The Power of the Hydraulic Press

Is there anything a Bonny Doon press CAN'T do?

Very little! With a Bonny Doon hydraulic press, you can create everything from statuesque vessels to intricate (sometimes very small) seamless works of art and jewelry pieces. A press can literally turn a vessel inside-out and create detail as fine as seen on coins. In this three-day workshop you will learn all about hydraulic die-forming, a process empowering the artist with 20 tons of strength, increased productivity and the potential to create in ways other methods cannot. Come learn the tooling and techniques to bring your work to the next level. The Beginning Hydraulic Forming and Intermediate Hydraulic Forming are back-to-back workshops with Peter Gilroy using Bonny Doon tooling. Sign up today and bring your metalsmithing to the next level, whether you have experience or none at all.

Beginning Hydraulic Forming 

In this 3-day workshop, you will learn: 

• Texturing metal with Rolling Mill Plates by embossing on the press or rolling through the rolling mill.

• You'll learn about the die-making process, including design and layout, starting with simple die-making techniques you can do in minutes.

• You'll gain an understanding of "appropriate engineering" and "appropriate designing" so that you can use the simplest and most effective techniques to get the desired finished piece.

• Get fired up and ready to try the thousands of ways you can add more dimension and volume to your work and to realize your designs in three dimensions.

• Learn fundamental techniques including doming, forming, bending, and embossing while you become familiar with urethanes and their various applications.

• Get hands-on experience using both the innovative silhouette die kit, the High-pressure container, and the various bracelet formers.

• Effortlessly form rings no matter how thick the metal is or how complex the design.

• Learn all about press tooling safety and maintenance.

• Finally, you'll quickly discover that with hydraulic forming, there's no limit to what you can do with metal!

Demos: deep-draw, ring forming, brake bending and more.

Material Kits and Tools will be provided during the workshop.

QUESTIONS?  Please contact Artist Assistant Alan Bremer at alan@metalartsguildga.org

CAN'T ATTEND LIVE? WANT TO REVIEW WHAT YOU LEARNED?

A recording of the workshop will be  available to all participants for 30 days following the workshop.