[TheForge] 8" hemispheres, shameless plug

[PlumDon at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/29/2004 11:25:56 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
tom at tomtroszak.com writes:

How many  do you need, and how much are they worth to you? would you rather
buy them  made, or have the tool? How smooth do they need to be? Do you want
them  smooth and shiny (like spun) or dark and forged and scaly? Hammer bumps
or  smooth pressed surface? Do they need to be trimmed to exactly 8" and  mate
up into perfect spheres, or are they just bowls? This is America, by  gum,
you can have whatever you want... I just need to know the exact  specs.


G'Morning, Tom;





I am looking for some 8" hemispheres in 16 or 14 gauge mild steel. No  holes. 
I would prefer to buy them rather than tool up and make them.
I use them for bowls on colonial skillets that I sell to re-enactors and  
folks with colonial hearths. 
They do not have to be particularly neat. If they were I would distress  them 
some. I will probably add a few hammer marks to anything spun. Wavy edges  
are fine. No scale would be great. By the time I get done the 20+ heats for one  
of these things I bet my 16 stock is 18 or so. 
My arm just will not take the 2 to 2-1/2 hours it takes to bang one of  these 
out and finish fairly well. I did another one yesterday and regret it  today.
Size is approximate. I could work with something slightly different if a  
mandrel already existed. 
I could start with an order for 10 or 12. 
I can get plenty of these things in 11g for 15.85 to 26.50 from many of the  
architectural supply firms. But nothing thinner. 
Perhaps it is even possible that one of these 11g bowls with a bit of beefy  
framing welded in would serve as a mandrel. 
I also sent this to Maurice Ellis per Rick Crawford's suggestion.
Thanks for any help
 
Don  

Don  Plummer
Plummer Design Works
392 Hallman Mill Road
Phoenixville, PA  19460
610-495-5058