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ELEMENTARY METAL WORK.
 SBorfeg on Ipcacttcal OBDucation.
By CHARLES G. LELAND, M.A.
DRAWING AND DESIGNING. In a Series of 29 Lessons.
With 42 Illustrations. Second Edition. Fcap. 410, sewed, is. ; cloth,
IS. 6d.
" It has a good equipment of plates, and the text is full of valuable
practical directions for beginners." Scotsman.
WOOD-CARVING. With numerous Illustrations. Third
Edition. Fcap. 4to. 5^.
"Such patient, explicit, step-by-step teaching as Mr. Leland's is
indeed the only road to excellence." Saturday Review.
"A very useful book." Mr. W. H. Howard, Secretary to the
Institute of British Wood Carvers, and Instructor at King's College,
London.
"I consider it the best manual I have seen." Miss — Hodgson,
Instructor in Wood-carving at Manchester Technical School.
LEATHER-WORK. Stamped, Moulded, and Cut. Cuir-
Bouilli, Sewn, &c. A Practical Manual for Learners. With numerous
Illustrations. t,s.
" A delightful addition to the series of practical manuals." Times.
METAL WORK. Including Repousse, Bent Iron Work, Cut
Sheet Metal and easy Silver Work. With numerous Illustrations. 5^.
PRACTICAL EDUCATION. A Work on Preparing the
Memory, Developing Quickness of Perception, and Training the Con-
Third Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6^.
structive Faculties.

By S. BARTER.
"THE ENGLISH SLOYD."
MANUAL INSTRUCTION—WOODWORK. By
S. Bakter, Organizer and Instructor of Manual Training in Woodwork
to the London School Board, and Organizing Instructor to the Joim
Committee on Manual Training in Woodwor'r: of the School Board
for London, the City and Guilds of London Technical Institute, and the
Worshipful Company of Drapers. With a Preface by George Ricks,
B.Sc, Lond. Illustrated by 303 Drawings and Photo-Engravings. Fcap.
4to, cloth, TS. td.
Contents : Introduction— Drawing— Timber— Tools— Bench-Work—
Work-room and its Fittings— List of Tools Required, &c.
The abmc IVork covers the Reguiremen/s of the Examinations of the City
and Guilds 0/ London Institute and the Science and
Art Department in the subject.
Sir Philip Magnus says " Mr. Barter, in his book on 'Woodwork,'
:

has succeeded in showing, what is most important, the educational

value of rnanual training in school instruction, and has thus rendered a
great service to those seeking a trustworthy guide in the practical study
of the subject."

London : Whittaker & Co., 2, White Hart Street,

Paternoster Square.
 ^%kT^
(XJNIVEHSITTj
Repousse and Sheet Metal Work from a Bronze by Ghiberii.
Frontispiece.
 ELEMENTARY
METAL WORK
A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR AMATEURS
AND FOR USE IN SCHOOLS

CHARLES GODFREY LELAND,

Laic Director of Industrial Art Work in the riiblic Schools of Philadelphia. Aiithoi
of Practical Education"
''' '^
The Minor Arts,'' "A Manual of Design,"
" PVood Carving" ''Leather Work,'' ^'c., &^c., &-r.

~*^ OF THE
'^

(UNIVERSITTJ

LONDON
WHITTAKER AND CO., PATERNOSTER SQUARE
SOLD ALSO BY

BARKENTIN AND KRALL, 2gi AND 289, REGENT STREET

1894
 0^

WICK press:— C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO-, TOOKS COURT,

 (UNIVERSITTJ

PREFACE.
This work contains an explanation of the processes of cold
metal work, chiefly as applied to decorative or industrial art, and
especially with a view to their being taught to children in ele-
mentary and preparatory schools. The author believes that
it may be regarded as thoroughly adapted to this purpose, he

having been founder and director for four years of the industrial
art classes in the public schools of Philadelphia, in which some
of these branches of metal work were taught with great success,
so that many of the pupils on leaving school immediately
obtained well-paid employment. As many as six girls at once
thus went from the metal class to a factory, the proprietor of
which declared that all the preliminary education, which gave
him more trouble than anything else, had been perfectly im-
parted. On another occasion, a principal in an ornamental
metal factory, after careful examination of the design and work
of the pupils, offered to take forty together, and guarantee
"living wages" from the beginning, and a rapid increase of
payment, if their parents would consent. All that these children
knew, and much more, is set forth clearly and briefly in this
work, so that no person, young or old, who wishes to learn
metal work either as an art or a trade, can with a proper degree
of interest and industry fail to do so.
 Metal Work.

The principle which guides this and other books on the indus-
trial or minor arts by the same author, is that the riidinients,
or first and easiest stages of any thing to be mastered, must be very
thoroughly acquired, and no step forzvard be allowed till the pupil
is really a master in all that has preceded it. Self-evident as this
principle seems, as yet so far from having been understood
it is

or followed, that most writers on education in anything neglect

it, and in a recent book on metal work for amateurs, not only is

there no full description of what may be done in the early stage,

but the latter is even spoken of contemptuously, as only fit to
produce inferior objects.
I beg the reader to specially observe that in every subject

treated there is something of special importance, which is either

now published for the first time, or which was first taught and
made known in my other works on industry and art. I refer
here, for example, io figures in bent iron work, to an advanced
style of cut metal work, to embossing for beginners on wood,
nail-ornaments, and scale work.
In the Middle Ages in Europe, as in the East, the vast
extension of decorated work was entirely due to the fact that
the rudiments were so perfectly mastered, and the very utmost
made of their resources. Thus an immense proportion of the
carving, and, indeed, of most kinds of ornamental work, was
actually such as would be included in the first two or three
lessons in an industrial or minor art school. Nowadays all
pupils hasten on as rapidly as possible to the "higher stages,"
despising the lower, the result being vast quantities of petty
elaborate foliage and fine skill and
work, valued for great
labour, while on every house-front, and door, and elsewhere, we
see dead blank space. The art education of the present day is
all wrong in this, that it constantly holds up before pupils the

idea that they are to become great artists, when what the country
needs is good artizans. Practical result guided by good taste
 Preface. fx

is what the latter require, and I believe that I have had this before
me in every paragraph of my work. I will now explain the
nature of its subject and clearly set forth its subdivisions.
Metal work may be divided into two kinds, the hot and
cold. Heated or hot metal, which is naturally produced by the
aid of fire, includes that which is melted and cast in moulds,
or simply heated and forged till it is soft enough to be ham-
mered into shape, as a horseshoe is made. To this latter, but
much connected with cold metal work, belong soldering and
brazing, which is the joining of one piece of metal to another by
heating, and using some intermediate substance, such as solder,
or borax and resin, as ^Lfliix and cement which readily promotes
an union. Two pieces of red-hot iron hammered together join
with difficulty, but with a flux or binder, such as solder or borax,
they unite at once when hammered.
Cold metal work has many subdivisions, chief among
which, in decorative and easy art, are :

I. Band, strip, or ribbon work.

II. Cut sheet work, and stencil cutting.
III. Repousse or embossed sheet metal work.
IV. Nail or knob work.
V. Scale work.
VI. Sheet silver work.

To these might be added the remarkably difficult art men-

tioned by Vasari, of filing or images out of solid
cutting
ingots of iron, which is probably not practised by anyone at the
present day, and therefore is not included among the current

metal works.
As regards practical experience and qualification in these,
I venture to mention, with all due reserve, what is, however, well

known to hundreds in authority, that it wasin my work on the

"Minor Arts," published in 1879, and in my "Manual of Metal
 Metal Work.

