Question about swage blocks

[Lily]

Thank you James,
That is very helpful as always. I am hoping to make tube and then form it into bangles/rings without ruining the tube shape.

[Dennis]

Lily,
This is a really difficult thing to do and most of us would shirk it, opting for solid wire.

First you have to swage the sheet into a tube with a neat seam and solder it. The you will need to draw it down to make it perfectly round. Why do that when you can buy much better seamless tubing ready made?

Next you have to fill the tube with something to stop it collapsing when bending it. It can be done, but you'll trash a few before you get it right. You would certainly be advised to practice with copper first.

You get a surprising amount of solid round wire for your money an it is relatively easy to work with. The only problem frequently encountered by beginners, is that for bangles they do not have a hot enough torch. Dennis.

[Goldsmith]

Lily,
I forgot to mention that I buy lengths of silversteel rods from EKP Supplies, silversteel can be hardened and tempered and is great for making texturing punches, chasing tools, also are good for winding jump rings and shaping tubes see; https://ekpsupplies.com/silversteel.html

They also sell stock metal packs that are useful for making tools etc. see; https://ekpsupplies.com/metal-stock-packs.html

I am sure if you check through there website, like me you will find many useful items, I also buy my drills and threading equipment from EKP and copper sheet for making patterns; https://ekpsupplies.com/copper-sheet.html

James

James

[Lily]

Thank you very much James! A wealth of information there - I have not come across EKP supplies before - very kind of you to do all the links.

[mizgeorge]

Now I can imagine what it is you're trying to do, it may be that some anticlastic forming tools (even pliers) might be more useful?

[Lily]

Thanks George, yes that may be the way to go - it's certainly helping me to rethink the process.
I had to google anticlastic

[Goldsmith]

Lily,
If I was making seed pods I would shape them from soft sheet using a shaped hammer and a lead block. I have posted this tutorial before but I cannot find a link to it, it shows me shaping a copper leaf using a lead block, hammers and a punch. You may find it useful.



James

[Lily]

That is extremely useful James. Thank you so much!

[Goldsmith]

That is extremely useful James. Thank you so much!

You may find these photos useful, one shows some of my home shaped cheap hammers and the other shows my lead block and it's mold, when the block gets marked all over I just remelt it in the ingot mold using my Sievert blowtorch and when it cools I have a new block.




James

[Lily]

Thank you Dennis,
I agree - it may well be too difficult. I have made quite a few bangles and rings with solid wire but this is something new for me. I had been looking at seeds lined up in pods and have been figuring out ways to do something like this by having part of the tube open (to accommodate the 'seeds') and the rest closed. I don't mind if it's a bit rough or organic looking but I can imagine getting quite frustrated about it all. Perhaps I need to rethink my design.