If metalsmiths were limited to flat sheets — cut, soldered, textured, but never deeply formed — most of the jewellery we have today would be very flat indeed. Sheet metal tempts you to think of paper, which tears and folds only so far. But metal, and especially precious metal, keeps a level of malleability, plasticity and ductility that paper never had: anneal regularly, and sheets can be deformed, sculpted and beautifully warped in all kinds of ways.
Doming: the dapping block
The simplest forming method uses steel dapping blocks and punches. Flat sheet or wire sits in a concave impression; a corresponding punch bends the metal to conform to the mould. The sequence matters: start with the largest impression (the shallowest dome) and progress to successively smaller moulds and punches to increase the curvature step by step. Two domed discs soldered carefully along their edges make a hollow bead — a classic earring construction.
Chasing and repoussé
Two complementary methods for creating relief in sheet metal: repoussé works the metal from the back to raise a form, chasing refines it from the front. It is punch-and-patience work — the most sculptural of the bench techniques.
Forging and planishing
Forging — working metal with calculated hammer strikes — is universal to metalwork, from jewellery to tableware, and calculated strikes can also curve metal into specific shapes. Planishing is forging's refinement pass: a highly-polished hammer lightly strikes the surface, metal supported underneath on an anvil or dapping tool, ironing out the hammer marks. The late master silversmith Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe — her iconic Möbius series for Georg Jensen began with exactly this method — remains the reference name for what forging can do in precious metal.
Anticlastic raising
A subset of forging in which the metal is deformed along two directions at once, producing saddle- and canoe-shaped curves — the flowing cuffs this technique is known for. It typically requires a sinusoidal stake to control and direct the curves.
Hydraulic pressing
The modern, industrial adaptation: liquid pressure makes impressions in sheet (streamlining the more tedious techniques like chasing and repoussé for production work) — forming by tonnes rather than by hours.
And before forming: sizing
When the form is a ring, sizing comes first. Finger size varies with person, weather and time of day, and different countries use different sizing systems — but every system converts to a circumference in inches or millimetres. The US chart maps each size to a millimetre circumference, from which you read off the band length to cut for your chosen gauge of metal. It is one of the basic skills of every jeweller, purely because of the sheer popularity of rings.
Grounded in the JDMIS Metalsmithing (MS100) course materials. Learn forming hands-on in Foundation Metalwork Skills and Intermediate Techniques and Stone Setting. Related reading: Texturing Metal for Jewellery and How to Make a Ring Stone Setting.