Improvements in and relating to Dies for Forming Flat and Hollow Ware.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Sept., 1889-Accepted, 2nd Nov., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Dies for Forming Flat and Hollow
Ware.
1, GEORGE JAMES, of No. 2 Key Hill Drive, in the city of Birmingham, in the
county of Warwick, Jeweller, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO DIES FOR FORMING FLAT AND HOLLOW
WARE," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to provide means whereby a comparatively perfect
reproduction of artistic hand ornamentation of Hat and hollow ware, as works of art,
or for table use, may be reproduced in any desired number by the use of dies. Prior
to my invention it has been found impossible to reproduce, by means of dies, the
peculiarities and effect of hand work or engraving used to ornament hollow and flat
ware, for the reason that a metal of sufficient strength, as steel, to withstand tho
enormous pressure required cannot be worked by the die sinker with sufficient skill
to cut the dies in any practical imitation of carving to produce repousse work; and
the old method of shaping articles between dies cannot be practically employed for
these purposes and accomplish the results as in my invention for the reason that the
pressure required in shaping the blanks is so great as to break down the working face
of the two dies between which it is attempted to shape the metal owing to the
unyielding nature of the opposing faces of the metallic dies and the difficulty of pro-
ducing exact duplicates in reverse of the two working surfaces between which the
metal is to be formed.
By extended experiment I have developed means of reproducing hand work by the
use of dies, and my invention, by the use of which all difficulties attending the
attempted realization of the result by the use of old tools or methods has been obviated,
consists in the peculiar method of forming a sectional die by the electro deposition of
metal; and it further consists in a die for forming flat and hollow ware having its
working face produced by the electro deposition of metal and provided with a backing
of metal, preferably of one fusing at a lower temperature than the working face; and
it further consists in the combination of such a die with a liquid medium and a press
whereby a great pressure may be brought upon the liquid; and it further consists in
details of the several parts making up the operating parts of the dies, and in their
combination, as more particularly hereinafter described and pointed out in the
claims.
Referring to the drawings:
Figure 1 is a detail view in side elevation of a pattern used in making my improved
die, and having part broken away to illustrate the construction.
Figure 2 is a detail view of the pattern.
Figure 3 is a detail view in side elevation of a set of dies with a blank arranged
therein, and with parts broken away to show construction.
Figure 4 is a detail top view of the sectional dies and blank with parts broken
away in horizontal section to show construction.
Figure 5 is a detail view in horizontal longitudinal section of a die of my improved
construction for forming hollow ware.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 are diagram views illustrating the method of holding the
pattern while forming the working face of the die. Figure 9 is a view of a press
showing the method of working my invention.
In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes a pattern that is usually made
of thin metal and has its outer surface engraved and ornamented to any degree of
artistic skill that may be desired. This pattern is cut preferably in planes parallel to
the axis, as by means of a fine saw, and feathers are secured in these slits, as by

page_text: means of solder. These feathers consist of thin sheets of metal that are intended to
form, and are located in, the boundary planes between the several sections into which
the finished die will be divided, and they extend within the pattern, and also beyond
it, a sufficient distance to enable the proper thickness of facing metal to be formed
by the electro deposition of a suitable metal, as copper, upon the pattern.
This pattern is silver plated, if of a metal that will be readily cut by the acid of
the electroplating bath, and it is then oxidized, as by the use of sulphate of potash,
or cther suitable material, so as to form upon the surface of the pattern a parting
layer between it and the die. After having coated the pattern with wax on the
inside it is placed in an electro bath and in said bath is covered with a suitable
thickness of copper (or other suitable metal) that forms a layer e of proper thickness
to constitute the working face of the die, and this metal deposited by the influence
of electricity forms along the surface of the feathers as well as on the outer surface
of the vessel and makes an integral flange extending outward from what will be the
working face of the die.
I have discovered by experiment that if the pattern is suspended in the solution
in an electroplating bath as in fig. 6 and is maintained in one position with reference
to a vertical line the metal will be deposited through the influence of the electricity,
(when the proper connections are made) in such manner that there will be no firm
joint where the flange extends radially outward from the working face of the die.
This result, in my opinion, is due to the peculiar crystalization of the copper in the
process of its electro deposition upon the pattern, the several minute crystals all being
deposited in the same relation with respect to their axis upon the surface of the
pattern; but whatever may be the reason it is a fact that whenever the pattern is
maintained in a fixed position with reference to a vertical or horizontal plane it is
impossible to form an integral flange upon the working face of the die with a joint
between the working face and flange of any sufficient strength to produce a practical
working die. Under an extremely slight force the flange breaks off from the working
face and shows an almost clean line of fracture.
