Workshop temperature vs cold dishing

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:32 am

Hello to you all, this is my first post. Im 37 years old, live in Poland and since couple of months Im thinking how cool it would be to make some plates. I dont have academic background at metallurgy, engineering, leatherworking and such, but Im a thinker and apart from many non-metal stuff Ive done for fun, I succesfully did some pretty decent knives(not forged, filed) and sheaths.

I did pattern based loosely on churburg 18 for a cuirass, and got it laser-cutted from 16 gauge mild steel.

Its winter here, last night I couldnt sleep and the weather got me thinking, so my question is:

If Im gonna try to cold dish a cuirass parts in environmental temperature about 0 Celsius degrees(no heating source in workshop) , is steel will be much more susceptible to crack (or other uncool things I have no idea about), than steel in higher temp, lets say, 10-15 Celsius? Do you think I should wait for spring, or go for it now?

Thanks for your time, and dont call grammar nazis - my english is also 90% self-taught:)

Signo · Post by **Signo** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:53 am

Welcome onboard Gordon!
For starter: get a source of heat as soon as you can, even a stupid weed burner + 2 refractory bricks will grant you a much much more happy armouring life than spending your time cold dishing stuff.
Beside this: I don't think you will find a noticeable difference on the steel, from 0°C to 15°C . For sure you will enjoy a warmer shop more than your steel.
Considering you are a newbie, how you obtained the pattern to have your metal cut? Have you found patterns already made from someone else? In this case attention : pattern need to change depending your tools and working method. My pattern could be wrong for you and viceversa.

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 8:11 am

Thank you for your answer, cold itself isnt much problem for me, I filed knives in about +5 Celsius and got waterfall of sweatdrops from my eyebrows, I guess its habituation thing - never been a fan of overheating myself. Im more worried about steel reaction now, but youve calmed me - I think I'll give it a try. I was thinking about way to do hot dishing, just want to avoid additional costs until I'll try if I can end up with something else besides shapeless piece of metal.

As for a pattern, Ive looked at many pictures of armour, Ive been thinking how it could work, reading Archive, did measurements of my feeble body and most important - got an Sinric pattern before my eyes when I drew "my" version of it ("I did pattern" is probably too big words for that, I know:)

Sean Powell · Post by **Sean Powell** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:25 am

Gordon, Welcome to the Archive!

Its always good to ask questions if you don't know the answer for certain. There is a lot of amazing knowledge here.

Study of steels at elevated temperatures is an important part of design engineering if you want fire-proof buildings and bridges that don't fall apart when a tanker carrying gasoline crashes and lights on fire. Most of that work is at very elevated temperature. That's because with sheel you need to get it around 600C before you start noticing appreciable changes in strength.

http://www.roymech.co.uk/images/Temp_strength.gif
http://www.roymech.co.uk/Useful_Tables/ ... fects.html

Here is a quicky article comparing steel yield strength (resistance to dishing) and ultimate strength (cracking) as a function of temperature. Note that the graph starts at 20C but we can project backwards slightly without much risk. Its clear that the yield strength (resistance to dishing) is pretty much a flat line. The ultimate strength however has a slight slope which means that there *IS* a slightly greater chance of cracking. The amount however is in low single digit percentages. If you can detect the difference with a hammer you are far more capable than most of us here.

In short, I'd worry more about your comfort in the shop for doing cold dishing in the cold. Your hammer handle response will probably be more noticeable than the steel. Most of us started by working metal cold because the tool requirements are low but once you get heat it becomes a game changer in making metal move. (And it keeps you warm in winter)

Good luck!
Sean

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 11:04 am

Thank you, sir Powell.

I was prepared for buying some kind of propane roofer's torch, but sir Signo's idea of weed burner(hey, they have electric ones!) is even better, I think.Lets see if Im not gonna completely fail on a few first tries of hammering. Idea of having a piece of plate on a rack is too tempting to not give a shot.

Simple thought colder=more brittle came to my mind, but whew, a difference of single digit percentage I can live with.

