Home › S › Spinning Sheet Metal

Spinning Sheet Metal

Sheets of silver, Britannia-metal, tin, and other malleable metals are, by motion and pressure, caused to flow or conform to a great variety of shapes. The process depends on the dexterity of the workman, the malleability of the metal, and the time given for the flow of its particles; for it must not be too hard pressed, or the sheet will fracture. Metals are spun in a lathe; a chuck or mould of the article to be made is fastened to the face-plate, and the disk of sheet metal is pressed against it by the fixed centre. An ordinary rest serves as a purchase for the operator to apply the requisite pressure with his pressing-tools and burnishers. Section chucks, consisting of a central core and surrounding sections, are employed when the nature of the work will not permit a solid chuck to be used. By means of these almost any description of vessel is easily moulded in sheet metal, when the core, being withdrawn, the remaining sections are taken out.