Part 2

_The value of the mould:_ It may seem to you like a lot of work to make a mould just for this round tray, but it can be used many times for making this kind of tray and also for trays of similar shape, like bowl covers, etc. Most of the jewellery nowadays is made in moulds, wood, steel, or lead. Copper, silver, and gold medals, pins, rings, tea and dinner sets are all made by the mould or die method. This mould you have just made is only a simple one; however, complex ones are made in the same way. The skill all lies in making a very good design first and then in making a very smooth mould to fit the design. After one or two trials it comes easy enough. The chapter at the end of the book will explain die and mould making in modern copper, silver, and goldsmith shops.

SQUARE TRAY

_Material:_ Copper, 6-1/2 × 4-1/2 ins. No. 20 gauge.

_Tools:_ Shears, square, bench vise, round hard wood peg; dividers, copper vise jaws.

_Design:_ Determine first whether the tray is to be oblong or square. This material makes a tray 6-1/2 × 4-1/2 in. Draw this size oblong on a sheet of paper. The rim of the tray should be 3/8 in. wide. Draw an inner line all around, 3/8 in. from the outside. Below this draw your elevation, or edge view, showing the depth of the tray. In this design it is 1/4 in. deep.

First see that your 6-1/4 × 4-1/2-in. piece of copper is squared. Now draw your inner rectangle on the metal. To do this, set the dividers 3/8 in., and with one leg against the edge of the copper, draw all around the four sides, marking the lines on the metal. You now have a flat sheet marked ready for bending. Place the sheet of copper between the vise jaws, the inner line even and on a line with the vise.

The hard wood peg should be cut to a flat tapered end. This flat end of the peg is held at an angle of about 45° against the copper plate, just above the vise jaw and against the line of the rectangle. With the mallet drive gently. By doing this the body of the tray is pushed in, but the rim is kept straight in the vise. Repeat this all around. You'll have a tray like the sketch. If the body of the tray is not deep enough put it into the vise again and keep driving it until you get the depth you want. The inner corners will be found to be rounded, as they should be. Round off the outside corners to match. File the edges round and finish with an emery cloth, clean and polish as explained before.

V

PAPER CUTTER AND NUT SET

Let's make a paper cutter like this sketch. We can draw the design on paper first and then cut it out. Here is what we need to make it.

PAPER CUTTER

_Material:_ Heavy copper, No. 8 gauge, 10 inches long by 1-1/4 inches wide.

_Tools:_ Drill press and drills, jewellers' saw frame, cold chisel, files, vise, emery cloth, few wire nails (1/2 in.) two blocks of hard wood, one, 10 × 1-1/4 × 1-1/4 ins., and the other, 6 × 2 × 1/2 ins.

Cut out the design and paste it on the copper plate. If our shears could cut copper as heavy as this we would have little trouble to cut our design out. But the shears can't do this work, so we have to put the copper into the vise and cut the design out with a cold chisel and hammer. Place the copper into the vise with the line of design to be cut flush with the top of the vise. With hammer and chisel, cut along this line. The back part of the vise will act as a shear and help in the cutting and will prevent the copper breaking away and leaving the edge rough. When this is done, place the paper knife in the vise and file all the edges smooth. Now that it's cut out and smoothed up we are ready to saw out the design in the handle. To do this drill holes in the design as a starting point for the sawing. Take the drill press and put a 1/16-in. drill into the chuck. Drill a hole in any part of the design. Take the jewellers' saw frame and fasten one end of the small saw into one of the legs of the frame; push the loose end through the hole made by the drill. Fasten the loose end to the other leg of the saw frame so the saw is fairly tight. In order to saw properly, we must have something to support the piece while we are working on it. This is best done by taking a block of wood 6 × 2 × 1/2 ins. and cutting out a V-shaped notch in one end. Place this in the vise, or nail one end of it to a bench so that the V-shaped end will extend over the bench or vise to be free to work upon. Put the handle to be sawed out on this block so that it will be supported on both sides of the parts to be sawed out (see sketch of work in vise). The saw will play freely up and down in the notch. All sawed work is done in the same way.