"
Work," and Repousse Album," that sheet brass work was first
shown to be possible on zvood, which greatly reduced the price of
materials and the difficulty of the rudimentary stages of repousse
or embossing. And though it is usual for those who really do not
know what can be done on wood to deny it, it is certainly true
that it was the cheapness and ease of hammering on soft wood
which caused the art to spread with such incredible rapidity
over the United States, and, soon after, through Great Britain
and Europe.
It may, however, here be mentioned that I had previously
practised repousse on wood in England, and explained it to a few
friends, among them Mr. Karl Krall. It was also introduced at
once into the Home Arts and Industries Association (Albert
Hall, S.K.), where it is, I believe, still taught. Into this latter
institution the Venetian bent iron or strip work was introduced
at an early date by Miss Annie Dymes, the secretary, and
there it is now taught by Miss M. H. C. Legh, the author of
an admirable and very succinct " Handbook of Brief Elementary
Instructions for Classholders in Bent or Strip Iron." I beg the

reader to observe that while none of the works on this subject

carry it beyond the extremely simple, rudimentary, and very
monotonous ornamentation of the C and S and similar curves
of Venetian iron work, this book teaches a very much more
advanced, though not more difficult, art of making figures,
floral ornaments, and, in short, a great advance on all that has
been thus far made in the work.
Nail or knob work, and easy silver work for ladies, which are
fully described in this work, are subjects on which I was, as I
believe, the first to write or publish, and it will be seen that even
yet they are as here set forth almost entirely among the arts as
yet unknown. The latter is not only extremely easy, but when
guided by good taste may be made very profitable. These
(like advanced bent iron work, with figures, as here taught) are
 Preface. xi

as yet so very little known that thousands of people could

easily get a living by practising or teaching them.
This work is not intended " for amateurs to pass an idle hour,"
but to train the young to use their brains and hands, to develop
ideas of design and its application, and, in short, to awake and
exercise that constructive faculty which enables them to most
readily learn a trade of any kind, and which, as great experience
has shown, awakens all the mental faculties.
It may be observed, as regards the subject of this work and
its practical use, that cold metal work in such rudimentary

ornamental forms as bent iron or strip, repousse, and wire work,

can be mastered in a short time even by children, as I know by
extensive personal experience. Secondly, it forms the very
best preparation for working in -heated metal or forging, leading
insensibly and easily to it. Among our early ancestors every
well-educated man was a smith— smith, earl, and thrall, or the
artizan, the noble, and the labouring man, were the family
names —
of the whole human race and there is no reason why
every man should not be more or less of a smith now. All
such work opens the eyes and makes deft the hands to all
kinds of crafts, and the first step to it will be found in the
extremely easy and entertaining art taught in this book, which
is indeed so easy that there is nothing in it which any young

lady or schoolboy cannot master. What children have done,

children may do.
In "Repousse Work for Amateurs," the author, L. L. Haslope,
speaking of the various series of designs for embossing metal,
says that "the best sets I have met with are by Charles G.
Leland, a well-known writer on art. They include designs
. . .

for a great variety of subjects some of them are very

; . . .

quaint and original, and would form good practice for a be-
ginner." I venture to hope that the illustrations in the present

work will be found in all respects superior to those so kindly

 Metal Work.

and even more adapted to the use of the inex-

described,
perienced.They have all been executed in Italy, and in the
home of such art, and I have spared no pains to reap good
models.
In conclusion I have to express my sincere thanks to Mr.
Karl Krall for having read the proof sheets, And for several
useful additions and suggestions.
 ^^UNIVERSITT)

LIST OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
Bent Iron or Strip Work i

Flat Sheet Metal Work 35

Moulded Sheet Metal Work 46
Repouss^ or Embossed Metal Work 58
Ornamental Silver Work 89
Nail, Scale, and Stencil Work 98

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Repoussi^ and Sheet Metal Work from a Bronze by Ghiberti
F7'ontispiece.

I and 2. Anvils 3
3. Hatchet Stake 3
4. Shears 4
5. Pliers 4
6. Punch 4
7. Bent Iron Ring 7
8. Making Rivet Hole 8
9. Clamp and Clamped Work 9
10. Chain work Clamped 9
11. Simple Bends 10
12.

13-16.
17.
Vase or Eye Curves
Angles, Spirals, Wave-lines and Ogees
Samples of Curvature
.... 11
12
13
18. Stand for a Bowl 14
19, 20, Hanging Hooks 14
21,22. Simple Receptacles in Strip Work 15
23. Card Tray 15
24. Tumbler Stand . .16
 Metal Work.

25. Wooden Bowl and Iron Stand . . . . . .16

26. Flagon on Stand 16
27. Candlestick 16
28. Crossed Strips 18
29. Lamp Hook 19
30. Plain Frame 20
31-33. Methods of adapting Glass 21
34. Initial Letters 22
35. Border 22
36. Simple Plant Forms for Figure Work . . , .24
yj. Hinged Bracket 25
38. Bracket for Curtain 26
39. Mirror Frame 27
40. Photograph Frame 28
41. Circular Panel or Frame 29
42. Book-Rest 29
43. Holder for Oil Lamp 30
44. Six-sided Hall Lantern 30
45. Design for Glass Panel 32
46. Small Panel in Cut Metal 36
47. Fret-sawed Sheet Metal 36
48. Fret Saw 36
49. Attachment of Figures to Strips yj
50. Graver 38
51. Inlaid Metal Work 39
52. Book Cover 40
53. Old Swiss Sawed Iron 41
54. Sliding Ring for Graver 42
55. Hinge Plates . . . 42
56-58. Scutcheons . . .
42, 43
59. Book Corners 44
60. Sawed Metal Cross 45
61. Border or Frame 47
62. Patterns for Sheet Metal Work 48
63. Inkstand 51
64. Ash Tray 51
65. Cylinder 52
66. Tankard 52
67. Tankard inlaid with Coins 53
 List of Illustrations.

FIG. PAGE
68. Setting for Coin 53
69. Simple Candlestick 54
Plaque of Coloured Brass .55
70.
71.
.

Panel from the Baptistery, Florence

72. Lamp Hook
. .

....
. . .

56
57
73. Panel in Flat Relief 59
74-78. Tools for Repouss^ Work 61, 62
79. Sheet of Brass ready for Work 63
First Lines
80.
8r, 82.

83.
Simple Exercises in Repouss^
Study of Simple Flower Forms
Work .... 63
64
64
84. Study of Weeds in Outline 65
85. Prick Wheel 66
86. Study of Small Curves 67
87. Ornamental Plaque 68
88. worked with Fine Tracer or Etched
Repouss]^ . . 70
89. Repouss^ in High Relief from the Baptistery, Florence
90-92.
93.
Appliances for Repouss^ Work on Pitch
Copper Scalding, Venetian Work
... 74
75
-j-j

94. Studies for High Relief 79

95. Snarling Iron 80
Sample of Snarling
96.
97.
98.
Pattern for Panel or Cylindrical Vase
Paper Knives
.... 81
83
83
99. Salver 84
100. Bellows 84
loi. Repouss^ Panels on Wood. Florentine Work . . 85
102. Design for Salver 86
103. Panel 87
Roman Repousse Work in Bronze, 15TH Century
104.
105.
106.
Necklace with Pendants, Silver Work
Scottish Cross, Engraved Silver
.... . . 88
89
89
107. Silver Brooch 90
108. Old Scottish Brooches 91
109. Earring 92
no. Patterns for Pendants .
.94
111. Russian Silver Crosses 95
112. Old Dutch Silver Work 97
113. Nail Work 08
 Metal Work.
\
114. Nailed Strips 100
115. Box Front in Nail and Strip Work 100
116. Pattern for Nail Work loi
117. Complicated Pattern for Nail Work . . . .102
118.
119.
120.
Nails on Wood
Nail Head Ornaments
Scales
........ 103
103
105
121. Scale work on Wood 105
122. Scale work Panel 105
123. Stencil Plate and Pattern 106
124. Stencils 107
 (universitt)
mtai aajorft.

