Planishing on the TM Air Power Hammer

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“This nose bowl was hit very hard, as you can see by some of the remaining damage in the photos. It is aluminum, 3003, .040. In these images, I had set the Air Power Hammer for “planishing,” in order to smooth the metal without stretching. The bowl was caved in and badly rumpled. In just a few minutes it was smooth with no hammer marks, and essentially ready for paint. I still needed to hand work a few areas to bring it all around. A huge plus was that the Hammer was able to retain the original finish (including wheeling marks and some scratches) while giving a nice polished surface. I used the Plastic Planishing Set of lower dies and the Large Upper Hammer (which you can see in the photo).”  – Kent