Reflection

I had another go at the torus, which I thought was one of the harder projects.

I wanted to try some different techniques this time round so I started off by running the metal through the roller, which gave a beautiful curve.

The plan

Thinking it through

Metal sheet after being rolled

Then in order to ensure I maintained this curve I used a vice and tightened it round the hollowed stump. It did mark the metal, but on the whole served me well. I should have probably put a piece of cardboard or something similar between the vice and metal. 

I then began shrinking the metal where the stump is hollowed out. I used a combination of the rubber mallet and the heavier mallet with metal handle to smooth out the shrinking folds before they became permanent.

After this I thought it best to lightly smooth it out on the small english wheel. I think this time round I was more careful of where and how to use the english wheel, making sure it was not too tight, and the metal was the right way up. I had to do a test piece with the english wheel to get my head around what the metal does when you stretch it. Answer: it moves upwards.

To the right of this picture you can see my test metal piece done on the english wheel.

At this point I started stretching the metal with the english wheel on either side of the shrunken section. This really served me in accentuating the curve in the opposite direction to the shrunken middle. The hardest part here was to smooth out the sides of the shrunken section. 

After stretching either side of the shrunken centre I commenced curving and shrinking the edges of the torus by hitting it around the metal dolly that had the right curve for my project.

This took a little while to perfect, but I was able to shape it partly with my hands because the metal was still quite soft. Overall I was able to achieve a greater curve in section and longitudinally than my first attempt, which you can see on the left in the photo below.

1st torus attempt on left, and reflection exercise on the right. You can see the 2nd one is more balanced.

Again you can see my second attempt on the right is more balanced because it sits flat on the table.

The curve achieved in my 2nd attempt

Reflection torus at front