_To file the edges sharp:_ Take your hard wood block, 10 × 1-1/4 × 1-1/2 ins.; fasten the cutter down tight by driving two short wire nails half their length into the wood at each end of the cutter. Place the cutter between these nails, bend the ends over, and fasten down (see sketch). Place all into the vise jaw and tighten it up. With a rough flat file, file the edges down, working from the centre line both ways. When one side is filed about half the thickness of the copper, bend the nails, take off the cutter. Reverse it, put it back, and file as before. Do this until the edges become sharp.

To finish this piece of work as it should be done, we must do some draw filing. The draw filing is done in this way: Take hold of both ends of the flat file, the handle in one hand and the end of the file in the other. Stand lengthwise of the piece. Place the file flat down on the blade with the teeth of the file pointing in the same direction as the blade. Push it from you and pull it toward you, at the same time pressing down on the blade. This is draw filing and it is the only way to make a piece of metal true, and free from the marks of the cross filing which was done in the beginning. Repeat this on the other side until the whole paper cutter including the handle is smooth. Wrap a piece of emery cloth around a block and rub all over the surface. Polish and finish as before described.

NUT SET: BOWL, PLATES, AND SPOON

A very beautiful nut set consisting of a bowl, four plates, and a nut spoon or a shovel, can be made out of copper. One uses the same tools to make this set as were used for the copper bowl, and the work of making it is done in much the same way.

_Material:_ 9-in. disc of No. 20 copper (bowl). Four 5-in. discs (for plates). Piece of copper 2 × 3 ins. (No. 8).

Take the 9-in. disc and hammer it into the desired bowl shape, on the hard wood block. The plate should be hammered up in the same way, keeping the depression in the centre of the plates about 1/2 in. deep. A very beautiful finish can be made on these bowls and plates by the use of the round end of the raising hammer and a flat-iron. Place the handle of the iron between your knees, face up. Put the bowl or plate, face up on the flat-iron and go over every part with the rounded end of the hammer. This produces a surface covered with oval facets, giving a mottled effect. The edges of the bowl and plates may be left straight or they may be rounded, according to the design.

NUT SPOON

Draw the design on paper. Cut the design out and paste it on the copper. This piece of No. 8 copper is too heavy to be cut with the shears, so it must be placed in the vise. See that the outline is even with the top of the vise jaws. With the cold chisel and hammer cut along the top of the vise as you did when making the paper knife. Now you have a shovel-shaped metal of the same thickness all over. Where the handle joins the bowl the metal should be left thicker than in any other place, otherwise the spoon will bend in the using. To thin out the metal of the bowl, hammer it. Begin where the handle joins the bowl and thin out to the edge. The handle is shaped by working from the bowl out toward the handle end, constantly widening and flattening it. Cut off the surplus metal, keeping to the original design. The handle may be left plain or some simple sawed out design may be put on. File up, rounding the edges off so that the spoon feels smooth and is comfortable to handle. Place the whole on a hard wood block and beat the bowl and handle into shape. Many nut spoons have designs sawed out in the bowl to lighten the weight.

VI

HARD AND SOFT SOLDERING

Soldering is a process of joining two metals together. It is not hard to learn to do. If you are careful when you do the work to have the materials to be used perfectly clean, you may be sure of success, for, after all, it's one of the easiest and simplest of all the operations done with metals.

HARD SOLDERING

_Material:_ 1. Borax: bought in lumps, wrapped in tin foil, or pulverized.

2. Borax slate: a square piece of slate with a small depression in one side. Any piece of clean slate will do. This is used to grind the lump borax, or to mix the pulverized borax to a pasty condition on.

3. Solder: silver solder, sometimes called hard solder. It can be bought by the sheet in large or small quantities. Bunsen burner, or either one of the following: blowpipe and foot bellows with gas flame, a blacksmiths' fire with coke or charcoal.

