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The Mettle Works
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Overstock Sales |
| Tools and Supplies |
Repoussé
and Chasing tools - by Gene
Olson
These
tools are normally in stock and ship within a couple of
days.
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I got a call from Marilyn in Taos who teaches workshops on setting stones. She uses round planishers to set the stones but the 8's were just a bit big and the 6's a bit small. She and her students wanted 7mm round planishers. . . They are now in stock and can be ordered below.
Thanks for your feedback.
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Repoussage and chasing combine in the art
of
transforming sheet metal into art.
Repoussé means pushed
from behind and when working on a flat sheet, that is often the first
step. We form it to add
dimension, push it around and change the shape of the metal sheet. The
tools used are meant to move the metal, not to cut it. A
design is developed with large radius tools and defined and refined
with smaller radius tools, or specially made ones with specific shapes.
When the metal has been pushed into close to the final shape, sometimes
by alternating working back to front, front to back
other times working just from the front we begin chasing in the final
details. Chasing has more to do with the texture of the
surface than the shape of the metal. We use the term chase
and some of the same tools when we chase a weld on a sculpture to match
the texture of the cast parts on both sides of the weld.
Chasing tools are often sharper and leave crisp sharp edges,
or they can have patterns on them, like leather stamps for pressing in
designs or textures such as the small cup shaped tool that was used to
form the individual
little balls in the berries in the design above. When we have
finished forming the shape of our piece, we chase in the details.
As such, I divide the tools into 2 general catagories, Pushers (metal
moving tools), and Chasers ( for forming
detail and texture) there is of course some overlap, but that's life.
The tools on this page are finely crafted of oil hardened tool steel. They are great for working copper, silver, bronze, brass or gold, but will also work with steel and tin plate. Indeed, I made my first set when I started the Altoids tin project, years ago.
The tool shafts are 4 - 5 inches (10-12.5cm) long. The
hexagonal shafts make them easier to hold and use than round shaft
tools. The working faces of the tools are hardened and tempered while the struck end is left annealled so
that it doesn't shatter from the blows of the hammer. Eventually the
struck end may start to mushroom out. When this happens the end should
be ground or filed back to round. As my instructor told me, years ago, repoussé tools wear out from the back forward until they finally get too short to hold.
If left untended, the mushroomed edges can break off and fly with great
force when struck. These bits can be very dangerous to tender things
like eyes. Always wear safety glasses when using struck tools and use
hearing protection as well.
Tools for Repoussé and most tools for Chasing look kind of like chisels but they are
not. They are designed for moving metal, not for cutting or piercing it. These tools are hand formed. The sizes listed are approximate. If you need an exact size, please ask.
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Tools for Repoussé and Chasing
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 These twelve tools are an excellent starter set for learning the art of repoussage.
Formed from oil hardening tool steel, they are oven tempered and polished. |
Basic
Starter set.
A Dozen Basic tools, including A large liner for forming the intial shape of your work, a slightly smaller one for refining your shapes and getting into smaller corners, as well as an oval liner of about the same thickness for getting into smaller spaces and working around inside curves. Once your overall shape is developed these three smaller liners can be used to develop your lines further, along with these three pearls to add texture and interest. Finally, you may need to planish portions of your piece to smooth it, make smooth transitions from narrow to wider lines or clean up an edge where you want it really crisp. That's where this planisher, tapered liner (tear drop), and sheepsfoot can come in handy |
Plus a bonus* about
24 square inches of 0.041" copper to play with. (random pieces) .
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| $109.95
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Individual tools
I have tried to provide a wide assortment of tool types and sizes. because sometimes we need one just a bit, larger, smaller, longer, wider . . .
Repoussé is not an exact science, and often it is possible to use a less efficient tool with more elbow grease, but having the right tool is always a joy.
If you don't see the type of tool you need, Please Ask. One of my favorite tools shapes, "The Sled" came from a customer request.
