Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths

If you are really serious about foldforming and metal raising, this is the seminal work written in the '70's, published by the Kent State University Press. Somehow, it seems that many of the best jewelers I know are from the Midwest.My teacher warned me that this is a very advanced book. I've tried what looks like some of the easiest forms to make and got beautiful results. Thing is, they did not resemble the form in the book at all! The directions assume prior knowledge and can be cryptic to a novice.If you are new, books like Creative Metal Forming (de Longhi, Eid) and Foldforming (Lewton-Brain) are what you should be using. They will keep you busy for a few years. Still, read this book, play with the forms, but don't expect to master it unless you've been fold forming raising for a while. The author names every.single.one of his forms. It's a bit different than most, but the names are interesting. New to foldforming or not, I'd get it and plan to grow into it.

There is a reason this book has become the Bible for many forming metalsmiths. It's more than a "how to" book. The author seeks to establish a lexicon of stardardized terms to make communication between smiths more exact and fruitful. This is not a book for those just beginning metalsmithing. But those with a solid understanding of the craft and an imagination will find it highly rewarding! It should be kept as a referance in every creative metalsmith's shop.

Seppä has written the best book I know for anyone looking to expand their range in creating forged metal objects. Although this touches on a few additional topics, like surface treatments and linkages, the largest part of Seppä's discussion addresses raising, forging, and planishing.This book starts where others leave off. As a result, it skips the basics that a reader is expcted to know already. Those include soldering, annealing, raising or sinking of simple forms, and matching of complex shapes to be soldered to each other. Instead, Seppä goes into detail about forging of complex forms, including anticlastics, multi-part shells, and even a forged cube! Within each section, Seppä guides the prepared reader through steps, with special focus on the unusual techniques needed. The well-prepared reader will easily follow along as Seppä shows which part of the workpiece requires attention, and the kinds of blows needed to create the desired form.The other major thrust of this book addresses the language in which metalsmiths describe their forms. Seppä asserts that terms like "bowl," "platter," or "box" create un-needed confusion between form and function. That, he believes, restricts the creator's imagination. If, instead, the smith thinks of a rounded concavity rather than a bowl, it suggests many more ways to incorporate that same shape into different design contexts. So, in addition to using unfamiliar shape-words (like 'spathe' and 'xiphoid') in the how-to section, Seppä adds 30+ pages of glossary. That creates a verbal short-hand, summarizing a complex thought in one word. Then, when those complexities have been reduced to single words, it becomes that much easier to combine them into larger structures. The fact is, I have not seen this vocabulary put to use, but the idea remains intriguing.Once the reader accepts the relatively advanced level of this book's discussion, I have only a few qualms about it. One appears when Seppä says, "The statement that 'anything that works is right' is no more than simple-minded sanction of inefficiency." True, well-known techniques make work faster and easier, and avoid deleterious side effects that might not be immediately obvious in poor technique. Still, I would not want hidebound obedience to rules to prohibit thoughtful experimentation, or combinations of techniques from different bodies of knowledge. A reader at this book's level will understand that, though, and have the background to incorporate Seppä's new advice with the reader's own knowledge and experience. This shouldn't be anyone's first or even second book on forged forms, but should be in the library of every advanced student of metalwork.-- wiredweird

This is a must have for anyone interested in metal forming. Author, the late Heikki Seppa, was a master of this technique. His language and instructions are clear.

This book by Heikki puts considerable emphasis on educating the reader in the appropriate use of the correct terms used to describe the various forms and shapes, it is helpful to keep a dictionary in your workshop so at least if you are not successful in creating the desired shape that you aspire to, you will be able to describe with an impressive range of terminoligy what it was supposed to have been. On a more serious note however, I would have prefered, sharp detailed photos of the varying proceedures rather than drawings (A picture is always worth a thousant words ) . A sample viewing inside the book prior to purchase would also have been helpful. I have for a considerable time now been searching for detailed information about the proceedures for creating the very deep drawn Acanthus Leaves such as found in the early French era. This book unfortunately will be added to my collection of "interesting but not what I was hoping to find collection". I found nothing of great value in it for the persuit of traditional leaf work but I would certainly highly recommend it for anybody anticipating some freeform sculpture as depicted on the cover page. Dietmar

This book is full of great information. I am a beginner in metal forming and this book has given me endless ideas and inspirations of projects I have added to my list of things to do.

Very good

First of all, this book is not a project book nor it will not teach you the basics of working with metal. It assumes the reader knows all the basics of metalworking and is competent in basic forging skills - raising, sinking, planishing, etc.This book looks in detail at the different shapes that metal can be forged into, without, most of the time, being worried with what the shape will be used for. Seppa tries to separate form and terminology from function, believing that abstracting these shapes will allow the artist to use them more freely and in more unexpected ways. This book will take you deeper into working metal than almost any other book.To me, the major drawback is the overly complicated language Seppa proposes for describing shapes, which sound, for the most part, clunky and even pretentious.

Great book, good overview

Heikki Seppa is considered by most senior creative metal forming artists to be the originator of modern creative metal forming. His concepts are complex but his purpose was to begin to think of metal forming in a new way - new for his era. He urges moving away from traditional names like cylinder, cone, cube, and toward investigating the way metal 'wants to move' and the 'fluid properties' of metal. This notion was very revolutionary and began a new era of thought for silversmiths, goldsmiths, metal artists etc. I've been trying to develop a deeper understanding of how metal forming works. Since most other books [also excellent sources] mention Heikki Seppa as the originator I decided to get his book. It was not a mistake. It's rather 'heavy sledding' and not geared to beginning metal artists, but worth pushing forward. I've read many of his thoughts expressed by others in other books, but certainly a few things are expressed in a way that make more sense to me. So I'm very happy I bought this book. His sketches are throughout, and very helpful. The subject is so vast and his purpose was to 'start a dialogue of new thinking about metal'. He does that for sure.

Alles was ein Kunstschmied braucht mit guten Tipps, wenn man sein Werkzeug selbst herstellen will ohne das man verführt wird unnötiges Zeug zu kaufen. Es fehlen zwar Fotos, aber mit diesen ist eh das Internet überschwemmt, es werden dafür gut die Grundformen erklärt, was die Fantasie besser anregen kann als fertige arbeiten. Da um aus einem einfachem Stück Metall ein tolles Werk zu kreieren braucht man wirklich ein einfaches Werkzeug. Für mich war es ein gutes English Lese Training ;-)

I did not find any other source about building curved surfaces for making jewels, sculptures ans so on. The tecniques needed for building these objects are very well explained.

Good but I need visuals.