BENT IRON OR STRIP WORK.

INTRODUCTION— TOOLS— MATERIALS— CURVES.

If the pupil or reader would get an

idea of the first principles of strip

or bent metal-work, let him or her

take a strip of cardboard six or eight
inches in length, and one third of
an inch in breadth. Bend this into
a spiral. Then make another of the
same size, or smaller, and fasten them
back to back by passing a pin through
them, and bending the pin flat by
means of a pair of flat pincers or
pliers. It is evident that this process
of making spirals, and attaching them
one to the other, can be continued to
any extent, and by this alone we can
produce an infinite amount of beau-
tiful ornamentation, as will be shown

by some of the examples in this book.

When the strips of cardboard are attached, and made into
some definite shape or object, they can be blackened with paint,
 Metal Work.

and willthen resemble iron. It is advisable for pupils, particu-

larly the young, to practise such manufacture in thin cardboard
— of playing-card thickness —
before beginning with metal, as it
rapidly familiarizes the fingers with bending and forming curves,
and leads the mind to what is most important of all (yet which
is much neglected), that the getting a good general idea of
is,

what the work in hand is, and fully mastering its requirements
and meaning as regards design in the easiest manner. I lay
great stress on this, and beg pupils as well as teachers to un-
derstand that in metal-work, just as in wood-carving, or leather-
work, those will in the end get on the most rapidly, and produce
the best results with the greatest ease, who will thoroiigJily master
the first lessons.For it is always easy to do this with a httle
patience, and then still easier to go on step by step to more
advanced work, while, on the other hand, if the hand and fingers
are not practised, ready and apt at the rudiments, there will
be bungling and trouble for a long time. The difference be-
tween a mere amateur and a real artist amounts chiefly to this,
that the latter works confidently and boldly, and knows exactly
what he wants to do, and is snre that he will do it. Now let
the pupil be certain of this, that the very best way by far to
become such a bold and ready artist is to learn every lesson
from the very beginning very thorotighly, and practise it over and
over again. Let him not be in a hurry to produce masterpieces,
or rather let him be satisfied to produce masterpieces of rudi-
mentary easy work, which may also be done, for in all arts the
most beautiful and even valuable objects are very often among
those most easily made.

Tools. — The tools required for rudimentary bent metal-work

are very few and inexpensive, but for the more advanced pupil
others will be required. Where there is a class the following
should be provided,
 Bent Iron or Strip Work.

One large square-headed and one smaller hammer.

One vice. A small one will serve for the first lessons.
An anvil, which may be placed on a heavy block of wood.
Smaller anvils may be obtained, which can be set in the bench, or
held in the vice. Figs, i and 2. With these may be classed
" stakes^' such as the side and hatchet stake,
and back iron, which
are peculiar forms of projecting rods, or irons for hammering or

Fig. I. Fig Fig. 3. Hatchet Stake.

Anvils.

shaping certain objects. Fig. 3. A

bolt stake with a round end
is extremely useful in hammering leaves and flowers.
For small work, an iron weight of from one to three pounds,
with one side smoothed by any smith, and set in a wooden block,
makes a very good anvil.
When an anvil cannot be obtained a flat-iron reversed is a very
good substitute. I learned this many years ago from the Red
Indians of New Brunswick, who used them for hammering o'it
coins wherewith to make brooches and other ornaments.
A pair of strong metal shears, from seven to nine inches in
length, for cutting thin sheet metal. The larger kinds are set
firmly on the side of the work-bench, and are worked by means
of a handle, as may be seem in tinsmiths' shops. For beginners
the hand-shears will be sufficient. Fig. 4.
 Metal Work.

A pair of very strong scissors of best steet, also for cutting thin
metal. The use of these may at first hurt the fingers, but with
a little practice one can cut out thin soft
iron or tin or brass into any shape with
great ease, and without pain.

Fig.. Shears. ColdcJiisels, or well-tempered used

cutters,
with a hammer for cutting out forms from
sheet metal too hard for the shears.
Cutting ptiers, for cutting wire and snip-
ping off ends of metal.
Flat nippers, pincers or long-nosed pliers.
Large and small round-nosed (or ^^ pipe'')
pliers. Three or four sizes. Fig. 5.

Common pincers. Two sizes.

A metal drill for holes. These may be

had from two to ten shillings ; adjustable
points of different sizes cost about one
Fig. 5. Pliers. penny each.
Punches or bradawls making holes for
for
rivets. One punch for thin soft
variety of
metal cuts out a round piece. A good steel
nail may be used (round).
Rimer, in handle, for enlarging holes.
Files. Flat, half-round or bastard, and rat-tailed or round.
A small square block of iron into which holes are drilled, and
others in which these hollows are of different sizes, saucer-
scooped, and gradually deeper (to be fastened in the vice).
A centre-bit with three or four circular (or barrel) cutters, for
cutting out large round holes.
A screzv-zvi'ench for nuts and bolts.
Iron, steel, and tin rivets.
A small forge or a_/fr^ when possible.
A "irVork bench or strong table
 Bent Iron or Strip Work.

Wire. Ductile bell-wire, iron, brass, or copper.

A very important article is a round bar of wood firmly set in
the work bench or wall. It should be from nine inches to a foot
in its projection. It is useful for rivetting and rounding curves.
The pointed and rounded end of a large anvil is also adapted to

such work.
There is an instrument used to cut open tins of fruit, caviare,
etc.,which takes out a round piece from the size of a crown-piece
to one of four inches diameter. This will be found very useful
in broad work.
Apparatus for soldering.
A solid block of wood for rivetting and other special work.
Templet rods andpins. These are tapering rods or sticks, round
which the strip is bent to make spirals, etc.
The pupil of limited means need not be alarmed at the number
of tools here enumerated, nor their expense. For a beginner one
pair of flat pliers or pincers, and one of the long-nosed, with table
or block, a hammer, bradawl, and snip or shears, will suffice to
produce very beautiful work. It is much better not to have
too many implements at first, and to learn to thoroughly master
what one has, and to know how to make the utmost of them.
This leads to ingenuity and inventiveness, and to developing
something which is even better than artistic skill.

