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The Bowl

The Bowl -

The First introductory task to the course was to turn a 200mm x 200mm square piece of aluminium into the shape of a bowl through the manipulation of reshaping the properties of the aluminium.

Material:
  • 200mm x 200mm Aluminium sheet
Tools used:
  • Tin Snippers
  • Plywood radius guides 
  • Marking pencil
  • Tapered plastic mallet
  • Sandbag
  • Concave wooden stump
  • English Wheel 

Step 1

By using the Plywood radius guides, accurate circles could be marked out along the surface of the aluminium to soon act has guides to beginning shaping the material.

Step 2

With the outer most circumference marked it was then time to use the tin snippers to accurate cut out the radius, this one done by making small consecutive cuts 2 millimetres away from the marked lined, so i could go back a second time and be even more accurate. Finally some simple filing along the edges ensured no sharp spurs were left on the sheet of metal.

Step 3

Using the wooden stump and the tapered plastic mallet the first step to shaping could begin. By lining the edge of the concave bit in the stump with the edge of the sheet of metal, i began hammering accurately and consistently along the new outer most circumference to achieve the first inital shape of the bowl.

Step 4

After achieving the initial concave of the bowl the next step i took was to begin hammering using only the sand bag with the same plastic mallet. I spent a lot of time to ensure the smoothest and most consistent finish possible, i achieved this by working from the inner most circle to the outer as that is the same direction the aluminium naturally stretches.

Step 5

After achieving the first stage of the bowl in its final form i then dedicated myself to using only the English wheel to achieve the final shape needed. I started off using a low pressure to stretch the aluminium and ensuring i was incredibly consistent with my rolling technique, this meant i would always space my rolls the same amount, always finish end to end and followed the same rolling pattern to achieve the most uniform finish possible. throughout the process i would increase the English wheels pressure to make it as smooth as possible.


Initial Rolling Results - Bowl is concaving more to desired radius but still has a lot of bumps


Final Results from the English Wheel




I am incredibly pleased with the final results, I was able to achieve a consistent 155 radius around the entire dome of the bowl whilst also having a very even edge finish which sits incredibly flush with any flat surface.

Step 6 


Sand and polish for a smoother surface finish.



Final Pictures





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