Part 7

_To put the staple and hook together:_ Drill a 1/16-in. hole in the staple very close to the top. Drill one in the flat shank of the pin also close to the top. (See sketch.)

Put a silver rivet in and rivet the two together, making a hinge. Place this on the bar pin or brooch and then put the hook in its proper position. Now you can get the exact length the pin should be. Cut it off long enough to let the end project through the hook about 1/8 in. File this to a needle point and polish very smooth. If it is rough it will not push through any kind of cloth easily. To solder, bind the pin and hook to the brooch or bar pin, and solder as you would any other piece. Polish and finish up as you have done before.

BRACELET WITH SAWED OUT DESIGN AND STONE SETTINGS

_Material:_ One piece of No. 20 silver, 8 × 3/8 ins. One piece of No. 24, 1/6 in. by any length needed for the number of bezels required. Three or five stones (turquoises blend well with silver).

_Tools:_ Saws, saw frame, drill press and drills, small files, borax and solder.

_Directions:_ Secure small stones of uniform size and the same colour, or colours that blend well together. If the stones selected are too large the bracelet is apt to have a heavy or clumsy look. Bracelets should be fine, and above everything else dainty looking. Take your 8-in. piece of silver and divide it into five equal parts if there are to be five stones, and three equal parts if three stones are to be used. Lay each stone in its section and mark the outline with pencil on the silver.

The sawed out design is a matter of spacing between the stones. The design shown here is a good one for this. You will see that the spaces between the stones are cut away so that the stones stand out as the design rather than the bracelet itself.

If you are working out the design given here, drill holes and saw out the spaces. Do this while the silver is in a straight piece, also file these slots or spaces true and straight, rounding the edges both ways. At the same time round the outside edges both ways, too. This makes the bracelet free from sharp edges and it will feel comfortable to the touch.

Shape the bracelet, bending it as you have bent other bands. There is danger, when bending this, of the weak places, where the open spaces come, bending in sharp angles. To avoid this put the greatest strain on the solid places and bend these first. Bring the two ends tight together, then bind and solder. When you have taken off the binding wire, file down any thickness left at this joint flush with the silver band. Bracelets are both oval and round in shape. Choose one of the two shapes and round the bracelet up in that form.

Now cut the silver for the bezels long enough to go around each stone. These are all soldered in the usual way, then filed to fit and lie flat on the bracelet. Place the bezels on the solid places and bind each one separately. Place a little bit of silver solder on the inside of each. Be careful to wash the joint made in the band with a little clay to prevent its melting during the soldering of the bezels. If the bracelet during the soldering has lost its shape round it up again. File all the bezels down so that the tops are perfectly smooth. File off any rough spots in the circle or bracelet and polish it all inside and outside. Shape a soft piece of pine wood to fit the inside of the bracelet. Put this wood into the vise and put the bracelet on it. Now set the stones, one by one, and rub the bezels tight against them. Polish with rouge or pumice.

THE INDIAN BRACELET

The open bracelet is really an Indian design. Take a piece of silver wire, 3/16 × 8 ins. long. Hardened silver is best. It can be gotten just as silver wire that has been softened can be bought. Cut a piece 3/8 in. long from each end. Place these pieces on a piece of charcoal. With the blow pipe melt these pieces. Each will run into a little silver ball. Solder the balls to the end of the silver wire, one on each end. Bend the wire now in the shape of a bracelet. You can make the two balls just touch or you can leave them about an inch apart. Polish in the usual way. If the balls are carefully soldered on to the ends of the wire they make a very effective decoration.

XVI

SPOONS AND PICTURE FRAME

Silver spoons: (1) Teaspoon, (2) Sugar tongs, (3) Mustard spoon, (4) Salt spoon and salt-cellar.

_Material:_ No. 8 sterling silver 6 × 1-1/4 ins.

