Diework
Diework. The total craft of preparing striking dies and their use to produce struck pieces. The term diework is generally used in regard to the quality of the work – exceptional diework is of excellent craftsmanship which leads to quality presswork; poor diework is carelessly prepared dies and troublesome striking. For quality work, dies should be made from the highest quality steel, fully cut to obtain all the detail intended by the designer, every element should be sharp and crisp; the dies should be accurately machined for the proper press and heat treated – tempered – to just the right hardness. Struck pieces from such dies should be fully struck up with an even pressure and no imperfections. While first strikes would normally exhibit this fresh, crisp condition of the dies, outstanding dies would still exhibit this condition after much use of the dies, die wear would be at a minimum, sinking would not be evident and the finished production pieces would be sharp even strikes well into the production run.
excerpted with permission from
An Encyclopedia of Coin and Medal Technology
For Artists, Makers, Collectors and Curators
COMPILED AND WRITTEN BY D. WAYNE JOHNSON
Roger W. Burdette, Editor