Thanks for your thought about my well being - couple years ago, there was a time when my chips were down and had to save as much money as I can, I survived(actually, not a good word to name it, it was quite bearable) two or three winters without using heat in my living quarters, temp dropped to a little above zero. I couldnt do anything about it at the time, so I just decided to dont give a s*** about it. Since then Im usually dont mind cold that most people here find harsh (its actually make your life more comfortable) but also Im observing that I can see and appreciate things that most people take for granted. I think its not a bad thing also. But dont get me wrong, if I can get situation better, I do it.

Cheers!

Indianer · Post by **Indianer** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:35 pm

Hello Gordon, welcome to the largest private army in the world! And its auxiliary following...

Hands off electric weed burners for metal working purposes. I recently tested if i could use one to temper some tool parts. I failed. It was supposed to emit 600°C warn air. I implored a forge-thermometer so it would augur, and augur it did. It foretold ill and asserted the temp directly at the nozzle did not exceed 210°C. With this you can't even ruin a temper, let alone make steel malleable. The burner must use gas (propane is ok).

Further, to join the chorus, try using heat. It's much softer on your wrists and elbows, even of you don't fear hard work.

Best, Indi

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:41 pm

Sir Indianer, I got through couple hundred of pages here on AA and amount of knowledge and willingness to share it is overwhelming, especially in comparison with other places on the web full of smartmouths, trolls and all that garbage . Only propane torches - check.

I intend to do cold work only for starting check. Got tennis elbow - luckily in my non-dominant arm and its slowly getting better on its own - from a workout last summer so I know Im not in my twenties anymore and its time to not be stupid.

Signo · Post by **Signo** » Fri Jan 11, 2019 1:41 am

You are right :This is the best place in the world to learn armouring. I'm 16 years in, almost surfing the board daily, and still new things pop up , the bar has been raised more and more. In all those years I've had more time for reading than for armouring, and it amaze me that despite this, my skills improved anyway, because I know what do to or how to proceed even if I've never done it before. Learning is as much important as doing.

Kristoffer · Post by **Kristoffer** » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:13 pm

A propane tank should be easy and not very expensive. I can recommend you to look in to a forced air burner rather then weed burners and such. It is not expensive to make and there are a ton of tutorials and blueprints of how to make one online. Checking out some tutorials on youtube would be a good start.

With a burner, you can get some fire bricks and just stack a primitive forge to start with.

Konstantin the Red · Post by **Konstantin the Red** » Sat Jan 12, 2019 4:18 am

Welcome and well come.

Propane + Air + Fire-bricks (refractory brick) to contain the heat somewhat and concentrate it -- we like those for a cheap simple way to heat metal.

Propane + pure oxygen burns even hotter. Just not quite to welding heat, which to properly do needs the greater heat of oxygen-acetylene. And all the equipment for that, plus somewhere to weld in.

But if you make your metal glow red, you can easily form it.

16 gauge sheet steel is not hard to work cold or hot, but hot-work is faster and you can do more with it. Shallow curvatures are easy enough cold. As Sean said, you yourself will suffer more from the cold than your metal will.

I suppose you got A36 mild steel. Mild steel is easy to work, form, and weld; it is also cheap from a shop that sells steel sheet, rod, and bar to the steel-fabricating trades, like for making iron gates and vehicle trailers.

What other armour pieces would you like to build?

We tend to like mild/A36 steel about 1.6mm thick for leg armor, cuisse, lames, knee cops; we like about 2mm or slightly thinner for mild-steel helmets and helms -- heads are important!

1.6mm for arm armor (rerebrace, vambrace sometimes, and elbow cop) in mild, shoulder armor (pauldron or spaudler) also. Consider 1mm also.

Torso/body plate armor varies maybe a little bit, but often 1mm A36 will do well.

