Key Metal Forming Terms

Some of the nomenclature used in forming will be familiar but some might be new. We will introduce the terms here and you will also find a glossary at the end of the book.

Heikki Seppä, Sculpture with Tesselation. Sterling silver, gold

Key Metal Forming Terms

• Air pocket: The space between the metal being formed and the surface of the stake.
• Anticlast: A planar form in which the axial and the radial lines are oriented in opposite directions. Anticlastic forms cannot hold water.
• Axis: Any curved plane can be described by two perpendicular lines drawn across the surface of the plane. These lines are called axes. Each line is an axis; the plural is axes (pronounced AK-seez).
• Axial curve/Axial line: The longer axis of a form.
• Bay: The part of a sinusoidal stake where anti- clastic hammering is done. When looking at a silhouette of a sinusoidal stake, the bays are the concave curves.
• Bouge (booj): [from the French bouger, "to move"]: Bouging is the process of smoothing a form and evening out irregularities. It can be in preparation for another course of formin, or prior to planishing.
• Compound curve form: A surface in which both the axial and radial lines are curved. A bent tube has compound curves.
• Course: The accumulated, methodical hammering from edge to center over an entire piece.
• Cross peen: A hammer face that is long and nar- row, usually perpendicular to the handle.
• Furrow: A type of monocurve in which the long axis of the form is straight, while the short radial axis is curved. Examples of furrows include cones and straight tubes.
• Monocurve form: A singly curving surface in which one axis line is straight and the other is curved. A straight tube, for example, is a mono- curve.
• Planish: The final hammering phase, when both the form and surface are given final form, usually with a steel hammer over a steel stake.
• Radial Curve/Radial Axis: The shorter axis is the radial axis or radial curve.
• Stake: A tool that supports metal when forming, bouging, or planishing. The form of the stake is a large factor in determining the form of the object being created. Sinusoidal stakes have a series of concave and convex curves designed for making anticlastic forms. They are shaped like a sine wave, and can be made of steel, wood or plastic. In this book we use the terms sinusoidal stake and anticlastic stake interchangeably.
• Synclast: A planar form in which the axial and radial lines are oriented in the same direction. A synclastic form can hold water.

By Betty Helen Longhi & Cynthia Eid – © Brynmorgen Press 2013

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Hardcover: 256 pages Publisher: Brynmorgen Press (October 1, 2013) ISBN-10: 1929565496 ISBN-13: 978-1929565498 Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches Purchase your own copy of “Creative Metal Forming” today.