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Tools for moving metal, The pushers and shovers
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Liners (fullers),
Ovals, & Pearls
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Liners, sometimes called fullers,
are the workhorses of this discipline. They are the main tools that we use to stretch, bend, squash, form, . . the metal. It is nice to have a selection of them. They can be used to stretch the metal more in one direction than the other, They can be used along the
narrow axis for that width, bumped slowly along the wide axis for wide lines, or used at a diagonal for intermediate widths and anything between. The ovals and pearls (round ball end tools) are great for texturing and stretching in all directions.
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Standard Profiles →
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5/16" ∼ 0.315 ± 5%
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Olson Standard Size - 5/16" in half, in quarters, in eighths
I've found relative size and shape are often more important than exact size and that there is a limit to useful size in hand driven tools, the bigger to tool, the harder you have to hit it and I found 5/16" was the comfortable size for me.
I tend to use these tools in groups, working from big tools to small ones, going down by half sizes until I reach the shape I want, or 8 - 4 - 2 - 1 in whole numbers. When I forged the big one, I shot for 5/16" - 0.3125" I measured it, and it was a couple thousandths of an inch oversize - 0.315.
Close enough to 5/16ths
Then I accidentally bumped my digital caliper, it switched to METRIC and it said... 8.00 There you have it. These are my measure, they aren't really metric, mm, they just happen to coincide.
Shape - longer tools take more force to use, but they make smoother lines. They are easier to blend one blow into the next with. Shorter tools can turn sharper corners, they apply more force in one spot and can be more agressive. I make these from a long and skinny 5 times the thickness, on down to ovals, rounds. The ratio of thickness to length is most important. 5's are for long lines and dressing up edges 2's to 3's do the bulk of the work, and ovals and pearls (rounds) are often used for tight corners, rough shaping and final texturing. (a ball pein hammer, is just a pearl on a stick)
You need some of these tools.
It is useful to have a variety, and the right size and shape can make the job go more smoothly.
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15/64" ± 5%
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25/128" ± 5%
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5/32" ± 5%
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15/128" ± 5%
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5/64" ± 5%
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15/256" ± 5%
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5/128" ± 5%
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5/256" ± 5%
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Additional Shapes
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These are fuller type tools with a radiused face. The "Sled" is slightly crowned in one direction with the sides more like a planisher, the High Crown Fuller has a crown of about .25 of it's wdth; it is usefull for inside curves.
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Tear Drop Fullers
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Tapered liner
Tear Drop Fullers
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"The Sled"
a Planishing Fuller
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| $10.95
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$10.95 to 11.95
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$10.99
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Planishers
Planishers are nearly flat. They have a very slight crown with a stronger radius towards the edge so that overlapping blows can be blended without leaving sharp edge marks.
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Round Planisher
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Half Round Planisher
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Teardrop Planisher
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Square Planisher
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| Rectangular Planisher
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Rectangular Planisher
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Football / Leaf Planisher
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Equi-Triangular - Planisher
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Triangular - 3 : 1 Planisher
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Matting tools
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Matting tools are also nearly flat but they have a texture embossed on their surface which is transfered to the work.
I will be soon adding these tools to the mix. They are special order at this point but will be available in most of sizes and shapes listed below.
I will be making several matting texture types with samples posted here when I get that far.
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Chasers
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| Coming soon texturing tools, curved liners, curved chasing chisels, matting tools. . . |
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| # Chase-0302
Sheepsfoot (edge definer, 2nd pass butcher, face is tapered back from edge) 5.8 x 5.3 mm |
Included in
the basic set
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| $10.95
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Materials
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Copper
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| 3x3 inch .041" (32 oz/sqft) copper panel |
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| $1.39 ea |
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| 5 Pac - 3x3 inch .041" (32 oz/sqft) copper panels |
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| $5.55 |
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Custom tools - as a point of reference I have
posted pictures of Pete
Renzetti's set of small chasing tools and numbered them.
Point out one similar to what you want and we will consider making it. Email Gene Olson |
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