_Directions:_ The parts of the metals to be joined should, first of all, be scraped or filed bright. This prepares them best for the solder. Take a lump of borax, grind it up and mix with a little water, on the slate, until it is like a paste. Take a sheet of silver solder, cut a number of slits lengthwise down the sheet and then cut them crosswise. You will have a number of pieces about 1/16 in. square. These bits are dropped into the borax solution until they are completely covered with the paste. With a camels' hair brush, wash the edges of the metal to be joined, with the solution of the borax. Tie the pieces together with an iron binding wire, taking care to have the edges to be joined close together and in the proper position. If you don't, the solder will not fill up all the openings and cracks, and parts will be left unsoldered. Now, wash all around the joint with the borax solution. Place bits of solder at intervals along the joint, fairly close. Warm the work gently in the flame. This drives off the water in the borax solution. When the borax is quite dry in the joint direct a stronger flame over the whole work. Heat it gradually, but be careful that no part of the metal, except that around the joint, becomes red-hot, and that both sides of the joint get red-hot at the same time. If you don't guard this, the solder will climb to the hotter side and leave the other, and the edges will not unite. Cool it off in water and file the joint perfectly smooth.

SOFT SOLDERING

For mending teakettles, tin cans, tin cups, or anything made of tin, galvanized iron, or lead.

_Material:_ Lead solder, comes in small bars. Flux (1.) Resin and sweet oil. (2.) Muriatic acid. (3.) Tallow candle.

_Tool:_ Soldering iron (can be made out of a piece of half-inch round copper.)

_How to solder:_ Soft solder is a mixture of tin and lead in even proportions. This solder melts at a very low temperature. That is why we can do the work with the soldering iron. I find I can solder many things at home with the soft solder, and I'm going to tell you how I mended a leak in the teakettle the other day. First, I took a pocket knife and cleaned all around the hole or leak, scraping the dirt off both inside and out. Then I mashed a little resin up fine and mixed a little sweet oil with it. Then I washed inside and outside of this leak with the mixture. After heating my soldering iron in a stove (any kind of fire will do) I took a bar of solder, held it over the leak, and melted off a bit with the hot iron. You can make the solder flow over the leak by pressing the iron right on the hole. You see, the heat of the iron melts the solder and at the same time it heats the tin hot enough to make the solder cling to it. Before the part got cold I rubbed off the oil and resin with a woollen cloth. This left the work nicely cleaned. You can mend any leak in anything made of tin, in this way.

Galvanized iron utensils are soldered in exactly the same way, but you must use muriatic acid in place of the resin and sweet oil. But if you wish to solder anything made of lead or pewter a tallow candle is rubbed over the place to be mended, instead of resin and sweet oil or muriatic acid. In every other way the work is just the same. But lead, you know, melts at a very low temperature, so you must be careful when working on it that your soldering iron is just hot enough to melt the solder and not hot enough to melt the lead. And now I am going to tell you how you can make your own soldering iron out of copper.

HOW TO MAKE A SMALL SOLDERING IRON

_Material:_ A piece of 1/2-in. round copper, 3 ins. long, a piece of No. 8 wire, 18 ins. long, or a piece of light telephone or telegraph wire will do. Some soft solder. Resin and sweet oil. Small piece of clean tin. Manufactured fluid for soldering (used sometimes in place of muriatic acid).

_Tools:_ Punch, vise, file, hammer.

Place the end of the copper rod in the fire and heat it red-hot. Take it out of the fire and punch a hole about 1/2 in. from the end of the rod, large enough to allow the No. 8 wire to go through. Push the wire through this hole until half is on one side and half is on the other. Bend the wire close up to the sides to form the handle. In order to make this rigid, place the rod into the jaws of the vise and pinch the wire into the copper rod. This prevents any swinging motion. Take hold of both ends of the wire with the pincers and twist them close to the copper rod. This makes a good handle. Heat the copper end of the rod red-hot, and with a hammer flatten it to a four-sided tapering end about one inch long and ending in a blunt point. (See picture.) Cool off in water and file the end of soldering iron smooth.