_Tools:_ Hard wood block, drill press and 1/16-in. drills, jewellers' saw and frame, files, shears, and raising hammer.

_Directions:_ Examine carefully any teaspoons you have at home. These will suggest ideas for designs. They will give you a clearer notion of how teaspoons are made than any sketch you may see. When you have decided upon your design, draw it on paper and cut out your pattern. Paste this pattern upon the piece of silver. You cannot cut this metal with a pair of shears. Put it into the vise and cut it out with a cold chisel as you did the paper knife, or you can cut it out by placing it upon the flat stake and, with the chisel held vertically, driving the chisel into the silver. You will find the vise best, however. Now you have the outline of a spoon with the same thickness all the way through. If you have examined a teaspoon carefully you will see that the bowl of the spoon itself is thinned toward the outer edge, and that the handle is tapered toward the end. The thickness of the metal is left at the short bend of the spoon where it meets the bowl. Now place the large end on the anvil stake and with the raising hammer (round end) drive down on the metal, thinning it out and at the same time shaping it into a spoon bowl. Your silver widens out and makes the bowl larger than it should be. Cut off the surplus silver. It is much better to have to cut down to the size than to be compelled to stretch the silver out, as it were, to a certain size. In one case you can stop when you have the proper thickness, but in the other you might make the metal too thin for practical purposes, in order to get it wide enough.

_Handle:_ Handles should be tapered out from the thickest part to the end, and left large enough on the end to saw out or file into shape any design you may wish to make. Don't work your problem too close so far as material is concerned. Any waste material in silver can be returned and exchanged for full value.

Hammering any metal hardens it. When this silver becomes hardened anneal it, but just enough to allow you to shape it up. However, the last annealing should be done some time before the hammering is finished so that the last work on it will harden it sufficiently to prevent its bending when in use. Hand made spoons have a beauty about them not matched by those mechanically made. If this handle is to have a sawed out design, the drilling and sawing are done as before described.

The finishing should be carefully done. Round the edges so that they feel smooth and comfortable. After polishing, the spoon is ready for use.

SUGAR TONGS WITH CLAWS

_Material:_ No. 16 gauge silver, 9 × 3/8 in.

_Directions:_ Make your pattern and mark it off on the strip of silver. Either saw or cut off the surplus material. Drill two holes where the holes are shown, for the claws. Saw down to these holes. Do this on either end. You now have three prongs, the middle one a little wider than the other two. Take the pliers, grasp the points of the outer two and turn them outward, forming a claw. File them until they have the shape shown by the design. Do the same on both ends. File the whole piece up, rounding the edges nicely. Notice that the edge view given in the drawing shows the centre thinner than either side. This is flattened down and the flattening of the silver hardens it, so that when it is turned it acts like a spring. When you have flattened the centre part out to the thickness of the drawing, place it on a wood block and with a chisel-shaped wood peg drive in the centre, making the inside slightly concave, and rounding the top side a little. This will bend the tongs like the design. Shape the claw ends to fit the sketch on a hard wood block, using a mallet. Before bending the silver into shape take the wood peg, place the claws on the wood block, and with the wood peg drive down and slightly concave the centre of the claws. All design work must be put in when the metal is in a straight piece.

SUGAR TONGS WITH BOWLS

These are made in the same way as the tongs with claws. In the place of claws you make the bowl spoon shaped on the wooden block, using a mallet. The spoon bowl should not be larger than 1/2 × 7/8 in. Finish and treat in the same way as the sugar tongs with claws.

MUSTARD SPOON, SALT SPOON AND CELLAR

_Material--Mustard spoon:_ No. 14 silver, 3/16 × 3 ins.

_Directions:_ To make a mustard spoon like the sketch given here, measure 1/2 in. off the end of the silver stock. This makes the bowl of the spoon. Flatten the end down, thinning it out toward the edge. File the bowl round. Place it on a block and hammer it into a plain simple bowl shape very deep. One inch from the handle end flatten it out, thinning it out toward the end. File to shape, and bend as shown in the sketch, similar to a teaspoon.

