Flatten Smooth Sheet Metal Hammering

Every autobody practitioner has some favorite backing surface for hammering metal.

Flatten smooth sheet metal hammering.

First anneal the sheet then grip the sheet between two sheets of 1 8 thick flat stock steel sheet gripped tightly using steel g clamps then anneal the steel sheets until they are dull red and let it cool without quenching. Just a very smooth block of half inch stock or even a flat hammer face will do. The process of planishing uses many light blows to smooth metal which has already been formed by some other means. A simple small dent on a flat or gently curved panel is the easiest to remove and as long as the backside of the panel can be accessed the dent can be erased using a hammer and dolly hammering.

Keep the hammer bobbing in a straight up and down motion and just turn the metal piece. You won t really need an anvil. The tokyo based goldsmith yutaka nagai demonstrates how to hammer down a gold ingot to form a sheet. Place the sheet on a clean flat smooth steel block.

This provides relatively smooth forming and controlled stretching in the same operation. Another way would be to use a vice to press the strips between two smooth flat blocks. Shaped plastic mallets used with shot bag backing is a particularly effective hand forming combination. Mark both a vertical and a horizontal line through the centers of the sheet.

Tape the four corners down with painter s tape or masking tape. Wet metal causes tool rust and oxides on the metal will become embedded into the sheet during hammer texturing. Hammer each blow with equal effort for uniform marks or textures. Proceed across creating an even row of marks.

That is almost too thin to call sheet metal. Then when you undo the clamps you will have a nice flat sheet of precious metal. Hold the hammer lightly in your palm and let it bounce off the metal in a fluid motion. As you hammer metal on a shot bag it dishes out.

A polished flatter and a polished anvil block might do it for you. Hammer across the sheet in one direction.