Planishing (from the Latin planus, "flat") [1] is a metalworking technique that involves finishing the surface of sheet metal by finely shaping and smoothing it.
Planishing (from the Latin planus, "flat") [1] is a metalworking technique that involves finishing the surface of sheet metal by finely shaping and smoothing it.
A metal surface is finished by hammering it with a planishing panel hammer or slapper file against a shaped surface called a planishing stake that is held in a vise or a mounting hole in a blacksmith's beak anvil, [2] or against hand-held, shaped, metal tools that are known as dollies or anvils. The shape of the stake or dolly has to match the desired work piece contour, and so they come in a variety of complex shapes. Alternatively, planishing may be done by the use of an English wheel. After approximately forming a metal object, by stretching with techniques such as sinking and raising, and then shaping and smoothing an object, metal workers use planishing for surface finishing. Planishing is a hand-driven process used in auto body repair and sheet metal craft work such as medieval armour production.[ citation needed ]
Common tools used for planishing include panel beating hammers, slappers, and neck hammers. [3] Heavy rawhide or hardwood hammers are often used. It is more difficult to make mistakes with heavy rawhide or wood mallets, but they are less effective for large imperfections. [4] A worker, using repeated, relatively soft glancing blows, smooths the metal toward the curvature of the stake. If the metal begins to look dimpled, the worker is using too much force in individual hammer blows. [4]
Since planishing hammers are generally in contact with the outside surface of the piece, they are flat, have rounded edges and are polished to avoid marring the work. [5] Pneumatic (air powered) planishing hammers strike hundreds of blows per minute. [6]
Care must be taken not to allow sheet metal to harden and become brittle during planishing. If it does, it must be annealed.
A forge is a type of hearth used for heating metals, or the workplace (smithy) where such a hearth is located. The forge is used by the smith to heat a piece of metal to a temperature at which it becomes easier to shape by forging, or to the point at which work hardening no longer occurs. The metal is transported to and from the forge using tongs, which are also used to hold the workpiece on the smithy's anvil while the smith works it with a hammer. Sometimes, such as when hardening steel or cooling the work so that it may be handled with bare hands, the workpiece is transported to the slack tub, which rapidly cools the workpiece in a large body of water. However, depending on the metal type, it may require an oil quench or a salt brine instead; many metals require more than plain water hardening. The slack tub also provides water to control the fire in the forge.
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal, or to crush rock. Hammers are used for a wide range of driving, shaping, breaking and non-destructive striking applications. Traditional disciplines include carpentry, blacksmithing, warfare, and percussive musicianship.
A chisel is a wedged hand tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge of blade on its end for carving or cutting a hard material. The tool can be used by hand, struck with a mallet, or applied with mechanical power. The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or wood with a sharp edge in it.
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut. Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grilles, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils, and weapons. There was an historical distinction between the heavy work of the blacksmith and the more delicate operation of a whitesmith, who usually worked in gold, silver, pewter, or the finishing steps of fine steel. The place where a blacksmith works is called variously a smithy, a forge or a blacksmith's shop.
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: cold forging, warm forging, or hot forging. For the latter two, the metal is heated, usually in a forge. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to hundreds of metric tons. Forging has been done by smiths for millennia; the traditional products were kitchenware, hardware, hand tools, edged weapons, cymbals, and jewellery.
Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale: from huge ships, buildings, and bridges down to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry.
An anvil is a metalworking tool consisting of a large block of metal, with a flattened top surface, upon which another object is struck.
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms silversmith and goldsmith are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are largely the same but differed in that the end product may vary greatly.
Repoussé or repoussage ( ) is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. Chasing or embossing is a similar technique in which the piece is hammered on the front side, sinking the metal. The two techniques are often used in conjunction.
A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head.
A ball-peen or ball peinhammer, also known as a machinist's hammer, is a type of peening hammer used in metalworking. It has two heads, one flat and the other, called the peen, rounded. It is distinguished from a cross-peen hammer, diagonal-peen hammer, point-peen hammer, or chisel-peen hammer by having a hemispherical peen.
Hardy tools, also known as anvil tools or bottom tools, are metalworking tools used in anvils.
Sinking, also known as doming, dishing or dapping, is a metalworking technique whereby flat sheet metal is formed into a non-flat object by hammering it into a concave indentation. While sinking is a relatively fast method, it results in stretching and therefore thinning the metal, risking failure of the metal if it is "sunk" too far.
A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same word may also refer to an unrelated specialty of iron-smithing. By extension it can also refer to the person who deals in tinware, or tin plate. Tinsmith was a common occupation in pre-industrial times.
Panel beater or panelbeater is a term used in some Commonwealth countries to describe a person who restores vehicle bodies back to their factory state after having been damaged. In the United States and Canada, the same job is done by an auto body mechanic.
Metalworking hand tools are hand tools used in the metalworking field, powered entirely by the operator. There are lots of tools, fit for different actions to the material, such as shrinking or modifying its surface.
A dolly is the name given to a category of tools used in shaping sheet metal. Typically a dolly is a solid piece of metal, small enough to hold in one hand, with a curved or shaped face. Generally a dolly will have more than one surface, each with its own radius of curvature, allowing the craftsman more flexibility in using the tool.
The English wheel, in Britain also known as a wheeling machine, is a metalworking tool that enables a craftsperson to form compound curves from flat sheets of metal such as aluminium or steel.
Raising is a metalworking technique whereby sheet metal is formed over a solid object by repeated "courses" of hammering and annealing. A sheet metal worker is often required to raise, or bump, the work into form from the flat metal by means of a raising hammer and raising block. The raising block is made from substance giving resistance to the blows.
Leather crafting or simply leathercraft is the practice of making leather into craft objects or works of art, using shaping techniques, coloring techniques or both.
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