Lee Marshall
lmarshal@bonnydoonengineering.com

The forum can only grow if there are people out there willing to put something on the board.

A common technique that I use in starting a workshop is to have everybody give their name, what they do in the metalsmithing field, how many years experience that they have, whether they have ever used a press before, and what questions that they have about the process, and what they hope to learn. By the time that we have worked around the room, everyone is relaxed, and feels that they are part of the group.

It kinds' seems as if this is the same sort of thing. I know that there is a tremendous amount of information out there that each one of you have, and you just need to feel comfortable with the group before letting go of it. By the way, there are no stupid questions, only incomplete answers.

All of that said, I'll go first, although some of this will be a repeat of stuff that you are probably tired of hearing, as it has been said before, but not to all of you.

I'm Lee Marshall, and I make metalsmithing equipment for you folks out there. I specialize in Hydraulic Die Forming Presses, although I am branching out a bit into other areas. My basic background is special machine design (meaning things that you can't buy out of a catalog, but must instead design and build). I have been doing this sort of thing for the last 50 years. Yeah, I'm 64 (but folks say that I don't look it).

I started making the Bonny Doon press about ten years ago as the result of an industrial accident that left me on disability, workman's compensation, and a rehabilitation program. I suffered semi-permanant brain damage as the result of a chemical exposure that put myself and five of my employees in the hospital.

Short version: (You can skip this if you have heard it before).
I was working as vice-president of engineering for a firm that made hot-melt glue dispensing equipment. We did not make the glue, only the heating elements, hoses, applicators, etc. Hot-melt is marvelous stuff, as it sets up very rapidly, and is easy to use. However, if the glue is raised to about 300 degrees in temperature, the box that was sealed, will become unsealed as the glue re-activates. The automotive industry was looking for a glue that would apply like a hot-melt, but would never reactivate, regardless of later temperatures. They desired to spray the adhesive onto the underneath side of the hood (engine compartment) of a car, adhere a sound deadening blanket to it and never have to worry about the blanket draping itself all over the engine during those hot days in Tucson Arizona.

The glue manufacturers developed a variety of glues which they sent us to work with, and since they were still working on the final formulations, did not want to provide us with "Material Safety Data Sheets" (MSDS). What they failed to tell us was that when the meterial was brought up to working temperature, it released isocyanate vapor. Over a period of three months I lost short term memory, would get lost on the way home, and would get blinding headaches that would last from 24 to 36 hours.

Here I was, an engineer that could not add 2+2! All of us were let go as we could not perform our jobs. I started taking metalsmithing classes at our local community college (I preferred metalsmithing to underwater basket weaving). Susan Kingsley came and gave a weekend workshop in Hydraulic Die Forming. Several people in my metalsmithing class took it and could do nothing but talk about it class and complain that they had nowhere to go to get a press made.

Trying to figure out how to make a living, and having a small machine shop in my garage, I made and sold five presses to my classmates. I thought that was the end of it. Susan heard about the press design that I had made, and contacted me about making one for her. She wanted one that was more portable than the one that she used in her studio, and that she could leaved packed up and ready to ship to the next workshop. We chatted a bit and she said that there was a need for what I was doing, as whenever she gave a workshop, many people wanted a press, but had no one to turn to get one built. She felt that if I also offered some of the more common accessories that I had the makings of a small business.

She also mentioned that SNAG was going to have their annual convention in San Francisco in March. I being somewhat naive asked "What's SNAG?" The Society of North American Goldsmiths" she said. Since San Francisco was only 80 miles away, I figured what did I have to lose?

Since the possibility now existed to make quite a few of these things, I re-designed the press to incorporate a method of mounting tooling to the upper platen by adding the three holes. I developed the brake, master holder, the top spacer, and we went to the conference. And the rest is history.

Whew! I do go on. I glanced back through this and I realize that I can be somewhat longwinded at times. If I can do this, you can certainly lay down a few lines :-)

Lee