Pomegranate findings

Ok so this time I was extremely meticulous with my die forming process; I couldn't afford to set myself up for failure again, so I worked a long time to get my die as nice as I possibly could (and did not use one drop of glue, just roughly half a roll of 3M painter's tape)  Then I started my test pressings, one set in copper, and one in bronze, it took a while to really get the shape going, and sadly 3 of my 4 initial test plates broke through on their 8th pressing (5500 psi and natural rubber = bad idea)  My main problem I've encountered is the top section of the die, I'm getting nice volume in the circular area, but the edges are hard to catch.  So I'm planning on wedging some natural rubber bits cut to fit the die and press with them inside once the form outline shows itself at a standstill in that area.  I bought some rough garnets to act as the seeds.  I'm still trying to figure out all of the right design choices, but I'm glad with how things are progressing thus far.  I think the hinge will be my biggest hurdle yet to come.