++++++++++++++++++++

Tools: in hammers, hammer faces that are more rounded than completely flat are good for dishing work. Even better is a soft-faced but heavy hammer like the Thor brand in Europe. The American equivalent tool is the Garland Manufacturing brand of weighted-rawhide hammer -- a rawhide mallet face clamped into a heavy cast-iron head. Compact and powerful, and keeps your metal smooth as you dish it. Unlike a ball pein hammer, the round pein will make lumps. Half a million lumps!
A 2-4kg wooden mallet is almost as good as a soft-faced heavy hammer, when just starting out. Some people have cut out their own homemade mallets, filing them to have slightly rounded faces. They fit these with sledgehammer handles.
The ball pein hammer is very good for setting rivets; there are better tools for forming metal into nice smooth dished curves and raised ones: Search-click this site on "bowling ball basherizer" and "soft hammer hard anvil" for good ways to make smooth curved shapes in your mild steel.
Files: get files as you need them; expect to have many files of various shapes for various jobs.
Cutting metal yourself: saber saw plus metal cutting blades is cheap but also slow and noisy. A bench shear that you work with a lever is quieter, quicker, and the high-quality shears are much more expensive than the saw -- and more convenient. (Cheap shears may be gotten from China.) A similar tool, the slitting shear, mostly only makes straight cuts but is very powerful at cutting metal, for what you paid to buy one.
Holes in metal: best tool is the hand metal punch, which works like a paper punch -- if a paper punch were The Incredible Hulk. Much faster than an electric drill -- makes clean, finished holes in seconds per hole. An electric drill-press has many uses and is rather faster than a hand-held electric drill, with better control.

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Sat Jan 12, 2019 11:39 am

Sir Konstantin, thank you for that compressed starting guide. Most of the things youve mentioned I have or can replace with something similar.

Oh, oh ,EDIT! For your question about parts I want to make, here is my plan: If I'll be pleased with breastplate, I want to make a mannequin of sorts to put it on, and then I'll be thinking of making next parts, pauldrons, arms and legs to make it complete. As for the helmet, I dont have a welder and raising is seems too complicated for now, so I'll consider buying a replica of sallet or hundsgugel, just for the looks. Im not targeting into historical accuracy, it gotta to look good and be fairly functional. I think of historical/dark soulish kind of look.

Sir Xtracted, for the sake of my fiancee's well-being, I'm afraid I should pass on self-constructing a propane powered toys. Sweet thing wont even let me to change stupid broken wall light switch without shutting off main fuse:)

So ok, umm... Got my first hour with a dishing stump. After couple of minutes I broke handle of the old hammer I rounded for dishing, so I grabbed next, unmodified one. Its just a try after all:)

https://www.deviantart.com/gordonthomps ... -780812624
https://www.deviantart.com/gordonthomps ... -780812989
https://www.deviantart.com/gordonthomps ... -780812462

I didnt follow any plan, didnt do passes, just beat the hell out of it, starting from the center and tried to form it to achieve the look I wanted. I succeeded with that, more or less.
I think belly curve is too shallow when I compare it with churburg 18 pictures, but on the other hand, when I put it on, I feel the low edge sitting just below my last ribs and I feel if I try make that curve deeper, it will start to be uncomfortable - like the edge itself would be pressing against my body. What do you guys think?

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:02 pm

That's a nice start, Gorden.

Have a look at these images, and concentrate on how the shape and depth of curvature changes from place to place in the breast.

In particular, see how the curvature changes toward the upper chest.

If you take what you have and flatten the upper chest a bit by bending it so that the neck comes in closer and the shoulders are a bit farther away from the body, it will fit much more comfortably.

Mac

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Mon Jan 14, 2019 12:52 pm

Sir MacPherson, thank you, I want to say I highly respect craftsmen like you, who can commit themselves to achieve mastery. I know what Im talking about, for I can do and did many things, but never had patience and/or discipline to reach higher ground at most of them.

For my piece, I did as you told - upper part is flatter now and Im not surprised its fit and look better now. Those fifth picture you gave I had before, and looked at it during first dishing, thats why I said my piece is too shallow in belly area. But comparing to other pics you gave, I think it can be acceptable and if you dont find it blasphemous, I could happily leave it as it is.

Low edge, as I said before, is unpleasantly digging just below my last ribs when I put breastplate on and press it against myself. Is that normal thing (its hard steel not soft lady, after all) and gambeson will nullify that, or it should be fixed somehow?

Oh, edit: using chains instead leather for faulds articulation - is that makes sense? I mean, chains are more durable than thin leather and more flexible than thick leather.

Konstantin the Red · Post by **Konstantin the Red** » Mon Jan 14, 2019 6:34 pm

We have seen people use *two* layers of *soft* leather to make vertical, interior leathers to hang taces -- those are the fauld's lames -- and let them flex. Two straps for one, you could say.

