The Armour Archive

if I were to dish hot in wood would that be bad? I don't think it would be like red hot but hot none the less.

I just made a jump from 20 to 14 gauge. what is the best way to dish?

~Casey

I'd dish into the bottom of a gas tank cylinder, or something. wood would still burn, and make a lot of smoke and be a fuss. http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/armor/index.htm
under Eric Thing Armorer Part I: The Tools there is a little bit about his hot dishing forms, and some more in Eric Thing Armorer Part II: The Method
hope it helps!
Archie

Casey, it doesn't soften until it's red. Use metal forms, dish and stake, already!

with hot dishing...would the plasticity not amplify the thinning at the top of the dome effect? This effect is not good. Personally me I'd say take advantage of the plasticity and raise it (also, raising doesn't need a lot of hammers or stakes to work. I have done a bit with the flat end of a ball pein... peen... pien... never mind, a hammer, and a ball axle connectey hoozywotsit in a vice. good luck with whichever path you choose.

Your instincts were right the first time, Archie.

Seems to me the heat's stress-relieving and normalizing of workhardened metal is even more valuable in raising than getting it all squashy.

hey man,

i had this same thaugh process when i started working thicker material. pounding into a curve just seems so much more logical than pounding over. but seriously, man, get a stake and a hammer and do it right, raise. especially if yer doin helms. the finnished product is so much stronger and better, you wouldnt even believe it.

do it right the first time so you dont ever have any burdonous wastes of money that you're really not proud of.

just my two cents,

patric

Uhm there is someone that RAISE helm halves and then weld them togheter?

It seems to be logical, but i've never seen someone doing this.

didn't ralphS hot dish a helmet? although i think he started with half inch steel though
tom

I hot dish most everything with great results. Make sure you spend some time plenishing though or you won't get the work hardening that you need for the armor to be good.

What I don't hot dish, I raise.

As for the metal thinning, use a steel stump and a big ball hammer and you won't have an issue. Also, if you use a ball-pien, start at the outside and work in and you will have much less thinning than the other way around.

However…

…if you're cheap, or doing low-tech Y1K, or metal dishing surface deprived, yes you can hot-dish into a wood stump.

The denser the wood, the longer it will hold up, and I usually keep a sopping-wet old sweat sock (or something a little more classy at a reenactment) to dampen it with (or put out little smoldering areas). Good ventilation or open air is useful, because it will smoke, and the bigger the piece the worse it is. A spoon's bowl is no problem, really, but a 2 gallon cook pot base will make you smell (and cough/breathe) like Smokey the Bear!

One nice thing, in very dense wood like black locust heartwood, is that you can end up with really smooth and deep dishing surfaces. More porous woods vary. Almost any wood will do for hot dishing, but some are better than others.

If you go this route, you’ll have to let us know about your results. It’s certainly quieter than on a tank-bottom dishout.

he is right I have done it as well, but it does get really smoky- and the steel does have to be red hot at 14 Ga to get any noticible flexibillity, take your time and don't be afraid to re-heat it!

Oh a stupid mistake I made that you really should not do, do not cool off the quench the steel in the acid (vinagar pot) that you use to take off surface rust and the black coating on rebar wire IT STinks REALLY BAD!

thanks guys, I think for the time being I have come to the conclution of, I need a deeper dish! hehe, my 1 inch depth is too shallow for the boss I am working on.

thanks for your feed back!
~Casey

lifting rings and the military toroid tow rings make great dishing forms and since you are dishing into the void you don't run into the hammer on the form that can really thin out a specific spot.

Thomas

and where would I find these rings and how much are they?

~Casey