—
Materials and Instruction.' Strip or band metal, or
ribbon iron, consists, as its name indicates, of strips of thin sheet
of varied thickness. Iron has sometimes been made as thin as

^ Instruction inall kinds of metal-work— specially artistic— as well as

tools and materials, may be had of Mr. Karl Krall (Barkentin and Krall,
291, Regent Street, metal-worker for the Ecclesiological Society). Also
lessons at the Home Arts and Industries Association, Albert Hall. Tools and
materials of best quality are also to be had of JOHN J, Holtzapffel and
Co., 64, Charing Cross,
 Metal Work.

any note paper. It is usually made in widths of \ of an inch

(used chiefly for bands, clips, or ties to connect the work), -j^^ in.

and I in. Strip or ribbon iron is sold at greatly varying prices,

from \od. to 3^-. a pound, not by any means in relation to the
value, but to the price which it is supposed it will bring. If the
pupil is provided with a stout pair of shears, he can buy thin
sheet iron for about or A^d. a pound, and cut it up himself
3.''/.

into strips, or have it done as cheaply by any blacksmith or

tinsmith. For practice, and even for a great deal of work, old
tin cans may be utilized.
It may be here observed, that whatever can be made in iron,
may with equal success be attempted in brass, copper, and
especially in " red metal," and two or three other compounds of
very great ductility. Tin-plate is also of course adaptable, it
being only iron dipped into tin. I have seen a great deal of
beautiful repousse work made from thin sheet pewter, coloured
to imitate brass and copper. It is of course very weak, but
serves admirably for ornament when placed out of reach.
Bent iron work is said to be the easiest of all the arts in
metal, and so it is —
after one difficulty has been mastered.
This is simply to bend and curve the strips smoothly, so that
there shall be an even surface without irregularities or kinks,
so as to have the whole " smooth as wax." This is the first step.
To do this, the pupil must positively not begin by trying to
produce a finished article, but practise forming the curves with
pieces of strip till he can make and smooth them perfectly. If
this is done, step by step, from first making a mere ring, then
one curve after another, as will be described, and then twisting
strips, what would otherwise be very difficult (as it is generally
hurried over in a brief description) will be found easy enough.
And it may be here observed, that if this is tJiorongJdy learned
in cold bent strip work, it is perfectly easy to do the same in
heated metal.
 (XJNIVERSITT)
<C<ALJFQRNlA:^
Bent Iron or Strip Work

LESSON I.

I The principle of design in bent iron-work, as in most curved

decorative work, is that of the growth of plants ; or organic de-
velopment that is, of a trunk or stem from which grow branches
;

and leaves. The first step in work is to form a ring or circle of

either a ribbon of cardboard or sheet iron. This is the simplest
and easiest bending conceivable. Let it be about three inches in
diameter. Having drawn the circle with compasses on paper,
adjust the ring to it.

Let one end lap over the other take a punch or bradawl, or
;

the drill. Placing the awl vertically on a projecting piece of

wood (or on the anvil, in which a small hole should be drilled),
give a blow with great care, and it will penetrate the iron. If
the first blow does not go through both thick-
nesses, repeat it. This will make a hole, but
ragged on the under side. Smooth this with the
rimer or round file, and file away the ragged pro-
jection on the under side. Then place in the hole
a rivet, and drive it through both holes. This will
bind the two ends. Then, reversing the process,
put the head of the rivet on the smooth anvil, and
give the projecting end of the rivet a smart ver- pjg 7 Bent
tical blow, which will mash it flat and cause it to Iron Ring.
spread. In doing this, to avoid hurting the fingers,
hold the circlet with the pliers or flat pincers. Smooth the end
with a file. Then you will have a bangle or bracelet. Fig. 7.
Make several of these for practice.
This practice may be, for economy's sake, as well efifected with
strips of waste tin cut from old pails or cans, or iron of hoops,
etc. These cans, as I have shown in the " Manual of Leather
 Metal Work.

Work," can be utilized in many ways in the arts, instead of

'

being thrown away. It may here be observed that a good strong

drill makes neater holes than the bradawl or punch and hammer,

and as it takes no more time on the whole, is decidedly preferable,

especially when the metal
is thick or unusually hard.

Riveting may be
executed in several ways. Firstly^ by laying
the strip to be pierced on a block or board of wood, and then
driving a steel punch or point, generally a bradawl punch,
through it. This leaves on the under side a burr or projecting
ring of rough metal round the hole. This is to be filed off
and the hole smoothed with a rimer or rat-tail file. Secondly,
there can be used a plate or bar of
iron in which there is a slit through
which a hole is drilled. By passing
the strip through this slit or split,
and then striking the punch as before,
a better perforation is made. Fig. 8.
Thirdly, by using the drill, especially
for thick sheet iron. Fonrt/ily, when
Making Rivet-hole. very thin and
the sheet or strip is

very neat work is to be executed, the

round or circular punch may be used. This, like the snap or hole-
cutter used by shoemakers to cut holes through which strings
pass, cuts out at a blow a small disc of metal like a tiny coin. In
using it, the strip should be laid on a block of lead, or of the
hardest wood. Fifthly, we may add to these an implement
which is however but metal-work, though familiar
little used in

to every corset-maker and most milliners. This is a pair of

pincers, by means of which a peculiarly shaped hollow rivet is
pressed through a hole, and at the same time crushed and clamped
down at the end. It is often used in counting rooms or offices

^ "
Manual of Leather Work," by Charles G. Leland. London, Whittaker
and Co., 2, White Hart Street, E.G.
 Bent Iron or Strip Work.

to fasten papers together. This method of riveting is very-

neat and may often be used in h'ght sheet metal.
Rivets are of three kinds, The round-headed "cup" or
(i)
" snap " of a convex form ; (2) The counter-sunk or flat-headed ;

(3) Wire-rivets, or simply sections of wire, which may be used

when the better kind are not to be had. With
these may be included common small tacks, C\ K~\
which answer well enough for common work.
The object of riveting is to have a connecting
link which spreads out on both sides so as to
bind two pieces of metal. The cup or flat-
head forms one of these " spreads," the other
is made by smashing the other end flat, so as

to make it pass over the sides or round edge Y\<y. n. Clamp and
of the hole. To do this (as the pupil will Ci.amped Work.
probably very soon find for himself) it is
necessary to not only hit the rivet, but to strike sideways a
little, so as to spread the iron. This is sometimes aided by first

making a blow in the centre of the rivet with a splitter, or dull

chisel, or with the point of a punch. A snap is

a punch with a semicircular end used to clean

off and finish up rivet-work. It is struck with
a hammer, and may be compared to a chisel
when the latter is used to trim ofl"work.
Clamps, Clasps, or Binders. These are much
more used in common Italian work than rivets,
being easier to apply, and looking quite or almost
as well in large or coarse objects. A clamp is

simply a narrow strip of iron which is passed or pig_ io_ Chain-

bent very closely round two other strips, so as to work Clamped.
bind, tie, or clamp them together. It is like bind-
ing two objects with a ring of which the ends are not united. One
end of the clamp of course passes over the other. Figs. 9 and 10.
 Metal Work.

When this is done, the clamp is made firm, either with a blow
of the hammer or by pinching it down closely with the flat
pliers. The effect of the clamp is not bad artistically speaking,

Fig. II. Simple Bends.

and it was very often imitated as an ornament in Gothic

designs, illuminated work, and the like. I have before me as I

write very elegant specimens of Venetian work in which there

are no rivets, everything being connected by clamps. The clamp
 Bent Iron or Strip Work.

can always be employed, even when owing to the closeness of the

lines it is impossible to get in a rivet or to solder.