Now it must be tinned. On your piece of tin place some soft solder, oil, and resin. Heat the soldering iron hot enough to melt the solder, rubbing it up and down on the tin, mixing all together. Do this on all four sides, and in a little while you'll find the solder has covered the end of the soldering iron. When this is done the iron is ready to be used.

VII

CANDLESTICK, SCONCE, ROSE JAR, AND CHALICE

There are many forms of candle holders. Perhaps the one we are all most familiar with is the candlestick. Before the days of lamps and electricity the candle was everywhere. Many different designs of candlesticks have come down to us. Some were large, some small, some plain, while others were highly decorated. But however much the designs vary, there are many points that all have in common. There is the base, large or small, and a cylindrical shaft which rises from the centre of the base. This holds the candle. The drip pan is fastened to this shaft close to the top. It catches the wax as the candle melts. Handles are sometimes soldered on, and sometimes the candlestick is made without one. They are attached to the rim or to the shaft.

CANDLESTICK

_Material:_ Disc of copper, No. 20, 5 ins. in diameter. One piece 3 × 2-1/2 ins., No. 20, (for stem). Disc, 2 ins. in diameter (drip pan). One piece, 3/4 × 6 ins. long, No. 16, (for handle).

_Tools:_ Hard wood block, raising hammer, smooth file, dividers, saw, round wood peg, 3/4 × 6 ins.

_Directions:_ Beat the copper disc into a saucer shape, for the base. Take the sheet of copper for the stem, fold it around the wooden peg till the edges come together. Scrape and solder the joint with silver solder.

_Drip pan:_ Take the small disc; with the raising hammer, curve it slightly to make a drip pan. With the dividers, describe a circle 3/4 in. in diameter in the centre of the drip pan. Cut out this centre circle and make it fit tightly on the stem. Push it down about one inch, scrape the stem, and solder the drip pan to it.

_Handle:_ A strip of copper 3/4 × 6 in. long. Cut a tapering slip off each side so that one end will measure 3/4 in. and the other 1/2 in. Shape with the fingers over the round peg (place the peg in the vise to do this) until you have the shape you wish (see design). The wide end of the handle should fit down on the outside of the rounding part of the base, and the other end against the stem under the drip pan. Bore a hole in each end and rivet the handle in place. If a round handle is desired, take a strip of copper 3/4 in. wide and 1-1/2 ins. long, shape round with the fingers. Scrape and solder at the joints, and then solder on the edge of the base. Place and finish up each part as described. This candle design can be greatly varied. It can be made taller, shorter, with various kinds of handles, or with no handle at all.

DESIGNS FOR NIGHT CANDLE HOLDER

This kind of candle holder, or night light, is made to hold a short, thick candle about 2 ins. in diameter, which will burn from 6 to 10 hours. A round base supports the candle, and a shade with a handle on the back is fastened to the base. It can be adjusted so that the candle burns freely all night, while the shade protects the eyes from the light. Nothing is more convenient than one of these holders, for summer homes or for camping.

_Material:_ Brass, No. 24, 3-1/2 × 4 ins. for reflector. 6-1/4 × 7/8 ins. for cylinder. 2-in. disc for base. No. 20, 6 × 1/4 ins. for handle.

_Directions:_ Picture shows a small night candle made of brass. Cut out a 2-in. disc. Bend the 6-1/4 × 7/8-in. strip to fit it. Solder the two ends of the ring and make it perfectly round. Be careful when rounding it up not to stretch it larger than the disc. Push disc into the ring flush with the bottom. Solder the bottom into the ring. Draw the outline of the reflector on the 3-1/2 × 4-in. piece and cut away the corners. Bend it to fit the holder. It should cover about one half of the circle. Solder the reflector on. Soft solder is strong enough for this work. Now bend the handle piece according to the sketch. Rivet or solder it to the back of the reflector. Polish and finish.

NIGHT CANDLE HOLDER

The ordinary tallow or wax candle is used in this night candle holder. You will notice from the sketch that the general style is much like that of the small holder. However, in this design, a small cup or stand to fit the candle is soldered on to the base, a little toward the front.

