Planishing a Silver Vase
Arts & Crafts Era Copper
Planishing with a core of Pitch - 1914 Silverwork
SEAMING.
We will take the seamed and fluted vase, Fig. 118,
for a description of the simplest kind of seamed work. It is first necessary to obtain a pattern that will, when it is cut out of metal and the seats soldered together, be the approximate size and form of the vase that is to be made. The method of obtaining this pattern is shown in Fig. 116.
We must first have an accurately drawn outline of the size and shape of the finished vase, as shown at 1, Fig. 116. It will be noticed that the vase approximates in shape the form of a cone. We can easily develop a pattern of a cone, so we proceed as tho the vase were a cone, as at 2. It can readily be seen that if we can obtain a cone of metal the shape of the heavy lines, it will he a comparatively simple matter to hammer out the top and hammer in the bottom, to produce the form of the vase.
To obtain the pattern of the flat piece of metal that will roll up into a cone of the desired shape and size, proceed as follows: Extend the general lines of the vase in a straight line upward until they meet at B. In extending these lines, disregard any slight curves, as may be seen in the sketch. The heavy lines show the cone desired. Draw a half circle the size of the base of the cone, and divide it into eight equal parts. Lay off the line A-B, as shown in 3. also the distance C-B. Draw an arc with A-B as the radius, and another with B-C as the radius. With the dividers carefully measure one of the eight equal parts of the half circle drawn at the base of 2, and lay off the distance sixteen times on the are A-D, in 3. Where the sixteenth space ends, draw the line D-B. The space enclosed by A-1 D-E, E-C, C-A is the pattern that will roll up into the cone desired.
Patterns may be developed in the same way for any vase or pitcher form. A few suggestions are given at 4.
To make the vase, first cut a piece of metal (copper, brass, or silver) the size and shape of the pattern, and prepare the edges of the seam for soldering by striking them with a file, thus making them rough so that the solder will hold the seam firmly. Roll the metal so that the edges come together, being sure that they fit perfectly, and hold them in place by binding them together with soft iron wire, in the manner shown in Fig. 116. The vase is now ready for soldering with silver solder by the method described in chapter 16.
After it is soldered and has been cleaned by "pickling" in the sulphuric acid solution, it should be made true and round with mallet on a tee stake, and the top should be hammered out and the bottom beaten in to conform to the outline desired. It will probably be necessary to soften it by "annealing" during this process; if so, care must be taken not to get the seam so hot that the solder will melt. After it has been brought to the desired shape, the bottom edge should be filed flat and a piece of metal the right size soldered on for the bottom.
PLANISHING WITH A CORE OF PITCH.
The vase is now ready for "planishing." It would be rather difficult to planish a vase such as the one illustrated by the method previously described (Chapter 12). In the first place, it would be no easy matter to find a tool that would go inside the vase and fit the various curves, and it would also be difficult to hold the vase on the tool in the proper position to do good planishing.
We avoid these difficulties by filling the vase with pitch, allowing it to harden, and planishing on the pitch. The pitch mixture is made up of equal parts of Burgundy pitch and plaster of Paris measured by bulk. The Burgundy pitch should be melted first in a common saucepan and the plaster of Paris stirred in slowly. Be careful that the pitch does not take fire. When the pitch and plaster are thoroly mixed, pour into the vase and allow it to get hard. Then the vase may be planished, and if it is desired it may be fluted as shown, Fig. 118.
This fluting is done in the same manner and with the same tools as described for the process of "chasing," Chapter 14, except that the tool is a little thicker and blunter, and instead of being done on a board, the fluting is done while the vase is full of pitch. If the fluting is to be rather deep, it is advisable to do the work while the pitch is slightly warm.
After the vase is planished smooth, the pitch may be melted out by tying some wire around the vase, suspending it bottom upwards, and turning the flame from the blowpipe on the pitch at the mouth of the vase. Do not turn the flame on any part of the vase except where the pitch is exposed to the heat, as it would be likely to explode if the pitch in the upper part got melted first and could not get out easily. The silver pitcher, Fig. 120,
was made by the seaming method, as described in this chapter, excepting that it was planished on a stake, the mouth of the pitcher being wider than those of the vases. The handle of the pitcher is made of thick flat silver bent and filed to shape. The wire around the mouth is half-round wire soldered on.
The question frequently arises as to the commercial value of the kind of work described in this book. The answer to this question, of course, depends entirely upon the design, and the care with which the object is made and finished. A value is placed upon a piece that is of good design, well made, and carefully finished, in the same way that a value is placed upon a fine picture or any other work of art. It is not valued by weight of metal or the time it took to make it, but as a piece of art work. If a piece is of poor design, crudely made, and carelessly finished, it is worth nine cents a pound, because that is the market price of scrap copper and brass.
The work used to illustrate this series is, with a few exceptions, the work of students, and it will give some idea of the commercial value of such work if the prices at which they were sold, or are held at, are known. The price of the kettle shown in Fig. 114 was $35.00; of the seamed and fluted vase, Fig. 118, $25.00; of the three seamed vases, Fig. 119, $8.00, $18.00, and $12.00, respectively.
But the commercial value of the work is not to be compared with the value gained by the student in recognizing and controlling the many factors that make for success—the new experiences and knowledge accumulated—the gain in appreciation and, best of all, the joy of creating.
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