—
Curves. When the pupil can make a ring, he can proceed to
form semicircles or C's. As these C's run into spirals at one or
both ends, and are modified into more than one form, Fig. 1 1, b-f,
they require more skill than the plain circle. To make these, hold
the strip of iron, or other metal, with the flat pincers or pliers in
the left hand, and with the round-nosed, or pipe-pliers, bend or
curve the strip at one end into a volute or roll, which can then be
enlarged or "undone" to the curve required. If needed, then
work the other end of the strip in the same way. If there are
any irregularities or warps in the metal they can be pinched and
pressed out with the flat pliers.
It will be readily understood that there is a certain knack of
manipulation or art of neatly forming the curve -which clever
pupils will readily perceive and acquire, and which those who
are less apt must learn from them, or from a skilled teacher or
by practice.
The next step is to form an 5 curve which is in fact making
two semicircles or C's out of one piece. Its ends of course may
be developed into varied forms, spirals, etc.. Fig. 1 1, <:.

An of a C, or S, or of a straight line, may also be

end, be it

bent back and riv^eted in a rccurb or pear-shaped, turned-back

curve. This forms a pretty finial or
end-ornament. It may also be fre-
quently applied as a crochet or side
ornament on a frame or strap. Fig.
1 1, //.

Vaseox EyeCtu'vcs{J^\g.\2). These

are very beautiful forms, which may
frequently be introduced to advan-
tage in designs. To make them, first double or bend the strip,

(tTNIVERSITT)
 i
Metal Work.

Fig. 12, with the round pHer as before directed. Three or more
may be joined so as to radiate from a centre.
Angles (Fig. 13). These which are in straight Hnes and square
corners have the same relation to curved figures as crystals have
to vegetation or organic life. They may be obtuse, acute, and in
fact carried so far as to allow the strip to be bent back flat on
itself or doubled close. It is always well, when it is possible,

L
Fig. 13-

before doing the latter, to heat the iron in a fire or a gas-lamp

enough to render it which precaution may indeed be

flexible,
adopted at any time where the iron seems to be refractory or
with a tendency to crack and break. Angles may be accurately
formed on the square edge of the anvil.
Concentric Spirals (Fig. 14). These are very pretty and effec-
tive, especially when they proceed from a closely twisted end.

u/vww Fig; 15. Fig. 16.

These latter or close spirals are often very effective when em-
ployed 2J~,finials or ends, and were much used in the best mediaeval
or Gothic iron-work, though they occur seldom in the modern
rococo or baroque work which avoids everything which is in the
least difiicult, and seeks to make only that which can be turned
out most rapidly. The true object of study for beginners should
be to become thoroughly good artisans or artists, and not merely
 Bent Iron or Strip Work. 13

to learn how to make what will sell most readily at bazaars or

fairs.

Wave-lines (Fig. 15). These may be rounded, that is semi-

circular, or pointed like saw teeth. They require care, though
the process of bending them alternately with the round pliers is

easy. They are much used for borders. Indented wave-lines,

O (^^\9

G/V9
Fig. 17. Samples of Curvature.

are very pretty, they are made by first allowing a very long
curve and making the indentation either with round nippers, or
hammering with an iron rod in a groove.
Ogives or Ace of Spade curves (Fig. 16). These are not very
common inbent work, yet they are easily enough made and are
very effective in design when properly disposed.
H Metal Work.

LESSON II.

MAKING RINGS AND CURVES INTO OBJECTS.

If we make three C's of strip-iron and

them at equal
rivet
distances round on a circle, asshown in Fig. i8, we have some-
thing on which a cup, or small bowl may be placed, or into which
a cylindrical glass, such as a bottle or tumbler may be put.
The form or shape of the supports may be very much varied.
The simplest useful object which can be made is a hanging
hook. This must be made of rather thick sheet iron. Curve one
end and drill a large hole in the other, to receive the nail in which

Fig. 1 8. Stand for a Bowl. Fig. 19. Fig. 20.

Hanging Hooks.
it is to hang. But as it will swing to one side or the other, it is
better to drilltwo holes, and use two nails. It may be improved
in appearance by making a cross, or a triangle of three straight
strips on which it may be riveted, Fig. 20. It may be here remarked
that brass, copper, or silver-headed tacks may often be used for
rivets, toimprove the general appearance of many objects.
To make a useful and very simple cylindrical holder, take
one strip of from one foot to eighteen inches in length, and make
 Bent Iron or Strip Work. 15

two or three rings as previously described in Lesson I. Rivet

them together with uprights as shown in Fig. 21. Rivet one
straight strip across the bottom. It may be still further improved

by adapting to it a handle, Fig. 22. These constructions may be

Fig. 22.

very much varied, so as to contain cylinders to hold spills of paper

lead pencils, pens or inkstands, or small bottles of ink, tumblers
or lamps. Their appearance may be improved by making the
rings of strips of sheet brass, copper or red metal.

Card Tray.

Take four strips each eighteen inches in length. Bend the

ends of all and cross them, so that two may turn under down-
i6 Metal Work.

wards, and two upwards. A single rivet will hold the four. Fit
a saucer into the upper cross, and you will have a pretty card-tray,
Fig. 23.

Fig. 24. Tumbler Stand.

Fig. 25. Wooden Bowl on Iron

Stand.

Fig. 26. Glass Flagon on Stand. Fig. 27. Candlestick.

If we have a cup or a goblet, or small bottle of any shape what-

ever, we have only to draw its outline on paper, and with a little
ingenuity adapt strips to it to make a holder. Many objects of
glass or porcelain which have had their supports broken away, can
thus be utilized. See Figs. 24-27.^
It issometimes impossible to rivet in the manner previously
described, by a direct blow on the head of the rivet or nail, owing
to the closeness of the strips. In such a case, if it cannot be
crushed with strong flat nippers, take one very large nail or a small
square bolt, also a piece of hard wood, which will pass through and
form a rest. Screw the latter into the vice, and drill or drive
the hole upon it in most cases you make it from either side
;

straight enough. Then put in the rivet, and, covering it with the
nail or bolt, give the latter a hard blow close to the strip.

But in most cases such close strips, especially of thin ^ in. iron,
are bound by means of wire or clamps, before described, which are
small pieces of thin iron wrapped closely round the two strips,
their edges just meeting and then punched together.
When wiring is to be done, it may be a single ring with a twist
of the two ends, which suffices for ordinary work. But for a
better effect, especially if brass or copper wire be used, first make
the rivet hole, then pass the end of wire through it, wind it tightly
with the pliers three or four times round the strips, twist the ends
together, and pinch or hammer them flat.
Care should be taken to get a flexible wire, such as is used for
bells ; if it be brittle it is useless for such delicate work.
Let all the work be very neatly finished. Of late years an
immense quantity of rudely made iron strip-work has been pro-
duced in Italy and sold very cheaply, with the result of greatly
injuring the art.

Crossed Strips. —A very pretty and curious effect, not

much used in strip or ribbon-work, and not even mentioned

^ In Figs. 24, 26, and some others the plan is supposed to be triangular or
three-footed ; but two handles are given in profile to show the curves
better.