SALT SPOON AND CELLAR

_Material--Spoon:_ 3/16 × 2-1/2 ins., No. 14.

_Directions:_ Salt spoons are made in the same way as mustard spoons. However, the handle is shorter, and the bowl is oval shaped and not quite so deep. Any little sawed out design may be placed on the handle, same as the teaspoon design. Using the same design, a set can be made to match.

_Material--Salt-cellar:_ Silver No. 24, disc 3 ins. in diameter.

_Directions:_ Take the 3-in. silver disc. Draw on it a 1-in. circle in the middle. Place it on an anvil stake and drive it into shape like the sketch given here. This is done in the same way as the base of the chalice was hammered up. Hammer marks should be left. They add to the design itself. When you have driven it up, see that the bottom is flat, so that it sits level on the table. Trim the top off and file the edges round.

_Salt-cellars with fluted sides:_ There are many ways of making salt-cellars. Some have straight sides, some have tops bent over, some are saucer shaped, and some have fluted sides. Take the 3-in. disc, and divide it into 12 equal parts. File out in a hollow block a round depression and with the mallet and a wood peg to fit the depressions drive each of the divisions into the depression. Narrow the scallops toward the bottom, both in width and depth. Keep within the angle formed by the divisions. As you repeat one after the other you will notice the sides beginning to turn up and shape themselves into a cup similar to the first salt-cellar. The base of this should be one inch in diameter. Finish up and file as you did the others.

SMALL SILVER PICTURE FRAME

_Material:_ One piece No. 24, 1/4 × 13 ins. One piece No. 24, 3-in. disc (2-in. hole sawed out of centre). One piece No. 24, 1-1/2 × 1/2 ins., for feet.

_Directions:_ Bend the strip of silver, 1/4 × 13 ins., to fit the outside edge of the disc. Cut off the ends, and solder. Push the disc into the ring made and solder the ring into the disc, keeping the edges flush with the surface of the disc. File off the soldered joints smoothly.

_Feet:_ Saw out the design for the feet according to the drawing, and solder them on to the back edge of any part of the circle. This must be done with hard solder. Before soldering the feet on, paint the joints already soldered with clay, wash and paint the opening where the heat is applied for soldering on the feet. The edge of the 2-in. circle is bevelled slightly. To do this place the edge on an anvil stake and with a very light hammer drive gently down, bending inwardly. If this is carefully done it will require no finishing except the polishing.

The frame is now ready for the glass. Any kind of window glass may be cut to fit the inside. A little card board frame is made to hold the glass and picture into place. Take a strip of card board 1/4 in. wide, long enough to bend into a circle to fit the inside of the silver frame tightly. Cut a disc of card board to fit the card board circle. Glue the disc and circle together. Cover with velvet, so as to hide the card board. Fasten to the back a little stand for holding the picture in proper position. This, too, is made of card board and covered with the same material.

XVII

WATCH FOBS

WATCH FOBS OF SILVER OR COPPER BACKGROUND, WITH SILVER INITIALS

The few designs shown here are easily worked out in either metal. Many handsome watch fobs of silver alone, or copper plain, or copper and silver lettering can be made from an elaboration of these designs. College students delight in copper fobs with silver lettering, symbols of their fraternities, or figures representing their class year. The white of the silver and red brown of the copper blend very well together. The fobs may be set with a single stone, or a number of stones, and, again, symbols may be sawed out of the silver sheet.

_Material:_ Silver, No. 16 gauge. Copper, No. 14 gauge. The size of the piece of metal depends upon the size you wish to make the fob.

_Tools:_ Solder, rivets, shears, drill press and drills, saw frame and saw.