This is an "engineered" solution to articulating the lames of a fauld, rather than a "copied from the museum" solution. Though we are not truly, completely certain which is the more authentic! The soft parts of a suit of armor have had centuries of, er, fixing.

Soft leather straps may be cut from the belly part of a cowhide, where the leather is soft and rather stretchy -- and not the more rigid leather from up near the cow's back. (Which is otherwise well suited for belts and straps.)

woodwose · Post by **woodwose** » Mon Jan 21, 2019 9:33 am

Make sure that you have plenty of ventilation in your work space if you are burning propane. For my small propane forge I keep a roll-up garage door at least half open and another door open for good air flow. Its for venting out carbon monoxide which is a byproduct of burning propane. If I'm doing anything in my shop with propane for more than a few minutes I open the doors, even when it is -15c... Keep working, keep moving, dress warm, and you should be able to stay warm enough. If you start to feel like you need to take a nap, or a bit confused, go outside for a bit of fresh air. Carbon monoxide will kill you, the cold will mostly just make you uncomfortable. The one and only time I thought "its too cold to keep all these doors open, it'll be okay to forge for a bit without the wthout the -15c wind blowing through was the time I lost consciousness and almost died.

Signo · Post by **Signo** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 1:47 am

Woodwose, you seriously need to review your burner, propane can produce no CO if the combustion is complete : if there is enough oxygen in the mix. I know that is better to burn a little less oxygen than more, but your burner seem to work really bad. Probably is thank to the setup I choose to make*, but I can finely tune the combustion, and in this case I don't feel dizzy even if I breath directly over the exhausts (I'm not crazy, I use an aspirator directly over the forge) , but it seems I'm quite sensitive to CO,so if something is wrong I feel rapidly dizzy.

* I burn the gas in a insulated closed chamber, and I use Exhaust gases to heat the metal instead of the flame, In this way, if I see just a little faint flame outside the nozzle, I know that all the combustion has happened and I'm not putting excess air into the chamber. Insulating things with ITC 100 HT help using the heat where I want it instead of wasting it.

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Mon Apr 08, 2019 5:00 am

Ok guys, I did faulds to a cuirass, but its nothing to see, I got to rework it. For now I turned my attention to gauntlets, its acidproof stainless, mostly 16 gauge. Finger lames and small thumb plates are 18g. I decided not to grind and polish it due to dust and mess it would create (not my workshop Im working in) , so there are hammer marks all over. I havent decided if I end up with enclosed cuff or just a strap, I'll wait with it till vambraces done. Yes, there are some gaps. Yes, palm and wrist articulation is a lil bit sloppy - didnt really figured out how ot should be done until finger lames, theyre better. And there are slots in palm lames for lateral movement.

I would like to hear what do you think.

https://www.deviantart.com/gordonthomps ... -792939615

Galileo · Post by **Galileo** » Mon Apr 08, 2019 7:03 am

Looks like a serviceable pair of gauntlets.

Signo · Post by **Signo** » Mon Apr 08, 2019 8:55 am

That's nice!

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:42 am

Thanks, guys.

Heres vid of left gauntlet, critique wanted and appreciated:

https://ufile.io/sc4tvkiq

wcallen · Post by **wcallen** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 7:00 am

Gordon Thompson wrote:Ok guys, I did faulds to a cuirass, but its nothing to see, I got to rework it. For now I turned my attention to gauntlets, its acidproof stainless, mostly 16 gauge. Finger lames and small thumb plates are 18g. I decided not to grind and polish it due to dust and mess it would create (not my workshop Im working in) , so there are hammer marks all over. I havent decided if I end up with enclosed cuff or just a strap, I'll wait with it till vambraces done. Yes, there are some gaps. Yes, palm and wrist articulation is a lil bit sloppy - didnt really figured out how ot should be done until finger lames, theyre better. And there are slots in palm lames for lateral movement.

I would like to hear what do you think.

https://www.deviantart.com/gordonthomps ... -792939615

That is perfectly reasonable. Keep up the good work.

There are a lot of subtle changes that happen in the style of armour. The best example I have of something similar to the ones you made would be:
http://www.allenantiques.com/A-100.html
There are definitely simpler ones from the time that are more like the ones you made.

