Lead-working, bossing/dressing sticks

[Philip Davies]

These tools for shaping lead are called bossing sticks or dressers. six I have made from applewood salvaged from my brother-in-law's firewood stack. They have not been used. Also shown, is a commercially produced bossing stick, obtained secondhand, which is the one I use. It's a bit lightweight.

[DIYer]

Thanks Philip! We've added your Bossing Sticks to our Woodworking category, as well as to your builder page: Philip Davies' Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Bossing Sticks by Philip Davies

tags: shaper, lead

[Jan Greňo]

Hallo Philip, English is not my mother language, so I dont understand purpose of your sticks. But they are very nice. :-) Please could you clear it to me?

Thanks, Jan.

[kbalch]

Hi Jan,

Thanks for asking that question. I didn't know anything about lead bossing sticks, either, so I found a couple of videos that demonstrate their use.

The vids helped clear things up a bit for me! Hope they help you, too.

Ken

[Philip Davies]

Thank you, Jan. It is good of you to write.
You hit the soft metal (lead) to form it and make shapes.

[Philip Davies]

Thank you, Ken, for posting those videos

[Jon]

Interesting. I believe this is our first bossing sticks listing. I see them as similar to body dollies, but for lead.

[Jan Greňo]

Thank you, Jan. It is good of you to write.
You hit the soft metal (lead) to form it and make shapes.

Thanks Philip, all is now clear with using bossing sticks for forming lead, very interesting is for me too using lead sheets for roofing.

Jan

[Jan Greňo]

Hi Ken, thanks for videos, all is now clear.

Jan

[carlosleadman]

hi Phillip

nice to see that someone is still making these type of tools ,the tools I use are all hand made and mostly antiques some well over a hundred years old .
I have carved and turned several myself ,but mostly from box,hornbeam or lignum all are heavy and short grained timber and are getting harder to obtain . The dresser that I made for hollow rolling weighs around 1.0 kg and was curved using a 4.5inch grinder carvers wheel and finished with spoke shave and file . the main thing to remember about timber tools is to soak them in linseed oil at least once a year, the oil adds weigh and protects the tool during use . When using these type of tools it is the grain in the tool that grips and moves the lead in the correct direction and not the force of impact ,little and offend is the main trick in bossing . Plastic and rubber tools are fine for moving the lead and used correct leave fewer makes than timber ,but these are not for bossing in my option, plastic will just slip or bounce off at impact and rubber is not suitable to be made into anything other than mallets --I hope this helps in understanding the finer points of the bossing craft --regards

carlos