Metal forcing

METAL
SPINNING

Metal forcing is a technique used to form metal around a mold. this technique is centuries old and is still used as a production technique today. You can think of lampshades but also cups and trays.

I was very curious how difficult this technique really was because I always hear it is difficult and the learningcurves is very high.

PREPARATIONS

HOW HARD
CAN IT BE?

Raw material

Before I can clamp the material in the forcer bench, the material must be cut to the desired size. And the material must be annealed.

1.

I started researching the technique. I received explanations from Mitchel how I could safely use the maschiene.

marked material

material cutout

annealed material

files I used.

2.

IS A BIGGER
DISC MORE DIFFICULT?

a larger disc are more vibrations which can cause faults, wrinkles and cracks in the material to appear more quickly.

outcome first larger disk

I am often a little too soft on the material. i did find out that it is trickier and much more time consuming than i thought beforehand.

Push the material even further around the mold. the further you stretch the material the softer the material becomes.

2.

TAKING A
STEP BACK

I want to improve my feeling before trying bigger and trickier shapes.

WHEN DO YOU ANNEAL THE MATERIAL AGAIN?

the material becomes stiff because you move the cells in the material. by reheating the material you make the material flexible again.

3.

A NEW LARGE DISK

With high hopes, I prepared a slightly larger disk.

This disk is already going a lot better. by constantly re-annealing the shape I manage to turn reasonable neck.

4.

TURNING A CYLINDER MOLD

The trickiest thing is to turn a cylinder for this the material must be stretched evenly and make a sharp angle.

To keep working slowly more difficult I started turning a small diameter disk.

The start was good unfortunately the stretching proved to be too much for the material and a crack appeared in the material.