Planish

[rkilgore29]

Planish - to smooth the surface irregularities in a sheet metal part with repeated hammer blows.

[Bill B]

This is a shop built planishing hammer. It was fashioned after ones produced over 50 years ago ( I believe ). You can planish with a hammer and dolly. This tool does it 4000 times a minute.

[Kerry Pinkerton]

I frequently refer to an Ewheel as a 'continous impact hammer'. While I agree that the original definition of planish referred to smoothing with a hammer. What do you think about changing it to something like this:

Planish - to smooth the surface irregularities in a sheet metal part. Originally done with repeated hammer blows over a post or hand held backing dolly or stake. Today frequently done with both hammers and slappers. English Wheels also planish as metal is rolled between the upper wheel and the anvils under pressure.. Impact planishing typically leaves marks in the metal while pressure planishing can result in a very smooth, if not polished, panel.

[tdoty]

Impact planishing typically leaves marks in the metal while pressure planishing can result in a very smooth, if not polished, panel.

Agreed, but kind of a biased statement, wouldn't you say? :) There are some experienced planishing hammer users out there whose results rival those of an e-wheel. Basically, used properly, the "marks" from impact planishing should be, at the very least, very difficult to distinguish.

"Pressure planishing" should be added to the "modern" definiton of planishing though, since the wheel makes those smooth finishes easier to achieve.

Tim D.

[rkilgore29]

All,

The question that comes to mind is this. Is it more useful to define the term or the process?

If we are defining a term, it might be better to keep the definitions as simple and direct as possible. I realize the word is also a process, first it is a word.

If it is more useful to define the process, then we should try and include all possible methods without bias.

An alternate approach would be to define the word and then start a thread for the machine and during the course of describing it, mention that it can be used for this ( insert word) process.

Just some thoughts on the subject. I am interested in what we are trying to do here and also in what others think is the best way to go about it.

[Kerry Pinkerton]

First of all Rick, thanks for getting this going. What I expect will happen is that we will have a good debate and eventually either will reach some consenus or folks will get bored with the debate. Either way, at that point we could take the result and create a new thread, lock it down and call it a dictionary of metalshaping terms. Or YOU as creator of the first entry on the thread, could just update your original post to reflect the current thinking.

If you want to go words, then I'd think you'd have things like:

Planish - to smooth the surface
Stretch - to increase the surface area
Shrink - to decrease the surface area

or something like that. Personally I'd start each entry with the word definition and then go to examples. If you agree with my suggestion for planishing then it works as an elaboration after the word definition, etc.

[rkilgore29]

Hi Kerry,

Thanks for the feedback. Let's see where this goes from here.

[anders nørgaard]

Hi Guys,

I think, these discussions are great!

How about creating a Glossary?? Maybe Jack could make it on a separate site, like the Gallery..Click Glossary...opens in a new window...choose letter you want to search from the "alphabet line"
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/26/26_23_1.gif

[tdoty]

I vote for the simplest possible explanation theory too. How to get there is likely a seperate discussion entirely.

Tim D.

[kustomizingkid]

it hard to make a short definition and explanation for something you could write a book on but i guess that every aspect of metalshaping there is so much to say about everything from wheeling to planishing to dolly work

Brandon M.