_Directions:_ After deciding upon the design, draw it on paper and cut it out. Paste this pattern on the silver sheet and cut out along the outline. If there is any cut out work to be done, drill the holes and saw the design out. If you are making a silver fob and you wish to enrich it by setting stones, decide upon your stone, make a bezel out of No. 24 silver, and proceed to set the stone as you did in the ring. If the background is copper with silver initials riveted upon it, saw out the slot for the strap to go through, and polish the surface free from all scratches and lines. File the slot round so it will not cut the leather strap. Polish by tearing a little narrow strip of emery cloth the length of the sheet and pushing it through the slot backward and forward, pressing down on the top and bottom of the slot. This tends to round it and to polish out the file marks. Mark the initials on the silver and saw them out. Be sure that the stems of the letters are wide enough to allow holes for riveting. Put only enough rivets in to hold the letters in place. Two are usually enough, except with the letters V and W. The more carefully you follow the lines of the letters, the less filing you will have to do later. However, even with the greatest care some filing must be done and since these letters are the principal part of the decoration, they should be filed square, smooth, and a little rounding on the edges of the face side. Keep the side to be riveted against the plate flat, so it will fit snugly when fastened.

When the holes have been drilled in the letters, place them on the copper plate in the proper position and scratch through one hole with a sharp instrument. Drill a hole through this point the same size as the holes in the letters. Rivet these on with silver rivets. Square the letters up on the plate, drill the remaining holes, and rivet. If the rivet is driven down good and snug the end of the rivet can be filed flush with the top of the silver. If one should wish to use rivets for decorative purposes they should be arranged in a definite way. While riveting the ends be careful to round them up instead of making them flush.

XVIII

NAPKIN RING, SILVER COMB, BELT BUCKLES

NAPKIN RING (SILVER OR COPPER)

_Materials:_ No. 20 gauge (either material), 5 × 1-1/4 ins. Individual napkin rings may be made either of silver or copper. Most rings are made of the silver, but copper lends itself very well for them. The design may be pierced, or etched out with acid. But the design work should always be done while the metal is in a straight piece. All napkin rings are made in this way.

_Directions:_ Take the silver or copper sheet and round the edges. File the two ends that are to be soldered together perfectly flat so that they will meet with the least possible opening. Bend the metal in shape around a hard wood peg. Bind with binding wire, wash with borax. Then place bits of silver solder along the inside and solder. After soldering, remove the binding wire and file the joint on the inside and outside, until it is all perfectly smooth. Polish and finish. Make a copper napkin ring in the same way.

CUFF LINKS

Cuff links may be made of gold, silver, copper, or brass. Often the design is worked out in the metal alone, again engraving is added, or enamel or stones. The designs given here are merely suggestions. Any one of them works out well in the metal. You will notice that some have a ball on one end of the link and a plate on the other, while some have the double plates. Again, some are made with loose links joining the two heads. The link is loosened and pushed through the hole in the cuff and then hooked on to the plate. One must be careful to make the plates on a pair of cuff links small enough to go through the buttonhole of a cuff.

_Material:_ For plain oval pair of cuff links. Two pieces of No. 20 silver, 7/8 × 1/2 in. Two pieces of silver wire, No. 14, 3/4 in.

_Directions:_ Mark the design by drawing an oval on the two plates of silver. Keep length and diameter of both the same. Clip off the sides and shape to design. Save the small pieces of silver clipped off, as they will be used to make the balls at the other end of the cuff link. With the file, bevel the edge and smooth all down. Place the plates on a wooden block and curve them a little. Take the scraps of silver you cut from the plates, place them in two separate groups on a piece of charcoal, and heat it until they melt. When the pieces melt they form themselves into balls. When these silver balls are cool enough to handle with a pair of pincers, cool them off in water. File away any part of the ball a little flat and solder the silver rod to the ball. Solder the other end of the silver rod to the curved side of the oval piece. Bend the connecting rod, like the picture. This forms the link. Do the same with the other link. Then file, polish, and finish. If stones are to be set, the bezels are made and put on the flat plates and soldered on at the same time the plate is soldered to the link. The stone is placed in position after it is all finished.

