August 29, 20214 yr I'm forging a 4' paella pan from 1/8" mild and as is expected, I'm getting some warping. I'm thinking the low spots are where I need to work to get more of the wrinkles out, what do you think? Edited August 30, 20214 yr by Mod30 Remove duplicate photos.
August 29, 20214 yr No. Planish the wrinkles directly. Turning the sides means forcing considerably more steel into a smaller diameter circle. The only way to do it without cutting and welding, is to thicken it by upsetting the extra steel into the wall thickness. This is called "shrinking" working sheet metal. planish the rim against a solid smooth dolly. By planish I mean use a smooth curved something for the anvil / dolly to back the inside of the rim. Then use a flat faced hammer to strike the high spots of the wrinkles. It's nice if the dolly bridges between high spots but it's not a must. The only really hard issue I see is the sharp transition from pan bottom to the rim but it's not a major thing, it'll just be a little harder to get smooth. The guy in the following video is doing the same type of forming you are on a smaller scale. His form does what the dolly I describe does, it's just the form you're hammering against. Yes? Clamping the dolly to the pan is perfect and as he says keep moving it around the circumference as you work. Not moving it WILL warp the pan. The guy is pretty daarned knowledgeable and easy to listen to and understand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gHK24c_Xn4 Planish it hot or cold. If you do it hot I'd flip it over so I wasn't reaching under a sheet of hot steel to hold or move the dolly. I'm sure you've noticed by now that heating part of the disk WILL warp it. Part will straighten when it cools but not all. Getting it flattened completely will take patience. Have you done this before? I've got to say a 4' paella pan from 1/8" steel isn't what I'd call a beginner's project. One last thing, Thank you for asking such a good question or I never would've searched out videos on hammer forming sheet metal. I'll be watching a number of "HotRodHippie's" videos. I may have to comment, the part he forms in the video is something I would've spun without thinking about other methods. Frosty The Lucky.
August 29, 20214 yr Author Thank you for the comprehensive answer, I will check it out. The first pan i made was 22" and I got 10 stitches at the ER when it fell on my shin. This one is for a wedding. I have some friends that think I can do anything, so its challenging but pushes me a bit. They wanted a 6' pan but at 300 odd pounds I wisely renegotiated:)
August 29, 20214 yr You're welcome, it's my pleasure. I have a book called, "Metal Techniques For The Craftsman" by Oppi Untracht that covers many different metal working techniques though none to any depth. It shows and explains a couple techniques for raising a pan. We'd love to see pics of your finished pan. Just not of the results if you drop it on yourself! If you put your general location in the header you'll have a better chance of hooking up with other members living within visiting distance. Frosty The Lucky.
August 30, 20214 yr A 4 foot Paella pan, good grief, how many are they going to feed with that monster and what type of fire.
August 30, 20214 yr A charcoal fire and long rake to keep it even would work a treat. I can't imagine someone asking for a 4' paella pan who didn't know how to make good paella. I'm thinking I should've hinted harder about letting us know where he lives. Mmmmmmm paella. Frosty The Lucky.
August 30, 20214 yr Author Its for a wedding with 100 guests. My friend Shawn Stemp is a master chef and he is used to cooking for large groups. Francis Mallman is our hero I'm in Ellsworth, Maine. Anyone nearby is welcome to attend the second paella party after the wedding
August 30, 20214 yr We're blacksmiths not side show memory trick geeks, we won't remember where you are after we open the next post. Putting it in your header is a reminder every time we read one of your posts. I believe we have other members in Ellsworth, if memory serves. Frosty The Lucky.
August 30, 20214 yr Frosty, I was going to comment on your post but now I can't remember what it was.
August 31, 20214 yr I thought you were watching from L-5? We have the orbit in common. Cool, close enough! Frosty The Lucky.
August 31, 20214 yr My voices are saying my voice makes an attractively ominous echo when I cackle at my desk in the study. They're no help remembering if it's a base or lair. Oooh, what's THAT?! Frosty The Lucky.
September 1, 20214 yr Actually air conditioning is one of the highest costs. I LIKE just the right amount of: air pressure, O2, CO2, water vapor and temperature. There are more things necessary to properly condition air but those are the biggies. Nobody gets evicted twice. Frosty The Lucky.
September 5, 20214 yr Author I made this form to take out the wrinkles. Looking good except for 2 bad spots.
September 5, 20214 yr Are you laying the pan over it? Remember do a LITTLE bit at a time and keep moving. If you try smoothing one part at a time it WILL warp the pan and when it warps it will wrinkle other parts of the rim. You don't need to bounce around the rim, just keep moving and go all the way around each time. Frosty The Lucky.
September 5, 20214 yr Author Yes, it goes over this upside down. The problem with this size is that the rim has lifted up all around from the hammering. I'm thinking of welding a grid to the bottom to flatten it, but that seems like cheating. Done for today.
September 5, 20214 yr The pan is lifting because all the hammering is stretching the rim INSTEAD of shrinking it, it's what's causing the wrinkles. Trying to "flatten" the wrinkles is forcing the excess steel to go somewhere. To make it work for you you MUST sharpen the wrinkles and bring them closer together then drive the high points down into the low points. Draw a zig zag line on a piece of paper make them taller than wide. That is what you want the rim to look like. That way when you hammer down on the high points the steel MUST upset into itself. It thickens and shrinks the diameter of the rim. That is what raises the rim and flattens the bottom. That nice dolly you made is NOT to forge against, all you want to do is close up the open space between it and the rim. You can't see the gap so you're hammering more than is good and actually making it worse. Flip the pan over and lay that dolly in the pan. You'll be able to SEE what and where to strike. I'd grind a little radius where the curved section and the long flat bar meet so it doesn't cut the pan, cleaning up the weld bead and rust would help too. Frosty The Lucky.
September 5, 20214 yr You're welcome, I hope I can make it easier for you. This kind of job is more monotonous than difficult unless you get off on a wrong foot, then it's a PITA. Frosty The Lucky.
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