You have to adjust your mind to the concept that when you hammer on sheet metal with a steel hammer onto a steel dolly or anvil that you will expand or increase the surface area by thinning the metal.
Cold forming sheet metal with a hammer.
A ball peen hammer.
The tokyo based goldsmith yutaka nagai demonstrates how to hammer down a gold ingot to form a sheet.
You also have to grasp the fact that you can reduce the area of sheet metal by thickening it.
Follow along as i demonstrate how you can begin shaping metal with hand tools only.
You may want a smaller hammer for small shapes or a larger hammer for larger shapes.
How can you go about shaping metal with hand tools alone.
I used a 16 oz.
Something like a sharpie to mark on the sheet metal.
This is a handy metal fabrication technique you need to learn.
And some sand paper to smooth out the edges.