I was a little concerned about doming this base plate with all the 46 pieces. I was also a heavy piece to dome, after polishing the base plate with a Scotch Bright wheel and white Diamond Buffing Compound, I found that the piece was really about the thickness of 16 gauge sheet.
If you look close, you can see me in the mirror polish on both the front and the back.
(I knew this would be an extra treat for everyone!)
It just shows how good of polish hard solder will take!
The base piece now looks like one piece of sheet silver.
My other challenge to my self was to keep this project simple enough that any one wishing to take of the challenge, they could do it with the least amount of tools.
So for doming I took a piece of 2 x 4 fir stud. I went next door to my friendly auto mechanic and borrowed the largest ball peen hammer he had. I keep small ones for small jobs and for texturing. But again I wanted to get this piece done FAST!
I first slowly hammered a dome in to the wood piece using light blows and removing an small flakes of wood. You will be surprised just how smooth you can make a dome in the wood.
46 pieces of 14 gauge square sterling silver wire solder together with hard solder.
Then I began to dome the piece by making rapid light blows starting in the middle and working out toward the edge. This large ball peen was great.
Total time doming the piece was less than 5 minutes.
As the dome took shape I used lighter and lighter taps to keep the surface smooth.
I was satisfied with the dome, but mad at the mechanic.
Look at my hand!
I am not supposed to get dirty!
I was relieved to see that the piece behaved just as a single sheet of silver!
