Reshaping the Silver Saucer and Setting its Base
The saucer was annealed, then I started to lower the center by holding the rim on the wooden dowel I had shaped over the weekend, striking the center edge with the flat head end of my planishing hammer. That put it down a little but not enough to raise the rim so it could be picked up from a table easily. I have an oak log that has a slight depression in it and thought it would be useful with a large repousse tool. I hammered that around the depressions edge but it was putting the center down with a curved slope.
Then I realized that I needed something much larger and felt I should have found the flat end of the wooden stake sooner, it was much more effective at moving the silver where I wanted it to go. It was struck with a large rawhide mallet so I wouldn’t damage the shaped end.
The depression wasn’t sharp enough yet. I taped the saucer to a steel block and chose the largest nail punch in my collection. It makes a circle when it is struck like a chasing tool. I set an edge of the punch on the chased line at a slight angle and struck, then I straightened the punch vertically and struck again in the same place, the edge was finally down where I wanted it and the slope up to the leaves was gone.
After completing the circle with the nail punch I took the saucer to the flat top round stake and used the planishing hammer to flatten the center of the depression. While there, I stamped my mark and a 925. Then I took it back to the log with the depression and used a mallet to even up the raised rim. It’ll go back into the pitch bowl now so that I can start the detailed (final?) chasing.
