In the George Daniels book Watchmaking there is a chapter on casemaking. It shows a press that is used for forming the rings and bezels. Does anyone know where I can purchase this. The usual sources Jules Borel, Casker, etc. have nothing.

Thanks,

Chris Daniel

Hi Chris,

I'm afraid you're not going to find a jewelers supply house with a press like this. This size of this press is actually deceiving somewhat in that the picture in Daniel's book is not to scale with other illustrations. This press is not necessarily a jewelers press, but rather a screw type bench press that could be used for many different operations in a machine or fab shop. It is a bench press, however, so it's not huge, but it's quite a bit larger than it looks on the page. In other words, it's akin to a modern bench type hydraulic or arbor press, but much more controllable than either of those because of the screw threads. Of course, the only types of presses that are generally available today are either the hydraulic or arbor style. You happen to be in one of the best places in the U.S. to hunt a nice, used one of these, the Northeast. I've dealt with one used equipment dealer in your neck of the woods, and that's Sobel Machinery of Closter, NJ. Dave is someone to at least check with for this item, but if he doesn't have one ask for his advice for other used equipment dealers to contact. There are many in your general area. Don't expect to find a complete setup though. You may get lucky and find a few fixtures with a press, but the chances of finding one with the proper sized tapered tubes you'll be needing are not very good. You may have to put this kind of setup together while acquiring from several sources. Good luck!

Gene

Thanks Gene, thats what I was looking for. I have a few friends in the tool and die buisness that I will try as well. I know about the scale of the picture. I have a ring sizing machine that works on the same priciple but much smaller. Thanks for the info

Chris

Chris - I did some digging and found this from a 1911 Swiggart catalog. Probably the same type of thing you have for rings. George Daniels shows a lot of antique machines in his fabulous book.