This difficulty in the formation of an integral flange, however, is obviated by
changing the position of the pattern from time to time with reference to a vertical or
horizontal plane.
If a pattern is suspended as shown in the diagram view in Fig. 6, and then after
a short time has its position changed, as by suspending it by the corner 1, and if after
a time this position is again changed by suspending the pattern from the corner 2
the several working faces of the die sections will each have the radially extending
flanges d firmly incorporated with the main portion of the working face of each section.
In the diagram views of Figs. 6, 7 and 8 the pattern is represented simply in
outline.
The parting lines between the sections are formed at the meeting faces of the radial
flanges.
In order to facilitate the making of the dies the metal forming the working face is
not deposited to the full thickness required for the die, but a shell of sufficient
thickness is formed and is then provided with a backing e, of tin or like metal that
fuses at a lower temperature than copper, the backing being cast into the shell and
forming a die blank that is then put into a lathe and turned down to the required
diameter on the outside to enable the die to fit into a socket in a suitable hydraulic
or drop press. This method of backing up the working face by casting the metal
into the shell is preferred although the shelf may be provided with a backing that is
cut to fit within the shell closely enough to firmly back up and support the working
face by any suitable means.
In the practice of my invention after producing a sectional die by my improved
method above described, the die is placed in a socket in a press, a blank is placed
within it and filled with a liquid, as water, and by the exertion of great pressure
upon this liquid the walls of the blank are forced outward into contact with the
working face of the die in such manner that an exact reproduction of the artistic
hand engraving that ornamented the pattern is produced on the blank.

page_text: This die is preferably used in a press in which the pressure distributing medium
(usually water) is utilized, not only for the purpose of expanding the blank within
it, but also for the purpose of closing the joint between the parts that are packed
by means of the overhanging flange g₁ that lies between the upper or top portion of
the die and the bottom face of the plunger, substantially as shown and described in
my letters patent of Great Britain, dated Apr. 20, '88, No. 2940). Such press and
method of operation is preferably used as the great mobility of the water and its
capability of transferring pressure in all directions throughout its volume when any
part of its surface is pressed upon affords a perfect means for pressing the walls of
the vessel against the working face of the die without the slightest danger of injuring
or breaking down even the thinest parts of the die that are reproductions of the
minutest as well as the greater touches that are the evidences of hand work employed
in making the pattern.
In case an article of flat or comparatively shallow ware is to be reproduced the
die h may be made in a single piece, but it must have a working face and a backing
prepared by the same means and method as already described with reference to the
Sectional die so far as it is to be enabled to withstand enormous pressures.
I do not claim the production of a die by any and all electrotypic processes when
such die is merely adapted as a mold in which articles of soft metal may be cast
to shape.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The within described method of making a sectional die having a working face
and integral flanges formed by the electro deposition of metal that consists in first,
making a pattern; second, dividing the outer surface of the pattern into a number
of sections by projecting feathers of thin metal; third, suspending such pattern in an
electro bath and changing from time to time the position of the axis of the work
or pattern with reference to a vertical line or plane, all substantially as described.
2. The method of making a sectional die by the electro deposition of metal that
consists in providing a pattern having projecting feathers, and changing at intervals
the position of said pattern in the bath with reference to a vertical line or plane while
the bath is active, all substantially as described.
3. The improved die for forming hollow ware, provided with a working face con-
sisting of an electro-deposited reproduction of a hand made or hand ornamented
pattern, and a backing composed of a metal fusible at a lower temperature than the
metal of the working face, all substantially as described and for the purpose
specified.
4. The improved die for forming hollow ware provided with a working face con-
sisting of an electro-deposited reproduction of a hand made or hand ornamented
pattern and a metallic backing to support and hold the working face against great
pressure, substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
5. In combination, a shaped die having a working face consisting of an electro-
deposited reproduction of a hand made or hand ornamented pattern and a metallic
backing to support and hold the working face, a quantity of liquid, as water, held in
a hollow blank placed within the die, and a press adapted to exert great pressure upon
the said liquid, all substantially as described and for the purpose specified.
6. The improved die consisting of the several die sections having each the working
face of an electro-deposited reproduction of a hand made or hand ornamented pattern,
the radially extending integral flanges, and a metallic backing for such working face
fusible at a lower temperature than the working face of the die, all substantially as
described and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 2nd das of Satan 1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.