TM Roughing Air Hammer Dies
"Roughing" means to generate a lot of shape in the metal rapidly. You are not trying to do finesse work and keep the panel nice and smooth while doing this. In fact, we describe the process of shaping metal as "taking it through a controlled wreck." This means you start out with a beautiful factory-rolled sheet of flat metal that you just bought at the store, and you work it, sometimes severely, by stretching and shrinking operations to get the rough shape that you are looking for. Our Roughing Dies generate a stretch rapidly and forcefully in the sheet of metal, so you don't wear out your wrist and arm doing it by the "arm and hammer" method of bashing the metal into a shot bag with a big mallet. These dies will help you stretch faster and more easily than you can imagine. And you can still lift your fork at the end of a day after using them.
Roughing Head Die
This upper die is a cup filled with leather and acts much like a sandbag. If you are familiar with using a mallet and a leather bag to do rough shaping, the concept behind this die will be familiar to you. However, since the soft leather is above, and the hard metal striking surface is below, it would be the equivalent of hitting the hammer with the shot bag (instead of the other way around!). Use this die in conjunction with either the high crown steel lower die (from the Basic Die set) or the very high crown steel lower die, for rapid stretching without marking the metal. We also sell a larger version of this die, please see our Oversized Roughing Die.
Video Demo: Hi – Res | Low – Res
Roughing Head Die |
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| SMS-0142 | $152.00 | ||
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Rubber Head
This versatile die can be used to stretch soft sheet, smooth parts you have roughed-in with a roughing-head, or be used for gentle roughing on thin soft sheet (aircraft, art metal). Because it is not as aggressive as the roughing heads, it can be used on thinner sheet than you would with the roughing head dies. It does not leave hammer marks and you can get a very nice finish on some metals by using just the rubber die. Using the rubber die is a very good intermediate step before planishing. We recommend it for smoothing and working soft aluminum, copper, steel, brass, zinc, lead, tin, gold, silver, and pewter.
Video Demo: Hi – Res |
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Rubber Head Die |
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| SMS-0143 | $144.00 | ||
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Lower Die - Very High Crown
Use this hardened steel die for rapid stretching of high crowns in conjunction with the roughing head or rubber head dies. In some cases it may be used for planishing up inside very high crowns. If you wanted to make a nice round clearance blister on a racecar or airplane, this would be the die that you would use. Artists find this die ideal for making distinct hammered marks in their metalwork. 1-5/8″ diameter.
Video Demo:
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Note: This video is the same as Roughing Die demo above
Lower Die - Very High Crown |
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| SMS-0145 | $76.00 | ||
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