Lame number two gets a tall hem. I decided to make the hem get gradually smaller from the shoulder to the back. I made up another template for the lame with the hem allowance added on and used that template to cut out the blanks. I used the previous generation of template to mark out the line for the hem allowance on the backs of the blanks.
Having shaped up the plates in the usual manner, I used a little square-faced hammer to mark the beginning of the hem. Note how my fingers are touching the heel of the anvil under the work: this is worth doing whenever the work is narrow enough to permit it. (pay no attention to the blood blister on my thumb...I am sort of pissed about that)
The hem allowance must be flared out to just past 90 degrees. This is hot work, and it will happen in several passes. I have assembled up the other parts of the pauldrons with temporary rivets to lend support to the lame while all this is happening. In addition to that, I thought it prudent to tie the thing with wire to discourage it from spreading. You can see the little brackets under the rivets heads which provide anchors for the wire. I made them up fresh, but when I am done they will end up in the bin of heat-treating hardware. brackets like this come in handy for attaching lifting wires.
I am using a light hammer with a round face.
The first pass takes us to about 45 degrees.
The second pass is much like the first, but I have switched to a slightly flatter hammer. That vice grips keeps the lames at full extension. It is inconvenient to work around, but I think it helps to keep things from distorting. When making a big hem like this, we want very much to avoid letting the lame distort. If it does, it will be difficult to get it back to shape.
A third pass with a moderately flat hammer gets us to 90 degrees.
One more pass with the flat hammer brings us to the desired angle. I did this over a piece of RR track whose end is undercut.
After I put the camera down, I did more work over that same support, but with nothing "inside" the hem. The result was a tall, narrow triangular section. Triangular hems are difficult, and it turns out that tall narrow triangular hems are even harder. I will post pics of that later.... if I can make the results look OK. It's a bit uneven now, but I have some hope of making it look presentable this morning. If not, I will be remaking the lames....
Mac
