Which comes 1st, dishing or rolling?

[Thomas Gallowglass]

I'm getting to the top portions of a gothic back and breast, and I was wondering about a consensus. Should I roll the edges first and then dish, or dish and then roll? I'm feeling like I should dish first in case I need to do some trimming. But then I've seen comments about rolling before shaping. Comments?

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[James C]

I always dish before i roll. I don't want to take the chance that my pretty rolls become flat. Rolling edges has always been very time consuming for me so i don't want anything to happen to them. I do them right before i polish the rest of the piece.

[Pheylin Quinn]

Depends on the piece, for me.

On a breast plate:

Shape then roll.

[Alcyoneus]

Ditto.

[Ideval]

I do both.

Sometimes, I know for a fact that a piece will fit without trimming.
For instance, I made a helmet that requires cheek plates.
Because the cheek plates only require a little bit of dishing and a little bit of raising, and are small to work with, I marked the rolled edges and rolled them flat.

For the roll closest the face, I enclosed a 14 g wire to keep the roll from collapsing. For the heavier roll along the jaw-line, I used a 12 g wire.

My feeling is that simple projects can be made simpler by rolling beforehand.

Idëval

[Alec]

Roll last. Rolling will set the shape -- particularly if you are rolling over a wire.