RyanMark

Then, must H20 be less reactive to copper than hydrogen and oxygen on their own?

Thanks, everyone.

So, do you think the plank which they place the skillets on is heated? I would think that water would not continue to boil otherwise, and I figured a violent explosion would occur if it were indeed just water. But yeah, I see the stuff flying out. I guess if the liquid was an oil, it would be smoking a bunch...

I'm assuming that the fluid these guys are pouring bronze into cannot be water:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClnOO0kVoEU

It's shown again in this video, which puts things into context a bit:
http://youtu.be/rHE0j_3sNcQ

What is the stuff boiling inside the cast iron molds?

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If the 1/4'' is larger than say 4'' x 4'' you're in for a real workout, even with a PH.........mb

They are going to vary from around 4x4" to maybe 10x10" and larger. And that was another question I had: Would a planishing hammer be the right tool for the job? I can only afford a HF model, and I think I know what everyone will say about those... But if it lasts for only a couple hundred hours, that would still be a start.

And I should have mentioned that this is a copper alloy and I'll be working it cold with repeated annealing.

Hello!
I'd like to know what hammering strategies you guys think would be best, for hammering a plate of metal so that it's turned into a thinner sheet. The shape is a square, and the starting thickness is about 1/4". I'm familiar with "drawing" out bars (I've done very basic blacksmithing), so I am guessing that I should not hammer the middle of the plate until the rest is drawn out. Any thoughts on that, and whether I should work from one side/corner, or go around in a sort of circular manner and end up in the middle? And let's say, hypothetically, that I can't just buy sheetmetal. I need to make it. Thanks!