making a mild steel plate convex

[Sonora Iron]

Maybe Harbor Freights sells these.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77IN6UhGSZE

[walker]

This bulldog is roughly 30" tall and across and is made of 10 gauge hot rolled. It is raised in the center about 2 1/2". I did it with a large rounding hammer while cold on a block of wood. I just raised one end and would hammer down on the section that was right above the wood, or set it between two blocks and hammer down in between them. Lots of lighter hits will net you a better shape than hard hits.

[crawdaddy]

Grind the shape you want into a stump - like a bowl.

Place steel over the whole, hit with hammer, repeat...........

That seems like a pretty good idea,It seems like it would make it pretty easy if you heated the area dull red before hammering .A gas cylinder cap makes a nice round hammer with a handle welded to it.Mike

[MR.57]

Recycle the endcap from an old unserviceable propane or air tank? Just look for one with the approximate curve you want.

[Chuck U&R]

"That seems like a pretty good idea" - Thanks.

That's probably how they would do it here -

http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/index.php