Technique courtesy of Dave Shelton of Sheltech
Written by Lee Marshall
Copyright 3/97, revised 9/97

Making a crisp interior cutting die is fairly easy to do and enables you to: (for example) cut out a series of windows for the side of a model railroad coach. For the jeweler, it could mean cutting out a heart shape on the interior of a larger heart. Carefully sawn-out dies can cut metal or paper as thin as 36 gauge (.005 or .0015mm). There is no limitation on size either. The basic process was developed in the thirties by Douglas Aircraft for fabricating large panels of aluminum to build the DC-3 airplane. They laid the die on the floor, lifted the middle portion, slid a sheet of metal into it and drove a pavement roller over it to blank out the part! These ranged from 8 to 12 feet across.

IF YOU HAVEN'T MADE A BLANKING DIE BEFORE, DON'T START THIS PROJECT. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION PRESUMES PRIOR KNOWLEDGE! GO TO PAGE 53 OF SUSAN KINGSLEY'S BOOK "HYDRAULIC DIE FORMING FOR JEWELERS AND METALSMITHS" FOR THIS.

The making of an interior cutting die-set is done in a very structured manner and may place feelings of constraint on metalsmiths unused to rules of order. This is not an area where you can "wing it". I will attempt to ease your sense of panic and make it a fun project.