Most of the jewellery that we see nowadays and also much of the metal
work is made under presses or drop hammers. As was shown in the making
of the mould for the round copper tray, the skill lies in the making of
the design and the making of a mould to fit the design.
The description of the making of a match safe by means of die sinking
will explain how all die work is done: The design for the match safe is
made by the artist, who turns it over to the die sinker. He, in turn,
chisels out of a steel block, about 7 ins. square, a depression in
which the design fits. If the match safe has an embossed design, this
is all chiselled out carefully with small chisels and filed up smoothly
so that when a piece of soft lead is driven into the depression it will
take the shape of the match safe as designed by the artist. The lead
is so soft that it takes the print readily. This lead reproduction
shows to the die sinker any imperfection in the die. The imperfections,
if there are any, are smoothed down. The driving in of the lead into
the depression is repeated from time to time, until the mould is the
exact reproduction of the artist's design.
The die is now hardened by heating it red hot and cooling in water.
When taken out of the water it is placed in the hammer or press. On
the ram of the hammer is keyed, directly above this die, a square
block of lead. When the hammer falls, the impact of the lead upon the
impression produces a reproduction of the impression. This lead piece
makes the top die. A piece of thin silver is placed in the steel die
over the impression. If the ram is now dropped upon the silver plate
it will force the plate into the impression and will stamp the design
on the silver. One half of the match box is made in this way. When two
of these are made, put together, and soldered, they make a whole match
box. Thousands of match boxes would be made from this one die. That is
the reason why this class of work can be sold so cheaply.
The principle explained here is used for the making of tea sets, dinner
sets, etc. The same thing is true of the round wood mould you made to
make the copper tray in. It can be used to make dozens of trays, all
the same size and shape.