The breastplates Mac has been posting are from the late 14th and early 15th c. Given your gauntlet design, maybe you want to think of your "suit" more in terms of early 16th c. I have several bits on my site that could help you fill out that look in other pieces.

Wade

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 7:21 am

Thank you. Basically Im going for overall early 15th century-ish look of suit, but I couldnt find gauntlet design I like from that period, so I dropped the idea (for gauntlets, at least) and mixed up styles a little - idea for finger plates came up from example you gave and Im fairly pleased with outcome. Besides, achieving reasonable functionality and proper working is more important for me now than historical accuracy. Oh, and your collection is a great help already.

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Wed May 08, 2019 11:28 am

Hi again, I have a question about these:

http://www.allenantiques.com/A-186.html

Is it just me, or vambrace plates overlaps on hinges side?
If they do, what about buckle side, is it overlapping as well? Which plate inside, which outside then?
How much overlap? Is there something that stops vambrace from closing too much?

I'll be grateful if somebody could give me some info about it - and maybe a couple of non-obvious details on arm construction.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Wed May 08, 2019 12:08 pm

Gordon Thompson wrote:Hi again, I have a question about these:

http://www.allenantiques.com/A-186.html

Is it just me, or vambrace plates overlaps on hinges side?

It is typical and normal for the plates of vambraces to overlap on the hinge side.

Gordon Thompson wrote:If they do, what about buckle side, is it overlapping as well? Which plate inside, which outside then?

In most cases, the buckle side overlaps as well. The "inner plate" or "door" is usually intended to end up inside. I am speaking here in broad generalities. As it happens, early vambraces seem sometimes not to be intended to overlap on the buckle side. This we can see in examples where the hems of the "door" continue all the way to the edge.

So... while the jury is still out on the early ones, it's probably best to assume that they overlap unless you have reason to think otherwise.

Gordon Thompson wrote: How much overlap?

I generally use between 5/16" (7mm) and 1/2" (12mm) If there is any difference, it will be that the hinge side has less overlap, and the buckle side has more.

Gordon Thompson wrote:Is there something that stops vambrace from closing too much?

That would be the wearer's arm.

Early vambraces (especially ones that do not overlap on the buckle side) are designed to fit the forearm tightly. This is a thing we very frequently get wrong.

Now... that said, we usually see the hems of the "door" stopping short of the edge. This will provide a small obstacle to the vambrace closing more than intended. In use though, when push comes to shove, it's the arm that really limits the overlap.

Mac

wcallen · Post by **wcallen** » Wed May 08, 2019 12:30 pm

Mac saw this before I did.

I agree with Mac.

That said, this particular arm is a lousy example for answering your questions.
Why?
The inner plate is a restoration. Made by a pretty good armourer (HRR) but it isn't old, so we shouldn't try to learn anything from it.

In my experience, the underlap on the hinge side will also (somewhat) limit the amount the inner plate will normally close. But the extension(s) is/are flexible, so the inner plate can be pushed in past its natural stop. As Mac says, that really doesn't matter because the arm is in there.

Wade

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Wed May 08, 2019 12:35 pm

Im aware my questions was a great generality, and your response was everything I hoped for. Even more - I wanted to ask about the arm as the stopping factor for vambrace ( I wanted to know if its ok , or is it a construction heresy:) ) but couldnt find english words for it. Thank you very much, a couple of things got more clear.

One more thing about hinge side overlap - how to attach hinges then (I want to make hinges outside of vambrace)? Should I make them with one part lower than the other to compensate different levels of plates, or maybe use some kind of washer to raise hinge a little over underlapping part? (I hope you know what I mean)

Edit: I've noticed its partly restored, but it cant be that bad if its in your collection, right? Id rather try to figure things out of pieces from proffesional collector gallery, than from google pics of questionable origin. But if you want to provide better examples, I will not complain

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Wed May 08, 2019 1:44 pm

Gordon Thompson wrote: One more thing about hinge side overlap - how to attach hinges then (I want to make hinges outside of vambrace)? Should I make them with one part lower than the other to compensate different levels of plates, or maybe use some kind of washer to raise hinge a little over underlapping part? (I hope you know what I mean)

It's easy to over-think this, but in reality, the "step" that the hinge has to cover is not very deep.

