Repousse/chasing vs Raising/dishing

[Halbrust]

When does one become the other?

I only have limited experience with each. I have a project in my head: It's the imprint of a fist about 8" X 6" X 2" on flat sheet to be placed on the wall to look as though a giant was punching through from the other side. Either steel or copper, possibly dependent on the price of copper sheet when I hit the metal shop.

Would you call it repousse or dishing??? (it's really a combination of both isn't it?)

[Frosty]

I'd call it repousse and chased were I to do it. Copper works nicely but remember to anneal when it starts to sound tinky rather than returning a metallic thud under the hammer! Copper alloys work harden abruptly but are very malleable in an annealed state, copper especially.

Are you going to represent pieces of broken wall around the fist? Don't forget to post pics this sounds like a cool project.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Charlotte]

There is a book that I think is still available from Blue Moon Press.  Moving Metal  By  Adolph Steines.   Subtitled The Art of Chasing and Repousse   To my mind most repousse is finished by Chasing.  

If you have time it might help you with your project to look at Mr. Steines book.

[Nobody Special]

Moving from specific to general I would say. Chasing and repousse are more intricate, and make use of punches or what have you to stretch the metal and make lines and shapes, often while set in something like resin.

Raising and dishing are more general, and often refer to broader curves and shapes. I dish a bowl over a swage or raise a shape on a stake to make a vase; repousse...well, I don't do repousse but if I were going to make a fish in sheet metal....

Which you are using will probably depend on how three dimensional you intend to make your shape.

[Charlotte]

I attended a conference in I believe, Georgia, that had a demonstration of creating the traditional leaf forms and acanthus leaves over stakes.  I would say it was raised.  Ivan Baily did his bird forms  with a combination of raising and dishing.  I guess it doesn't become chasing or repoussé until you are driving into a background object.  However, I don't think anyone really thinks about the label while they are in the middle of creation. 

[RobpoundsMetal]

Please post completed pics. I would love to see it.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Chasing is done from the front of the piece, and repoussé is done from the back. If you can see tool marks on the front it was chased.

As to dishing and raising, it was explained to me like this. Dishing is done by punching the metal down into the shape which stretches it thinner, while raising forms the metal over a shape, and it retains more of the original thickness of the sheet.

Pitch pots are used for repoussé, and chasing to back up the material while it is being formed with the tools. All of the dishing, and raising I have seen was done over tinknocker / sheetmetal stakes, or other metal forms.

[Frosty]

Chasing and repousse are two different techniques. Repousse transliterates to "Pushed from Behind". The stock can be sunk, raised, shrunk or. . .  to make an area of extra surface to chase into the desired forms.

Chasing is refining detail usually from the front. Usually in that you can certainly chase from the back side say you want a wart on a witch's nose.

There are two basic types of chasing, soft backed/pitch and stake. Soft backed chasing can be done on leather, pitch, roofing tar, lead, carpet, wood, etc. The main characteristic of soft backing is it will yield under the stock.

I've only done stake chasing once and it was a very nice technique, lots of possibilities but very different from soft backed.

Frosty The Lucky.