C
 Metal Work.

by any writer known to me, is to make the strips cross one

another. This is effected as follows :Take a flat, very thin
file or fret-saw, and cut half through a strip at the point of
intersection. Then cut in like manner
ULAi through the other. Then cross the
two. Fig. 28. If they do not cling
firmly, fasten them with a twist of
thin wire. This is a very important
effect as regards design, since it

enables the artist to develop the

vine to any extent in strap-work,
and not limit himself to masses of
C's and S's, or of curves stuck to-
feebly with no regard to
gether
growth or development.
A curious effect may also be produced by drilling holes at
intervals in !a strip, say one-third of an inch, or less, apart,
and passing through the holes, in and out, brass wire. Rivet or
clamp the wire at the first and last holes. Small round-headed
brass nails, here and there, riveted on holes, give a varied
and brilliant appearance to very simple work or patterns.
It may be here said once for all, that any curve or turn
desired may be given to any strip of flexible iron, brass, or tin,
by holding it firmly, just at the end, with the long-nosed flat
pincers or pliers, and then bending it into shape with the round,
or pipe plier. This is so readily learned by a little practice,
even by children, that any detailed description of the method ot
holding or using the pliers is really unnecessary, and would
perhaps rather tend to confuse the beginner and convey the
impression that the work is more difficult than it is in reality.
But as it is in doing this well that the whole mystery and
difficulty of the art consists, and as everybody can certainly
learn it by perseverance, I lay great stress on the importance
 Bent Iron or Strip Wo7^k.
I 1

of mastering it, before proceeding to other kinds of work. For

when this is learned all is learned.

Fig. 29. Lamp Hook.

(Hooks of this kind can be bought in Florence for 3rf.)
 i
Metal Work.

LESSON III.

The second stage of bent iron-work is to apply or fasten the

strips in ornamental form to frames. These are iron rods of
different thickness, varying it may be from the tenth or eighth
of an inch in diameter, to half an inch. As they are more
difficult to manage than the strip work, many ladies buy them
ready made, or have them made, which is a very easy matter
for any blacksmith, nor does such work honestly cost much.
But with an anvil and a small fire, or even, for lightest work,
a gaslight, any lady can make any frame which she may
require with a very little practice. What is beyond ordinary
strength must of course be left to a smith, but a vast amount
of very beautiful work can be effected even by children.
To make a frame, first buy a sufficiently long piece of nail
rod, or square iron rod, rather less in diameter than a common
lead pencil or penholder. The smaller
it is be to manipulate,
the easier will it

and the pupil can rapidly advance to

larger sizes and heavier work. This
rod or mere thick wire may for a great
deal of work also be round. Bend this,

Fig. 30. by heating the places where it is to be

turned, into a square. Very flexible
iron can be bent without heating, by means of carefully curving
and hammering. When this is done, drill two holes through the
ends which meet, and rivet them. Then you will have a square
frame, Fig. 30.
As a glass will probably be placed in this, there are two ways

i
 Bent Iron or Strip Work.

to effect it. One is to take a strip of flexible iron, and bend it

into a V shape, or at a right angle all its length, Fig. 31. Any
tinsmith will do this for you, by means of a littlemachine made
for the purpose, one of which you can buy. But this turning
the edge is also easily effected by ^^^_^^^^^,^,,^^_^^___^^^^^_^
putting one half the strip into the \ ^ _^7
vice, and hammering the other half Y\g. 31.
(of course lengthways) to a right
angle. Make four of these V strips, corresponding in length to
the inside of your frame, or even in short bits. Drill holes and
rivet them in. This will hold the glass.
Another way is to take a strip of iron, or narrow ribbon, and
bend it an undulating or wave-pattern, Fig. 32. Unless the
in
strip be of very soft iron it had better be heated, but in most
cases careful hammering and wielding the pliers will suffice.
This can be fastened to the frame either by riveting or binding
with little strips or clamps, hammered round frame and border.

Fig. 32. Fig. 33-

I The ornamental method is simply to drill

easiest but least
eight holes into the inside of the frame and to drive into them
iron or wooden pegs, leaving enough projecting to hold the
glass.Again, you can bend a narrow strip, not quite so thick
as the frame (that is, leaving the space of the thickness of the
glass), and curve the corners, fastening the whole with rivets or
clamps, as shown in Fig. 33, for corners alone.
 Metal Work.

Having made the frame and secured the glass, the next step
is to make decorations of strips, as taught in Lesson I., and to
apply or fasten them on.
As strip iron-work is extremely cheap, it would be well for
all who can afford it, especially teachers of schools, to purchase,

and keep for models, a few specimens of it. With these, or

with designs or photographs, and the instruction already given,
all the commoner kinds of frame and strip-work can be easily

executed. And I here lay stress on the fact that it should be

practised until the pupil is quite perfect in it, before proceeding
to more advanced work.
It is not more difficult after practice in making S's and C's
to form letters which may be placed as initials in a centre, or

Fig. 34- Fig. 35.

made into inscriptions to fill borders. These are most striking

when made of strips of brass, copper, or red metal, to contrast
with the iron, Fig. 34.
When the work is done it may be blacked with " Day and
Martin," or painted black, or worked with bronze powder and
acid, or japanned in the usual way, or most effectively finished
by heating it and dipping it into oil. Drop-black, ground in
turpentine, with an addition of one-eighth bulk of japanner's
gold size to bind it, is also recommended.
j

—
Borders. Borders generally consist of ornaments regularly
repeated on one, or between two frame rods, Fig. 35. Wherever
a rectangular space is to be filled, a border adds greatly to the
appearance, and for this reason is particularly applicable as a
 Bent Iron or Strip Work.

frame for a picture or mirror. Borders may be filled with

inscriptions in letters, as well as with ornaments.
Borders, or rather plain bands of brass, may be slipped over
cylindrical cups or square objects of iron, or tin, or copper or :

copper bands on other metals. They may be riveted on with

boss-headed nails. Such bands may be ornamented in repousse,
by engraving, or with acids.
Any tinsmith will make to order cylindrical tankards, cups, or
boxes, etc., and solder them. These you can ornament in many
ways, with strip metal or in other fashion, for there is really
no ordinary object of the kind which may not be made attractive
by the exercise of a little ingenuity.
Another writer on the subject has said wisely and well, that
the excellence of bent iron-work depends on the correctness of
the curves, the firmness of the bindings, and the gracefulness of
the forms. I am particularly struck with this, as I here write in
Florence, having before me
not only a very large number of
exquisite and elaborate specimens of such work, but also a large
collection of photographs, in which there is displayed such
luxuriance and variety of invention and of ornament, such grace
of fresh and startling curves, that one is astonished to find so
much artand beauty in such cheap material.
I would add to what is here stated, that after having examined

a vast amount of such work here in Italy, where it originated,

and with beautiful and very elaborate specimens of it before me,
I have found nothing in it all which is not clearly described in

the instructions given in this book.

I have not given minutely detailed directions as to how every
twist shall 'be made, and every rivet and clamp put into every
piece of work depicted. Such directions, even when accompanied
with illustrations, are very difficult even for a master of arts to
understand, although they have a very practical appearance in
type. But if the pupil has perfectly practised and mastered

I
24 Metal Work.

as I have certainly clearly explained — how to bend, twist, ply,

recurb and smooth iron strip, all that he can possibly need is to
have before his eyes the design, and to imitate it. The best way
to teach this, or any other art, is to carefully teach the pupil to
observe and think how anything should be done.

FIGURE WORK IN STRIP OR RIBBON.

