Metal Spinning By Hand ( 22 August, 2010 )
Hand Metal Spinning
Metal spinning is understood to be one of the oldest techniques of forming and shaping sheet metal and in its earlier years the spinning was done by hand. It has commonly been believed that this technique was first used by the ancient Egyptians, but there also exists significant evidence that the process was developed in ancient China originally – used initially as an art form then subsequently as a commercial trade.
The technique of metal spinning by hand involves placing a piece of metal on a lathe then shaping or forming it with a tool known as a spoon. The metal spinner forms a flat piece of metal over a specially designed chuck to produce the desired shape. This could be compared to a potter at his potters wheel. This method will produce a round metal object which can then be tapered or shaped according to the design of the piece. The flat piece of metal is shaped around the chuck by the spoon tool making a series of passes over it. The shape of the finished piece depends entirely on the shape of the chuck – obviously, there are many different shapes and sizes of chucks.
The method can be used to shape and form the piece for both artistic and functional items. The process was used in olden days to make objects such as bowls, urns, candlesticks and goblets. Generally speaking only softer metals can be spun by hand. The materials used include cold roll steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass and copper.
Hand metal spinning is still used today but due to the technology available this is considered to be a bit of a dying art form. It is more time consuming and far less efficient than the machine based metal spinning industry.
Artec Engineering are metal spinners based in Hampshire. They have been supplying the industry with spun metal components and fabrications since 1964.
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