SILVER COMB

The comb described here is of medium size. It can be made larger, or smaller, as the working principle is the same.

_Material:_ No. 20, silver, 4-1/2 × 2-1/2 ins. Three pieces of No. 24 silver for the bezels. The size of the pieces depends upon the size of the stones. Three turquoise stones.

_Directions:_ Take the silver plate, 4-1/2 × 2-1/2 ins., and divide it across the shorter dimension into places corresponding to the number of teeth in the design. Be extremely careful about the spacing. Centre punch these divisions and drill holes about 1 in. from the edge through each one equal to the thickness of each tooth. Here the thickness would be about 1/16 in.

With a sharp tool draw lines from these holes to the outer edge. Be careful to have all the lines running parallel to each other. Place the saw through the holes and saw the divisions out, keeping as close to the line as possible. When they are all sawed out, file each tooth separately, rounding each one a little. Do this filing most carefully, for the least roughness left will pull the hair when the comb is put in place. The extreme point of each tooth should be sharp, after a gradual taper from about 1/3 the length of the tooth to the end. This can all be done with a file. The comb is now ready to bend in shape. Place it on the round stake and with a hammer curve it until it forms an arc of a 5-in. circle. Most combs are curved to that degree.

_Stones:_ Cut strips of silver for the bezels, long enough to fit exactly around the stone. Set the stones on the same way as you did those for rings and pins. Polish and finish.

XIX

ENAMELLING

Enamel is a glass fused to the surface of metals, for decorative purposes. It is bought in flat discs about 1/4 in. thick and weighing from 5 to 6 ounces. These discs are broken up so that one is able to buy enamel in small quantities. It comes in any colour and when put upon the surface correctly the colour does not change and it is not affected afterward by atmospheric influences.

_Tools:_ One needs few tools for this work. A wooden mallet, a mortar and pestle, and a small spoon used to put the enamel on the metal when filling the design will be found sufficient. The spoon may be made by taking a 1/8-in. piece of silver or copper wire with about 1/2 in. of the end flattened down spoon shaped. File this end round and smooth so there will be no ragged edges.

_Process:_ When you have decided upon the colour which you wish, put as much enamel as you will need into the mortar and cover it with clear water. The water washes the enamel and prevents it from flying out as it is broken up. Place the pestle on the pieces of enamel and tap gently upon the end of the pestle with the wooden mallet, till the enamel is broken up into fine pieces. While doing this the water will become discoloured. Drain the water off and pour fresh water on. Repeat this so long as the water becomes discoloured. With the pestle grind the enamel to a fine paste. Press down upon the pestle, at the same time give it a twisting movement with the wrist. When the water remains clear and the enamel is pasty and free from lumps it is ready for use. While using it keep it just covered with clear water. This prevents its drying and in this dampened state it is in the best working condition.

_How to place the enamel on the metal:_ With the small spoon pick the enamel up out of the mortar, place it on the metal and press it down into any depression. Keep it well moistened all the time. Repeat this until the whole depression is covered. If any part is left uncovered, that part will show black after firing. Then each black spot must be scraped clean, covered with enamel again and refired, which makes much unnecessary work, so be careful at the first to place the enamel just where it should be on the metal, and so avoid the extra work and firing. _The muffle furnace:_ This is a small furnace made for the purpose of melting enamels by what is called a reflected heat. The muffle is a half rounded, shaped clay form open only at one end, into which the piece to be fired is put. The flame of the furnace plays on the outside of this muffle. The temperature is raised to the required heat and the piece inside the muffle is fired without having any flame playing directly upon it. The reflected heat does the work. These furnaces can be bought in almost any general supply store. They come in all sizes. Natural or artificial gas can be used for heating; the regular hose or tube attachment is all that is necessary.