Handle Making & Necking In
Arts & Crafts Era Copper
Handle Making & Necking In - Arts and Crafts
RAISING BY COURSING
In Chapters XIV and XV an illustrated description was given of the simplest method of raising a shape from the flat metal without seaming. Reference was made to three distinct methods of raising such forms. The first having been illustrated we will now proceed to a description of the second method, which is almost always used in combination with the first.
In the illustration of the two pitchers, Fig. 97,
it will readily be seen that it would be impossible to raise such shapes entirely by the first method, that of beating into a hollow block from the inside, as was described for the making of bowls, etc., altho nearly one-half of the raising of the pitcher can be done by that method. Fig. 94
shows the progressive steps taken in raising the large pitcher. No. 3 is about as far as it is possible to raise the shape by means of the first method, which we will distinguish by the trade term of "beating." With No. 4 the second method, known as "coursing," is resorted to. In this method the hammering is done entirely from the outside, with a broad faced neck hammer, and the pitcher is held on the round end of a No. 11 stake in the position shown in the drawing, Fig. 94. It must be remembered that in "coursing" (as in any other case where the shape is being changed), the metal must be softened by annealing whenever it gets hard and does not yield to the blows of the hammer.
The main object in "coursing" is to hold the metal in contact with the stake at about an inch below where the hammer is striking, and at the spot where the hammer is striking to keep the metal away from the stake, and to hammer it down to the stake thus closing in the metal and making the shape narrower. This will be understood better after a study of the drawing. The hammer blows are struck in rows all around the piece of work, starting at the bottom or where the shape starts to change, each row being about 1/2" higher than the preceding row until the top is reached.
It may be seen, Fig. 94, that there appears to be more metal in No. 6 than in No. 1. This apparent discrepancy is caused by the fact that the metal stretches and expands under the blows of the hammer. The amount of expansion is governed by so many factors that it is impossible to state it by any exact rule, but the approximate amount may be illustrated by the hollow handled pitcher, Fig. 97. It is 7" high and 5 1/2" across the base, which dimensions added together give a total of 19 1/2" from one edge of the metal to the other. The pitcher was raised from a circular disk of metal 14" in diameter. This shows that the metal stretched 5 1/2".
The neck of the small pitcher was formed by the "necking in" process illustrated on the bowls and jardineres in Chapter XV.
The lips of the pitchers may be easily formed by cutting the shape of the lip in the edge of a 3/4 " board, fastening the board in the vise, and beating the metal down into the wooden lip with the neck hammer, Fig. 95.
After the pitcher or any other similar vessel is raised to nearly
the desired form, it is often found necessary or desirable to drive
out some part from the inside. This can readily be done by means
of a tool that is known in the trade as a "bellying hammer," which
is really not a hammer at all, but a piece of 1/2" round iron
or steel slightly headed up at one end, bent into shape, with a
file handle placed on the other end. The shape of this tool, and
the method of using it, are shown in Fig. 96.
Another tool that is sometimes used for the same purpose is the "snarling iron,"
which is a piece of 1/2" round iron or steel about 16" long with about 2" at each end bent over at right angles in opposite directions. One end is fastened in the vise and the other end held firmly inside the pitcher against the spot that it is desired to drive outward, and a sharp blow is struck with the hammer on top of the snarling iron about 2" from the vise. This will cause the snarling iron to jump, and in springing back it will strike a sharp blow on the inside thus forcing out the metal. The shape of the "snarling iron," and the method of using, are shown above.
MAKING THE HANDLES.
Three distinct types of handles are shown in the illustrations.
The handle of the small pitcher in Fig. 97 was made by heating
a piece of 14" round wire red hot and hammering and forging
it into the desired shape, filing it true afterwards. It might
be well to state here that copper can be forged, hammered, and
bent while
it is hot, but that brass cannot, as it will break and crumble under
the blows of a hammer.
The handle of the fluted pitcher, Fig. 100,
was cut out of a flat piece of 18-gage metal; the edges were lapped as described for the edges of plates and book-ends, and then bent into shape and soldered on to the pitcher. The handle of the large pitcher, Fig. 97, and the handles of the silver pitcher and of the salad bowl, Figs. 105
and 108,
are hollow and are the most difficult kind to make. The handles of the salad bowl are made of two pieces, the curved inside part of the handle being one piece and the flat out-side piece being soldered on after the curved piece has been hammered into shape.
The handle of the large pitcher, Fig. 97, is made of one piece of flat metal. The method of making a hollow handle out of flat metal is as follows:
- Make a full size outline drawing of the handle, as it is to fit on to the pitcher, and sketch in the extra length on the ends as is shown by the dotted lines on the large drawings at A, Fig. 94.
- Next mark on the drawing the places where the handle varies in section and draw the shape of the sections as shown at B.
- Next draw the dotted line C thru the middle of the handle and measure its length by spacing off with dividers or by bending a piece of wire to the shape of the line. Lay off this length, as at C, and mark the distances from the ends where the sections B were taken.
- Obtain the circumference of the B sections, and lay of one-half of the circumference on each side of the corresponding section on the straight line C. Connect the ends of these line, with a freehand curve and you will have an approximate pattern of the hollow handle ready to be cut out of the flat metal.
- It is bent into shape by hammering with the neck hammer over a hollow in a block of wood, making the edges curl in towards each other then driving them together from the outside until they touch the full length of the handle, when they should be hard soldered together.
- Then the handle should be filled with melted rosin or burgundy pitch and when the rosin is cold and hard the handle may be bent into shape with a mallet over the tee-stake and hammered smooth and the rosin melted out.
- It should next be fitted to the body of the pitcher and wired on as shown in the drawing, Fig. 94, then hard soldered into place.
Art Metal Home Continue Previous Page