Precious Metals & Bench: Metalsmithing
Anticlastic Raising: Basics
Throughout the centuries, metalsmiths used the synclastic
metal raising process to create useful objects such as bowls.
Anticlastic raising was used to make details such as spouts,
handles and lipped edges. Michael Good uses curved stakes on
which he bends annealed metal and then delivers the hammer blows
that result in the anticlastic form. He may further shape the
form using synclastic raising and other techniques.
|Here's how the two processes work: In the simplest
type of synclastic raising (below), hammers are used to stretch
the center of a sheet of metal, while compressing the edges so
that they fold inward toward the center, creating a bowl-like
|In anticlastic raising (above), the smith compresses
the center of the sheet and stretches its edges, forcing two
sides to curl under and two sides to curve upward, resulting
in the classic anticlastic form.
|The classic anticlastic-raised form
is illustrated in this gold object by Michael Good.
Information source: Michael Good and Aurum, The International
Review for Manufacturers, Designers and Retailers of Gold Jewellery.
Copyright © 1999 by Bond Communications.