Hi from Australia … Craig Lauritsen here …
Here’s what the cymbal looked like out the box from the uk (thanks, Dave!) –
After playing the cymbal and getting a feel for where it stood currently, I decided to focus on three main areas; adding complexity, finalizing the shape and fine tuning the shape and tension at the bridge.
My hammers of choice were my vintage blacksmith hammer (1.4 kg with a ), a flatter faced hammer used primarily to adjust tension (1.2 kg) and a smaller and lighter hammer which adds a sweeter style of complexity to the wash (870 g).
The process was hammer, flip occasionally, check shape and tension, check sound & repeat with whichever hammer was appropriate for the direction I had in mind.
I used predominantly a spokes method in no small part because it tends to add more complexity. In the final shaping there was a little circular hammering with the flat faced hammer, mainly to tune the mid bow area.
Here’s the cymbal just before lathing –
And here it is after losing 250 ish grams & having some tonal grooves and a final pin lathing pass installed –
I’ll see how it integrates the changes over the next few days. It’s close, very close ….