Heat treatment for matrix's blanks?

Ramiro Espinoza
Ramiro Espinoza Posts: 839
edited July 2017 in Punchcutting
Hi there,

I've read somewhere that copper matrix's blanks need some sort of heat treatment before striking them with the punch.
Is you know more about it, can you describe the process?

TIA. 

Comments

  • Tudor Noir
    Tudor Noir Posts: 6
    Hi Ramiro,
    I mentioned before about the Copper blanks for matrices, so here again, all you need is a blow torch and some fire bricks, heat the blanks up until cherry red, then plunge them into a bucket of water, this then softens them, they will stay soft for around two years, also if you drive a punch into the blank, this will what is called 'work harden' the Copper and changes the molecular structure and you can again soften it by doing the above.

    So now you have your driven blank, how are you going to justify it into you finished matrice?  

    Hugh
  • Ramiro Espinoza
    Ramiro Espinoza Posts: 839
    Thanks, Hugh!
    Strage, copper is annealed by means of doing what harden steel.

    >> So now you have your driven blank, how are you going to justify it into you finished matrice?

    Nope, I still have a long way to go. At the moment I'm just trying to improve my techniques to work well with gravers. And I'm still trying to get a decent punch. Probably in a few months I will attempt to strike and justify matrices. 

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