04-03-2010, 10:15 AM
For those that don't know me, I am the USA Anyang dealer. I use to start and end my days behind a power hammer. Unfortunately, I rarely have spare time to forge behind my own power hammers. Next weekend I will be attending the cloud 9 art show/charity. I thought it would be of interest to take a few pictures of me forging a copper bowl for the event.
This is also a good example of the controllability of the Anyang 88. I will be hammering on hot 3/16 copper using a double crown (hofi style) die. The die shape is fairly sharp. Without the controllability of my 88, it would be easy to crack/penetrate through the hot copper. –A very expensive… Oh S#$$
Starting with a piece of copper (3/16 thick-14’’x16’’), I begin hammering/texturing the copper, hot. I don’t need the copper to be at a high heat, just a few minutes in the gas forge is more than enough time. Using hammer blows that are consistent in depth and direction the copper bowl starts to form wrinkles or waves. This is from the die spreading the copper side to side and from forging thin or weak sections in the copper. Once the bowl starts to form waves, I start hammering the high and low sections using a soft mallet and a piece of plywood for anvil. This step basically exaggerates the waves that were formed in the power hammer. Once the bowl is textured, and the copper has a rippled shape it’s time to start dishing the bowl and attaching the base.
NOTE:
In the power hammer pics, if you look closely there is steam around the hammer. The steam is coming from the wet rags that I use with my tongs. Steel tongs will scratch/dig into hot copper. This is avoided by placing a rag between the tongs and the copper. I soak the rags in water, so the rags don’t catch on fire. BE CARFULL OF STEAM, use gloves and common sense.
All the texturing/forming/dishing was done hot. The final adjustments are done cold. I could do these steps hot…it would save some time. However, I prefer cold. By hammering on the copper cold the copper will work harden making the bowl very strong and durable.
The base of the bowl is made from 3’’ round bar that was cut 1/2’’in length. The edges were hammered/upset using flat dies in my Anyang 88. After forging , I drilled and tapped a 3/8 hole in the center.
The rivet that is in the center of the bowl is actually a bolt (a rivet that I tapped threads into it). I could have riveted the bowl, but I prefer a bolt application. When assembling, the bowl could have small high or low spots, which will cause the bowl to lay crooked/ unbalanced. Using a bolt application, I can assemble, and if needed I can disassemble, then adjust/tweak the bowl until everything is balanced.
Eventually, I will show more of these techniques with Anyang videos. The process is very simple and easy, but is really hard to describe and explain using a keyboard.
This is also a good example of the controllability of the Anyang 88. I will be hammering on hot 3/16 copper using a double crown (hofi style) die. The die shape is fairly sharp. Without the controllability of my 88, it would be easy to crack/penetrate through the hot copper. –A very expensive… Oh S#$$
Starting with a piece of copper (3/16 thick-14’’x16’’), I begin hammering/texturing the copper, hot. I don’t need the copper to be at a high heat, just a few minutes in the gas forge is more than enough time. Using hammer blows that are consistent in depth and direction the copper bowl starts to form wrinkles or waves. This is from the die spreading the copper side to side and from forging thin or weak sections in the copper. Once the bowl starts to form waves, I start hammering the high and low sections using a soft mallet and a piece of plywood for anvil. This step basically exaggerates the waves that were formed in the power hammer. Once the bowl is textured, and the copper has a rippled shape it’s time to start dishing the bowl and attaching the base.
NOTE:
In the power hammer pics, if you look closely there is steam around the hammer. The steam is coming from the wet rags that I use with my tongs. Steel tongs will scratch/dig into hot copper. This is avoided by placing a rag between the tongs and the copper. I soak the rags in water, so the rags don’t catch on fire. BE CARFULL OF STEAM, use gloves and common sense.
All the texturing/forming/dishing was done hot. The final adjustments are done cold. I could do these steps hot…it would save some time. However, I prefer cold. By hammering on the copper cold the copper will work harden making the bowl very strong and durable.
The base of the bowl is made from 3’’ round bar that was cut 1/2’’in length. The edges were hammered/upset using flat dies in my Anyang 88. After forging , I drilled and tapped a 3/8 hole in the center.
The rivet that is in the center of the bowl is actually a bolt (a rivet that I tapped threads into it). I could have riveted the bowl, but I prefer a bolt application. When assembling, the bowl could have small high or low spots, which will cause the bowl to lay crooked/ unbalanced. Using a bolt application, I can assemble, and if needed I can disassemble, then adjust/tweak the bowl until everything is balanced.
Eventually, I will show more of these techniques with Anyang videos. The process is very simple and easy, but is really hard to describe and explain using a keyboard.
big flower, pretty neat shots. looks like they will be a big hit at the event!
.gif "Laugh")
It's fun!