I need to experiment with some new shapes in my hydraulic press set up. Basically I have a master die that holds a 6 inch disk of dead soft copper and I drive a punch into it to form a hollow vessel. I wish to try some new shapes and sizes. The current dies and punches are steel. I can easily turn a piece of oak to the correct size and shape, but I am wondering if there are other good or better woods to use. The amount of preasure generated on the steel die/punch set up is 3500 psi. The wood could be a one use punch, but it would be nice if there is a better choice with a nice compressive strength.
The size of the piece would be a cylinder of 2.5 inches diameter and a length of 5 inches. The working end of the punch would have a rounded flat bottom (radius of 3/16 inch) and could also be spherical (diameter of 2.5 inches) or bullet shape or a taper.
For a picture of what I am doing please go to: http://www.poirierstudio.com/basic%20die%20forming.html

Thanks
Charles Friedman DDS
Ventura by the Sea