Shape Shifters

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Creating simple chasing tools

By Charles Lewton-Brain

Chasing and repoussé are important historical metal working techniques, used in all cultures across the world. Traditionally, the chaser made his own tools, copying exactly the best ones of his teachers and sometimes inheriting generations of tools from a master. This brief introduction touches on how to harden and temper a chasing tool. Once you understand basic hardening and tempering, you are free to make and adapt punches, chisels, and other tools.