Italian bent iron-work is limited as regards ornament chiefly
S curves, and spirals, nor does it often go beyond a
to circles,

Fig. 36. Simple Plant Forms for Figure Work.

repetition of the simplest geometrical forms, or leaves, in which

it is closely followed by allEnglish writers and teachers of the
art. This is quite needless, for with a little care, any simple
 Figure Work in Strip or Ribbon. 25

figure,such as a bird, an animal, or ornamental spray or crocket,

may be made even without a fret-sawed mould, by bending with
the round pliers and pinching. However elegant and elaborate
the best Italian work may be, it soon produces a sense of weari-
some monotony when seen in quantities.
The old German art of the same kind abounded in
figures and grotesque forms of all kinds, which were
more difficultboth to design and execute, yet which
had a far greater variety and interest than the former.
And there are many figures
which, as the reader may see
by the designs, are almost as
easy as common curves, and
which even a child could form.
Fig. 36. ^

The easiest way to do this is

to draw the figure, be it of a
bird or animal or a face, etc.,

on paper, and fret-saw it out of

a thin piece of wood. Then
take the strip, which should be
preferably of thick sheet iron,
because the thicker it is, the
more firmly will it retain its
form. Bend this to the wooden
mould or form, till you have
Fig. yj' Hinged Bracket. got the outline exact. In
most cases the strip should be
drilled here and there and fastened to the wood with tacks, to
keep it Then make up or fill the surrounding space
in form.
with curves, and when all is riveted the central figure will be
firmly in place. Then remove the wood.
It is needless to say that the simplest outline figures are best
26 Metal Work.

suited to this work, not only because they are the easiest, but be-
cause they are the most efifective. It is not advisable for the most
skilful and ingenious attempt to make " pictures " in
artists to
metal, but simple forms combined with Italian curve-work are,
when skilfully chosen, the most attractive phase of the art.
The effect is improved when the figure is of brass, German
silver, or copper, and the surroundings of iron. Gothic orna-
ment, such as abounds on churches, will be found extremely
rich in suggestions for such figure work in iron, because, not-

Bracket for Door Curtain.

withstanding its complexity, the oittlines are almost invariably

very simple.
To make this quite clear I would say that any pattern what-
ever in a Gothic glass window, enclosing the glass, can be executed
in bent metal or strip-work, as a matter of course, because such
outlining was very often strip-work, when not a leaden frame,
which was even harder to make into varied forms (see Fig. 45,
p. 32), And with patience and practice the pupil will find it
just as easy to mould strips into leaves, human figures, or
animals, as to bend wire to his will. The process is analogous
to preparing the walls or compartments for cloisonne work, in
 Figu7^e Work in Strip or Ribbon. 27

which the most delicate and minute patterns are made by

arranging strips of metal (see Figs. 39-42).

Fig. 39. Mirror Frame.

J)^o^^ C^To c^

^^^[?^Sc^/^^
/^V-/cj^^i^T):^;:!!./^^<^J^

07^
I)

>
<

V
^ \i
mPm
[3j^^4
I^^^<
^^3
Fig. 40. Photograph Frame.
 Figure Work in Strip or Ribbon. 3

OF SETTING GLASS, MOTHER-OF-PEARL, ETC.

The ordinary Venetian work seldom goes beyond setting
disks or circles of coloured glass or square panes in lanterns,
but as soft strips can be easily bent to any common curve or
geometrical form, such as an oval or ellipse, circle, diamond, etc.,
it will be seen that there is a vast field for beautiful ornament of
this kind, that is to say, for mosaic, in which the "stones" or
" " are to be divided by strip iron.
cubes
Coloured glass is specially adapted for lanterns. It is easily
enough shaped with the diamond or a shilling American steel
glass cutter. It is also possible to trim flat glass into good

enough shape for such work by taking a strong pair of scissors

and cutting the glass quite wider water. With a little practice
one can attain to great skill in this. If necessary, the glass can
be made neat and smooth on the edges by grinding it on a
common grindstone with water. It can also be worked with a
sharp file, which cuts better if dipped now and then in spirits of
turpentine.
Frames made in compartments may be filled in with pieces of
mother-of-pearl, with a very beautiful result ; with bone, which
ran be bought sawed into thin tablets, and which is easily dyed

of any colour with variegated wood, all of which can be fret-

;

sawed to any shape and, finally, with pieces of porcelain or

;

crockery, made from waste or broken plates, by breaking into

shape, filing, and grinding. We can also employ fireclay, moulded
in the strip-pattern. These pieces, when dry, can be easily fired
even at home, but it may be cheaply done at any pottery then ;

paint them with porcelain colours, and have them fired again.
Another very beautiful and brilliant effect may be obtained by
—
pounding coloured glass in a mortar some may be pulverized
fine, but that which is coarsely powdered is the most brilliant
32 Metal Work.

fill the compartments with Portland cement and colour the

surface with the glass powder.
The reader must remember, that to produce these compart-
ments the strips must generally cross one another in the manner
which has been already described (page i8). In this manner we
can very easily form a panel of diamonds or squares, and in fact
execute in strip iron any outline design whatever.

Fig. 45. Design of Glass Panel.

 Soldering. t^'^

SOLDERING.
In the ordinary strip-work nothing is used to connect the bands
except riveting and clamps. But to unite portions of frames
there must often be if not positive welding at least an union of
metal to metal by means of soldering or "soddering," which is
a kind of welding, as it joins iron by heating and using a flux or
another substance which serves to soften it.
Soldering can be learned by any boy with great ease from any
smith, or even from the first tinker —
the latter class having
probably by far the most pupils, as there are few village boys
who have not watched them at work. And as it is to the last
degree improbable that any of the readers of this book will live
—
where they cannot see soldering, for I have heard of a gypsy
tinker being found at work in a remote place by the Great Wall
of China, —
I might dismiss this subject by advising them to go

to the nearest worker in metal of any kind.

Solder (Latin solidare, to make solid), is a compound of ex-
tremely fusible metal, yet which sets hard, and which, used in
connection with certain other substances, as for instance the
spirits of salts and zinc or resin, will, with a very moderate heat,
at once unite iron with iron. There are different kinds of solder
for different metals, as, for instance, silver solder. Spelter is

another combination of metals, in different proportions, used for

the same purpose but in a different way. For ordinary soldering,
file them with powdered
the parts to be united quite clean, sprinkle
resin, and put on this a small piece or pieces of solder. Having
a spirit lamp at hand, turn the blaze on the resin, which will burn
and melt the solder, which will unite the iron.
For larger work use spirits of salts to rub the surface, and melt
the solder with a hot iron or on a brazier. The spirits of salts
here serves to draw or flux the solder. Where broad surfaces

ngWIVERSITT)

I
34 Metal Work.

are thus treated and are brought together by clamping or pressure,

I
the process is known as binding or sweating on.
Brazing another variety of the same work.
is It requires

greater heat, that is, a fire generally with bellows, or a blow-pipe.

For this spelter is employed, being first powdered. This is mixed

with borax and water, and passed between the portions which are
to be united. When the heat is sufficiently high the spelter and
borax will fuse and unite the iron. This is rougher work than
the former, and is such as is generally practised by smiths.
 FLAT SHEET METAL WORK.

I SHEARING, CHISELLING, FRET-SAWING, AND PRESSING.

