed together with extreme pressure. The urethane pushes itself and the metal into the premade template. The finished items when released from the pressure should be a contoured form of the premade template in metal. Ready to be cut, soldered, riveted or enamelled.