[Jewelry making - Article 00075] - Re: [Orchid] Creating a cone

[leonid surpin]

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>     I've tried different mandrels, cone shaped tools I've come across
>     in hardware stores, etc, and nothing really does a good job. 

    With some hesitation, since I do not know the size of the cone
    required and technique would be different, I offer my 2 cents. 

    I will assume that metal is no thicker than 0.5 mm ( 24 gage ). 

    First let's understand the problem. When rough cone is formed it is
    very difficult to get it into correct shape because every time you
    hit the metal it gets thiner and displaced metal has to go somewhere,
    and that causes the form to get even more distorted. Starting with
    mathematically precise shape and hoping to cajole it into the cone is
    not going to work the exactly the same reason. The exact shape has
    exact surface area needed to form the cone. But when we manipulate 
the
    metal, no matter how careful we are, the surface area gets larger,
    due to stretching, and the resulting cone is misshaped. The solution
    is use a work flow that would result in the required surface area of
    the cone as the final outcome. 

    Start with the disc of the radius slightly larger to the length of
    the side of the cone ( not the cone height ). Saw the disk from the
    outside to the center. You must stop exactly at the center. Using
    fingers start pushing sides of the cut towards each other and past
    each other until the required cone with form. Anneal as many times as
    required. Do not use excessive force. It is not much different than
    shaping cone out of paper. It actually a good idea to practice on
    paper before attempting in metal. Once you have the approximate
    shape, you can start using wood or horn mallet to refine shape on a
    stake. At this stage any distortion introduced by hammering will be
    absorbed by the overlapping sides. When you happy with the shape,
    saw through the overlap to the tip of the cone and you should have a
    perfectly matched 2 sides which should give you no trouble soldering
    it. After joint is soldered, the cone can be trimmed to the required
    hight. 

    The key to the technique is to complete all the shape adjustments
    before sawing through the overlap and using the thinnest blade
    possible. 

Leonid Surpin.
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