I generally accommodate it by making the hinge "leaf" that will sit on the outer layer have a curve that matches that of the vambrace, and just leaving the other leaf pretty much flat. Sometimes, while the hinge is temporarily attached with screws, I'll support the piece on the anvil horn (or whatever) and give the hinge a couple of taps with a mallet to set it down.

Mac

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Wed May 08, 2019 1:46 pm

wcallen wrote: In my experience, the underlap on the hinge side will also (somewhat) limit the amount the inner plate will normally close. But the extension(s) is/are flexible, so the inner plate can be pushed in past its natural stop.

I'm not sure why I neglected to mention this part..... a "senior moment", perhaps.

Mac

wcallen · Post by **wcallen** » Wed May 08, 2019 8:03 pm

External hinges.
All of mine, other than that arm, are a lot later, but the concept is the same:
http://www.allenantiques.com/images/A-37a.jpg
http://www.allenantiques.com/A-173.html

Generally, the metal isn't all that thick right at the edge of the plate, so the problems aren't as major as we would think. This is one of the things that I think tends to get over-thought. Just make the thing and put the hinges on and it will mostly just work out.

I left a couple out because I don't have good pictures, or I am pretty sure the pieces have been re-assembled after the working life. The ones I did post should be pretty solid.

Wade

Johann ColdIron · Post by **Johann ColdIron** » Thu May 16, 2019 2:32 pm

Gordon Thompson wrote: One more thing about hinge side overlap - how to attach hinges then (I want to make hinges outside of vambrace)? Should I make them with one part lower than the other to compensate different levels of plates, or maybe use some kind of washer to raise hinge a little over underlapping part? (I hope you know what I mean)

Just read through here and noticed the talk of vambraces. I'm working on a pair based on some of Wades later period vambraces in my thread that have some similar construction details.

Most notably the hinges. Don't worry about asymmetrical shaping of the hinges. The overlap is fairly slight at this gauge. Just make them flat with the hinge pin "Barrel" bumped out to the outside. Then bolt them in place and heat them them enough to tap them down to the surfaces they mate with.

The placement of the hinges vary. Some place the barrel right over the edge of the outer plate. Others have the barrel tucked right against the step between the outer and door plates so that they sit down in the step slightly. Either seems to be used. Real question is often "is this the original hinge?"

Here is the thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=186157&p=2845145#p2845145

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:51 pm

Thank you all, your advisory is invaluable. Arms are waiting for straping, all working all right, but theyre not very photogenic, so I'll pass with showing them for now.

But worry not, as I wanted to take a break from italian-ish style and think about next step, I figured out no harm will be done if I take a second attempt at gauntlets. Knuckles are a real pain to marry with metacarpal. All advise and criticism is welcome and appreciated.

Behold!

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Fri Jul 12, 2019 5:49 pm

Those gauntlets look like they are coming along nicely!

Have you got enough motion in the knuckle rider? You are going to need about 40° of flex on either side of that knuckle.

Mac

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:24 am

Yes, I think there is about 40 degrees here. Motion range is pretty good when you compare it with gaping (but Im not surprised this pair is much better than my first gauntlets, at least at that stage), but I fiddled a little with it yesterday and managed to make it better, instead of ruining it. There was a 50/50 chance of either

Gordon Thompson · Post by **Gordon Thompson** » Sat Aug 17, 2019 11:25 am

Another step. Notice massive gap on bended fingers - I guess its too shallow gadlings fault ( but surprisingly, its not that bad on thumbs). I was afraid if I try to make them deeper, I punch a hole. Still working cold. Oh well.

Mac · Post by **Mac** » Sat Aug 17, 2019 1:05 pm

That's shaping up well!

Knuckle articulation can be pretty vexing. It's not that your knuckles are not deep enough, it's that the pivots are too far from the edges.

Take an hour or so and make up some two dimensional models of the joints in cardboard. Move the pivots around until you see what's happening. If you have a light table (or a window with enough light behind it) you can use printer paper rather than cardboard.

They will work OK the way they are, but your next ones will be better if you do the experiments beforehand.

Mac

Workshop temperature vs cold dishing

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