SHAPING AN ALUMINIUM BOWL.
Step 1: Material Prep
Start by grabbing a sheet of aluminium and using a compass/scribe, mark a circle within the sheet of aluminium. The circle you draw should be cut out with a pair of pruners. Watch out for any sharp portions as you cut out your circle! Do yourself a huge favor and take a file/sandpaper to the edge of the circle to remove any bits that may hurt you as you work on your bowl. Roughly mark out quadrants, resulting in a target like fashion with a marker.
Step 2: Lets get smashing!
Grab a concave template cut out of wood and a tapered nylon mallet. Place the material over the template, leaving the position you are about to hit within the circumference of the concave. Using the narrow side, smack material at various points on the outer ring you have drawn on your material. It should crinkle up like the wrapper of a muffin/cupcake. Watch out though! You don't want it to form tight folds, as they might end up cracking when you start stretching the bowl. Once the form has crinkled, start using the wider side of the mallet to shape the curve. Repeat the action with the inner circle until a general dome is shaped. At this point when you flip the "bowl" it will appear like you made a Moon.
(if you muck up and get a couple folds as you attempt to create/smooth out your folds, take a smaller hammer and just attempt to hit it back out on the opposite side you are hitting on. Sometimes even hitting it on the side of the folds help widen it which may solve the issue. Take note however, as you are basically stretching the material into a bowl shape, your edges won't be the same smooth circle you cut out, and will require trimming, so don't fret if you have a few tears at the edges. If you have tears within the bowl and away from the edges. Well tough luck friend! Start again!)
Step 3: Refinement
At this point, the piece of metal began to resemble a moon. Depending on how deep you might want your bowl, you may continue to have at it and repeat step 2, the more you hit it into the concave of the template and flatten your marks made with the narrow end, the deeper your bowl will become.
Step 5: Refinement.
At this point you may chose various ways to make your bowl smooth.
You can smoothen the bumps using an english wheel or painstakingly tap at it with a hammer on a hemispheric shaped anvil. I chose the latter option which results in a beautiful hammered finish.
Step 1: Material Prep
Start by grabbing a sheet of aluminium and using a compass/scribe, mark a circle within the sheet of aluminium. The circle you draw should be cut out with a pair of pruners. Watch out for any sharp portions as you cut out your circle! Do yourself a huge favor and take a file/sandpaper to the edge of the circle to remove any bits that may hurt you as you work on your bowl. Roughly mark out quadrants, resulting in a target like fashion with a marker.
Step 2: Lets get smashing!
Grab a concave template cut out of wood and a tapered nylon mallet. Place the material over the template, leaving the position you are about to hit within the circumference of the concave. Using the narrow side, smack material at various points on the outer ring you have drawn on your material. It should crinkle up like the wrapper of a muffin/cupcake. Watch out though! You don't want it to form tight folds, as they might end up cracking when you start stretching the bowl. Once the form has crinkled, start using the wider side of the mallet to shape the curve. Repeat the action with the inner circle until a general dome is shaped. At this point when you flip the "bowl" it will appear like you made a Moon.
(if you muck up and get a couple folds as you attempt to create/smooth out your folds, take a smaller hammer and just attempt to hit it back out on the opposite side you are hitting on. Sometimes even hitting it on the side of the folds help widen it which may solve the issue. Take note however, as you are basically stretching the material into a bowl shape, your edges won't be the same smooth circle you cut out, and will require trimming, so don't fret if you have a few tears at the edges. If you have tears within the bowl and away from the edges. Well tough luck friend! Start again!)
Step 3: Refinement
At this point, the piece of metal began to resemble a moon. Depending on how deep you might want your bowl, you may continue to have at it and repeat step 2, the more you hit it into the concave of the template and flatten your marks made with the narrow end, the deeper your bowl will become.
Step 5: Refinement.
At this point you may chose various ways to make your bowl smooth.
You can smoothen the bumps using an english wheel or painstakingly tap at it with a hammer on a hemispheric shaped anvil. I chose the latter option which results in a beautiful hammered finish.
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