_Material:_ No. 24 brass--A 4-in. disc. 12 × 1/2 ins., for band to go around the disc. Reflector, 7 × 7 ins. Cup, 7/8 × 2-3/4 ins., and handle piece, 6 × 1/4 in.

The reflectors are sometimes left plain, though the facets made by a flat placed hammer reflect the light when the candles are lighted and soften the light by day. The greater the reflecting power of the surface, the better is the effect. If each part is carefully filed and finished before they are all put together there will be nothing but the polishing needed.

SCONCE (WITH ONE CANDLE)

The sconce is a candle holder made to fasten upon any wall. It is both useful and decorative. Some are made to hold but one candle; they can be made, however, for two, three, or four candles. All sconces should have a reflector, a bowl, shaft, and drip pan. But the designs vary to suit the individual taste and surroundings. The design given here is a very simple one and one that works out well in copper or brass.

_Material:_ One piece of No. 20 copper, 10 × 3-1/4 ins., for the reflector. One piece of No. 20, 2-1/2 × 1 in., for candle socket. One piece of No. 20 copper, 1-1/2-in. disc. One piece of 1/4-in. round copper 4 ins. long.

_Directions:_ Make a drawing like sketch shown here. Place this drawing upon the 10 × 3-1/4-in. sheet of copper and cut the metal to fit the outline. Mark on this sheet of metal the embossed line shown in the sketch. Place the sheet of the copper on the hard wood block and with a chasing tool placed on the line, strike with the planishing hammer on the end of the chasing tool. This, in turn, will drive the metal into the wood. Repeat this till the outline stands out above the face of the reflector about 1/32 in. If this is done carefully the raised part will be a true smooth line. The same tool will widen the line any width desired. Cut into a wood block a form like the impression you see back of the candle. Place the sconce over this impression and with a wooden peg drive the metal into it. The dotted line on the sketch will show how deep this should be. Drive out any buckles that may have formed during the working of the metal. This is done by placing the sconce face down on the bench and striking down on the raised parts until it lies flat.

_Candle holder:_ Bend the stock for the holder around a 3/4-in. mandrel or wood peg till the two ends meet. Clean and solder these ends. Cut a 3/4-in. disc to fit the inside of this and solder in. Place this on the 1-1/2-in. disc and drill a hole through the centre of both.

_Bracket for candle:_ Take the 1/4-in. round stock. Put it in the vise with one end projecting above, about 1/2 in. Drive down on this end, at the same time bend it as shown in the drawing. File the end flat. Cut a piece of No. 20 copper 1/2 in. × 3/8 in. and solder it on the end just filed. This plate is drilled with two 1/8-in. holes, and filed around. Bend the shape as shown in the drawing and on the other end file a shoulder and 1/8-in. pin. This is now placed through the hole of the disc and the candle holder, and both riveted to the bracket. The bracket now is placed on the bottom of the sconce (see drawing), and riveted on. The whole sconce may now be nailed with round head nails to a flat 1/4-in. board to give weight, or there may be riveted to the back, angles made of No. 20 metal, 5/8 in. wide and bent 3/8 in. one way and 1/4 in. the other way. These angle pieces are riveted on the sides and on the two ends.

Rivets add much to the decoration of the work if they are placed at intervals and properly spaced. They make a nice finish. A hole can be drilled at the top of the reflector, to hang it upon the wall.

HOW TO MAKE A VASE, OR ROSE JAR (WITH LID)

_Material:_ One piece of copper, No. 20, 7 × 7 ins. One piece 4 × 4 ins. (for lid). One piece 3/8 in. wide and long enough to go around the opening of the vase or jar.

_Tools:_ Round stake, anvil stake, driving and planishing hammers, dividers, and shears.

_Design:_ Vase, having a base 2-1/2 ins. in diameter, height 3 ins., 3-1/2-in. opening at the top, and lid to fit. The full height of the vase is 4-1/2 ins.