Building Spaulders

An exercise in basic hammerwork, finishing, and assembly

by Eric Slyter

Page 5 of 8

You now have now sunk the cop. Next up is planishing.

Planishing the "Cop"

Planishing is the process of compressing the bumpy steel surface between two smooth surfaces in order to create a more consistent face on the workpiece. The tools used here are a planishing stake and planishing hammer. I have found that, if your workpiece has a twist to it from the rough forming, planishing will sometimes correct this for you (I have saved other techniques for correcting the shape for later for that reason). Its primary purpose, however, is to give you a relatively even surface to to finish.

For my planishing stake, I took a railroad spike and sanded the face smooth (I also polished it, but a good sanding will be adequate to begin with). Essentially, what is required here is a smooth, sturdy domed shape that will fit comfortably beneath the workpiece. A railroad spike is a low-budget technique, but it works and is pictured in Figure 19. Another technique that works well is to simply clamp your sinking hammer face-up in the vice provided your sinking hammer has a smooth enough face.

Figure 19

The technique is to start at one edge of the workpiece, supported from beneath by your planishing stake (whatever yours may be), and using your planishing hammer, tap the surface while moving the workpiece back and forth. Just as with the sinking process, the hammer should be thought of as a stationary machine directly above the planishing stake while the workpiece moves back and forth, progressively further, all the time, as in Figure 20.

Figure 20

This is a time-intensive procedure and challenging, as it is very easy to strike the workpiece off-center from the planishing stake and actually dent the workpiece instead of smoothing it (you will have to go back and bouge it if that happens). A clean strike generally will have a "ring" to the sound, while an untrue strike will have more of a "thud" sound to it. You will learn to recognize the sound and feel of an untrue strike with practice. Proceed back and forth across the workpiece in close-set strikes until you are finished. The end result should have an even, faceted finish across the whole. Light should play evenly across the surface.

If there is still major twisting, it can be straightened out much like the subtle twist added to the v-pointed lames. Using the vice, place the face of the cop against the wood with one point down/one point up, close the vice until only slightly snug, and apply twisting force in the direction needed. Take care not to close the vice overmuch or you'll squish your work.

I like to make sure that the edges on the cop are straight. You may find, with this pattern, that your own edges are not straight. Extra material can be trimmed off or sanded away, but you should correct your pattern so the next time will be closer to the desired effect. I use the rotating disc on a belt sander to true up my edges, as seen in Figure 21. I usually will contour the top edge a bit instead of making it completely straight (a result of extra material at the top edge on my pattern, which I have simply incorporated instead of trying to correct it every time). Again, dust mask, face shield, and hearing protection are in order here. I prefer to wear gloves also.

Figure 21

Fitting the Lames

The cop will probably need to be squeezed together a bit, so that it is is not so flat and broad. I usually cup it between my hands and simply compress as in Figure 22.

Figure 19

Additionally, some more tweaking can be accomplished by placing the cop against a sturdy surface (in this case my workbench) and gently tapping the ends with a medium or heavy rawhide (or equivalent) hammer as in Figure 20. The purpose of this is to create a rounded opening where the lames will be fit. Many reproduction spaulders I've seen are just too flat in profile, so this extra depth makes a big difference.

Figure 23

At this point I usually punch the holes in the lames. The reason for this is because, when assembled, the holes on each lame will be hidden from view by the lame above it, and by having the holes punched you will have a better idea of how well the plates are fitting together as they would in their final place. You can use a drill, but a hand punch as in Figure 24 is faster and more precise. For the "armyng nayles" I use, a 5/32" hole punch is a tad large but workable. A 9/64" drill bit will be about exact.

Figure 24