Phil Poirier
poirier@newmex.com

Dar,
I was able to press a 2" dia 22 ga Cu sheet to a 1.25" deep hemisphere. The thickness(or lack thereof) didn't seem to pose a problem. I did this in a simple draw die, although I do not think this would be efficient enough for pressing 800 pieces,  I learned enough about what you'll need to do a drawing, and maybe Lee could make this die for you. The idea is that you'll need to clamp the copper, if the die has a small recess to it (about 75% of the Cu.'s thickness)it will make repeats easier, and clamping pressure will need to be consistent. I think you'll still have to do some trimming of the excess though.
Check out the link below, I left a drawing of what I think you'll need, Lee is by far the better machinist (bigger tools and a lot more experience!)and probably has improvements on this idea.
Good-luck and keep me informed to it's progress
Phil

www.newmex.com/gold/press/hemi.htm

[ This message was edited on Wed Jun 23 by the author ]