Question about swage blocks

[Dennis]

Hi Sue,
What you have made is very pretty. But it's in the nature of things, that once you have a tube shape, you cannot make it circular without kinking it, unless the seam is soldered and it is filled with something.
Sand, plastic and a low fusing metal have all been suggested, as has a well fitting copper wire.

Personally, I would not go there as it is far too difficult to get right.

Far better to get a Delrin anticlastic stake (suggested by George) from PS Bond, Cookson or other suppliers on line. You put it into a vice and as you hammer your strip in a chosen groove, the edges will partially close and the strip will take on a bangle shape.

You will never achieve a closed tube, but you will get what you showed above without the kinks and be able to close a small end gap to solder it if required. Dennis.

[ps_bond]

Sorry Dennis - I've closed spiculae after anticlastic forming so that they can be soldered. Takes a little bit of work to do it accurately, but it does the job. Rush it and things get out of round.

Pt 5 here -
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...ic-raising.htm

[CJ57]

I think this is a book that would be really invaluable to you, it shows metal forming techniques that are quite hard to believe possible and opens up all sorts of avenues. https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Meta...++%28Author%29. I've posted Amazon US as they are much cheaper

[Dennis]

Sorry Dennis - I've closed spiculae after anticlastic forming so that they can be soldered. Takes a little bit of work to do it accurately, but it does the job. Rush it and things get out of round.

Pt 5 here -
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nena...ic-raising.htm

OK peter, I'll change 'will never' to 'might never'. Regards, Dennis.

[joella]

Thanks everyone,

Dennis, thanks for the info, its delrin anticlastic stakes I need then - I'm thinking I need to use metal hammers with delrin rather than nylon ones? and I think its likely that in my case 'will never' is much more likely than 'might never'.

Caroline, thanks for the heads up re the book - it is a bit pricey, so I think its one for the xmas list (if only I can bear to wait that long).

Peter, I only have a tiny 3" vice, do you think it would do or would I need to get a bigger one? Also, would I want to use a metal 'hammock' to hold the stakes in the vice and stop them moving while hammering? I guess I go to your etsy shop to buy the stakes?

Thanks everyone, yet again
Sue

[ps_bond]

Dennis, thanks for the info, its delrin anticlastic stakes I need then - I'm thinking I need to use metal hammers with delrin rather than nylon ones? and I think its likely that in my case 'will never' is much more likely than 'might never'.

Practice, practice and more practice You can use Nylon mallets with Delrin, but the metal will move faster if you stick with a metal hammer. A nice long spiculum hammer is a joy to use, but not essential; raising hammers are good for larger forms and James has spoken of modifying cheaper hammers on the forum.

Caroline, thanks for the heads up re the book - it is a bit pricey, so I think its one for the xmas list (if only I can bear to wait that long).

It's a good one - lots of ideas and suggestions on DIY tools.

Peter, I only have a tiny 3" vice, do you think it would do or would I need to get a bigger one? Also, would I want to use a metal 'hammock' to hold the stakes in the vice and stop them moving while hammering? I guess I go to your etsy shop to buy the stakes?

Bigger is always better with a vice, but 3" should work OK. Delrin is a fairly slippery material at the best of times (low coefficient of friction); I've tried putting pins in the sides, but all that did was give them a nice pivot point. Roughing the surface helps keep them in place, but I still need to periodically adjust them. Drilling through the top & installing a bolt & washer to hook in underneath the vice jaw probably works but that would just be copying. Etsy's probably the simplest solution unless you prefer not to use it (in which case, I can do it directly happily enough).

[Lily]

Hi Joella (Sue?)
Of course I don't mind - what you are doing does look similar to the effect I am going for although I have had a bit of a change of plan. The answers you have been given are very helpful to me too though - thanks everyone.

[joella]

Peter,
I've just ordered the small stake from your etsy shop - so I can start all that practice when it arrives! I'm intrigued by the illusiveness of spiculum hammers, I've looked at all the usual uk jewellery tool shops and cant find any, so I'll have to get a small raising hammer instead. I expect I'll need to get a grinder at some point, so I can modify tools as James suggests. Although the stakes with bolts and washers certainly have something going for them, I much prefer the prices of yours .

Lily,
Yes it is 'Sue', when I joined the forum I didn't realise that you could just add another letter or number etc to your name if that name had already been used (idiot), (not very au fait with tech and new fangled things like forums), so I squooshed my kids names together and used that instead. Can't wait to see your results when you've made your pod item/s.

Sue.

[ps_bond]

Thanks Sue - Etsy hasn't notified me as yet, but I can see it's gone through. I'll get it packaged up this afternoon & it should go out.

I confess I have 2 of the Michael Good hammers, but I really ought to forge some - http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Specia...-Set-of-3.html

[CJ57]

I confess I have 2 of the Michael Good hammers, but I really ought to forge some - http://www.ottofrei.com/Store/Specia...-Set-of-3.html

Ooh Peter these are lovely! I bought my first Fretz hammers from cookies this year and apart from anything they are wee works of art as well as being great to use. https://www.cooksongold.com/product_...ix=7185&item=7 https://www.cooksongold.com/product_...ix=3108&item=8. Can I justify this set