The Armour Archive

I was curious if you can dish 16 ga. mild steel without heating it in a forge, I am redoing my sholder cops, I do have a hand torch, but have not yet completed my propane forge, am I wasting my time with the hammer & the dishing stump if I don't get them hot enough first, I seem to be getting some effect but it is very slow going.

16ga shouldn't be a problem to dish cold. yes, it's harder than doing it hot, but it's just a matter of not being afraid to hit hard. I make all my helmets cold - out of 16 ga. I can dish a spangenhelm plate in about 20 minutes (last time I timed myself - might have speeded up since then).

Remember - if at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer.

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Egfroth

Edward St John Gumby: "My brain hurts!

No! My brain, in my HEAD!

Alasdair Farrnsworth Gumby (MB CHB, FRCS): "It'll have to come OUT!

NURSE! NU-U-URSE!

see my webpage at www.geocities.com/egfrothos

I am currently using a 5 inch blunt end hammer, it seems not to chew the metal up to awful bad, would it be a good idea to switch to a metal hammer if I continue to have problembs?

Not sure what you mean by a "blunt end hammer" but your best friend when dishing is a rawhide hammer. They look like cast iron hammers with recesses in the end. You put a rolled up plug of rawhide into the socket and hammer till your arm falls off!
Trust me, buy one and you'll never regret it.

yes I am using a rawhide hammer, it seems to be less thean solid steel however, soft sort of am I in the wrong, should I be using a steel hammer, not one that looks like a rubber mallet?

I dish with a 3lb ball pein hammer. For cops I use the ball end. For helms I use the formerly flat end. I have ground the flat slide round, and it makes a great dishing hammer.

I dish 14g steel cold for helms with that hammer. Takes a big of elbow grease, but it can be done.

Remember, when you dish, the metal hardens as you go. So, learn to hit it hard enough the first time.



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Conor
Red Dragon Armoury
I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

I use a 12 pound ball steak for most of my dishing. for somewhat more presice work, I tend to use something that is either like a very flat ball pien, or a flat face thats been turned into a rounded one. for very subtle amounts of dishing I use a rawhide mallet.

I use the hammer on the upper right of my stump for the vast majority of my dishing.
http://www.oaksarmoury.com/shopweb/pages/shop7.htm

I have some smaller modified ball piens that I use for pieces too small for that hammer.

Sasuke

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www.oaksarmoury.com

what are you dishing in to? its one of those things most people for get to ask.
I prefer a steel dishing form made form a large gas bottle. it is posible to dish in to most anything but the closer your hammer curve matches your form and the less energy is disperced the faster the project goes.

Dweezle, a "ball steak" is a meatball. Or maybe something that... you don't wanna go there on a family BBS. A ball stake is good for planishing.

Things like this are why I find spellcheckers less than helpful.

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"The Minstrel Boy to the war is gone..."

Rev,
I think your problem with the rawhide hammer is you are dishing into a relatively soft surface (the stump). When using a rawhide hammer it is best to dish into a steel surface such as the dishing forms from Ironmonger or the bottom of a cut-off gas cylinder. Also, use a 3 lbs rawhide hammer. I actually have two 3 lbs rawhide hammers, but one I welded 2 more pounds onto it. This gives me a 5 lbs for dishing and a 3 lbs for planishing. You will not be able to just buy a 5 lbs rawhide unfortunately.
Someone above stated that it takes 20 minutes to dish out a helm piece... I heat my helm pieces in the kitchen lower oven to only 225 degrees, just cool enough to handle with welding gloves. Then I dish over a steel form with the 5 lbs rawhide. I can dish a helm piece ready for planishing in about one minute using this set-up. It takes about a couple minutes with the 3 lbs on the ball stake and I am finished. The best part about this method besides the obvious savings in time and energy is the piece will have no (NADA- ZILCH) hammer marks on it.
This is a hard to find item in the 3lbs weight, but if anyone wants one I can buy these direct through my saddle company for around $50 from a harness parts wholesaler. Ironmonger armory is where I purchased my dishing forms.

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Michael Spiers
Cyrack of Stonekeep
Stonekeep Armory
www.stonekeeparmory.com

My hammer of preference for general dishing is either the 6lb shotput welded to the end of a steel rod, or the 10lb shotput treated the same way.

Very little planishing required and the thud when it hits is very satisfying.

caveat *** Not for doing delicate work like finger plates and edge finishing.