ISTINCT from, but closely allied with

strip metal work, is sheet metal
work. This is very beautiful and
also easy work when soft and thin
sheet metal is used. It entered
largely into old German designs, es-
pecially in Nuremberg work. When
sheet iron or brass is very thin it

may be cut with strong scissors al-

most as easily as cardboard. When
there are small openings into which the scissors will not pass,
lay the sheet on the anvil and cut them out with a narrow cold
chisel, using a hammer or else, opening a small hole with a
;

drill or nail, use a file. When the sheet is too thick for the

scissors, use shears ; and when these fail, then you can either
cut out the whole pattern with the cold chisel and hammer, or
else,taking a fret-saw, treat it like a sheet of wood. Brass or
soft iron from one-eighth of an inch in thickness to half an inch
36 Metal Work.

can be thus sawed into patterns, but I assume that in all the
work of the pupil he will rarely have occasion for sheet metal of

Fig. 46. Small Panel. Fig. 47. Fret-sawed Sheet Metal.

Cut Metal.

such thickness. When the cutting out is completed, the whole

may be finished with a file. Figs. 46, 47.
Thin sheet metal can be easily cut with a common fret-saw,
such as is used for wood, but for
=2«=^ thicker metal work a saw with a
thinner blade and narrower frame
is employed ; these are cheap,
with one frame a dozen saws are
generally supplied, the whole may
Fig. 48. Fret-Saw.
be had at all prices, from a shilling
to a pound. Fig. 48. Of course, a hole is first made in the
metal with a drill or round file, the saw passed throughthen it,

fastened, and the cutting is executed by working the saw up and

 Flat Sheet Metal Work. Z7

down.^ Whatever can be cut in wood or paper can be done in

sheet metal, even to the most incredible fineness.
F'igures of men or of animals, heads in profile, birds, butter-
flies, flowers, grotesques, arabesques, or, in short,
anything in
outline cut from sheet metal can be freely combined with the
strip, band, or ribbon work, already described.

One way to adapt these figures to the strip or ribbon work

that is, to attach them to it — is to drill holes in the strip, leave a
projecting bit on the edge of the figure, pass the projection

A Fig. 49. B

through the hole, and clinch or rivet it with a blow on the other
side, flattening it sideways. Fig. 49 A.
In other cases a leaf may be riveted in the ordinary way to
the end of a strip which has been previously heated and turned
round ; or a turn may be made in the neck of the leaf, etc., which
is then riveted to the strip. Fig. 49 B.

The surface of sheet metal work may be decorated in different

^
Arturo Fumel, Via San Paolo, No. 7, Milan, publishes a very extensive
and cheap album of patterns for this work in wood, giving nearly 300 for
threepence.
 Metal Work.

ways (i) by repouss^, or working on it with hammer and tracer

:

and stamps, which will be described in another section of this

book (2) by engraving by hand, which may be sufficiently
;

well learned for mere line work in a few days only two or three ;

gravers of hard steel are needed

for this (Fig. 50). The lines are
cut by projecting the point and
pushing it forward, not by scratch-
ing towards the operator. The art
Fig. 50. Graver. is not difficult to acquire, and when
learned, is applicable to wood-
engraving, ornamenting the surface of metals, shells, and other
substances ; (3) by engraving with acid. To effect
etching, or
this the iron or other metal
covered with a thin coating of
is

wax, care being taken to make a little wall of wax all round the
— —
work or else with varnish then with a "point," or a pin or
needle in a holder, scratch the design in the coating so as to
expose the metal this done, pour on it a mixture of about one-
;

third nitric or sulphuric acid to two-thirds of water, and with a

feather remove the little rows of bubbles which will at once
begin to form. After ten minutes, pour out the acid and water
into a cup, dip the plate into water before handling it, then
remove the wax, or wash away the varnish with turpentine,
and you will find the design eaten into the metal the wax ;

may be quite taken away by heating it. If there are any

imperfections in the etching renew the process.
When the sheet of iron is tolerably thick it may be beautifully
ornamented as follows. Cut with the graver grooved lines, deep
enough to receive gold or silver, brass, German silver, or copper
wire, lay the wire in the groove and hammer it in. This will
generally hold fast, but the process to be perfect requires that
the metal be heated and fluxed with borax.
Etching or engraving by hand, or with acid, may also be gilded
 Flat Sheet Metal Work. 39

either with gold-leaf and size, or else with gold (or bronze) powder
and gum-water ; this latter may be protected with a coat of re-

Fig. 51. Inlaid Metal Work.

touching varnish. Even a very little gilding, tastefully applied, on

black iron work greatly improves its appearance. We
can, with
a file, or better still with a graver, run or cut a line along the
Fig. 52. Book Cover. P'rki-sawkd Mktal on a Thin Panil.
Fig. 53. Old Swiss Sawed Iron Work. (1537.)
42 Metal Work.

centre of a strip of iron ; this is made easy by slipping

over the strip a sHding flat ring, in which there is

a hole to receive the cutter, Fig. 54. then We

ntrodu the point of the cutter or graver, and,

Fig. 55. Hinge-Plates. Fig. 56. Brass Scutcheons.

bearing on, push it along ; fill the groove thus cut with gilding
or gold-powder paint.
Beautiful effects may be produced in sheet metal by cutting
out a pattern and then placing a larger sheet of another metal
 Flat Sheet Metal Work. 43

behind it ; then rivet or tack the two on the ground, taking care
that no ends turn up. This is applicable to picture frames,
cabinet doors, or any plane wall surfaces.
Very beautiful inlaid sheet metal work is made as follows.

Fig. 57. Nuremberg Work, Fig. 58.

15TH Century. Basle
Museum.
Cut out the pattern from thin metal, and lay it on a panel of
wood, which should of course be hard and well seasoned. The
metal may then be thoroughly pressed into the wood by means
of any kind of screw press, or even with a roller. When
thoroughly imbedded, take it out, coat the back with the
44 Metal Work.

strongest Turkish or mastic cement, and if the latter be well

made it will hold the metal to thewood should it "spring" in
;

any places it may be riveted. Another way to imbed the metal

is on the wood, draw the outline with a sharp needle, cut
to lay it

the wood out with great care, cement or rivet the work, and rub
the cement well into all cavities or edge cracks.

. A
made by
very beautiful decoration for any box or chest or door is
cutting out either true or false hinges from thin sheet
1
metal and screwing them on. A false hinge is only the ornament
applied to the edge of the hinge on which the lid turns. See
Fig- 55- 1 he same patterns may be used for book clasps.

]
 (university)
Flat Sheet Metal Wori>-^*^^^^^^^^>^^

A scutcheon is a keyhole plate used to protect the edges of the

keyhole. Figs. 56-58. In both Nuremberg and Italian work
these scutcheons were often very broad, as were the hinges, and
sometimes very grotesque. Avery effective enrichment is
obtained by having two or more pierced plates laid one over the
other and riveted together as a whole. In this case the lower plate
will be pierced so as to leave a little margin all round the pattern
above it (see Fig. 56 b), or if the top plate is pierced, leaving rather
large openings, a different scroll, diaper or trellis pattern of
smaller scale, may be placed underneath it. In many old
examples this "double tracery" work is underlaid with velvet,
leather, or cloth, not showing at the outside edges. The most
ordinary wooden panel, door or shutter may be made beautiful
or attractive, at very little expense, by means of such adornment.
Flat strip work may be thus applied. Slighter work of the same
kind may be used for making shields to protect the corners of
books. Fig. 59.
Stencil Cutting, which is a special form of flat sheet metal
work will be found described later in the volume.

Fig. 60. Cross of Sawed Metal.

 MOULDED SHEET METAL WORK. \
"HEET brass and copper, especially red
metal, and also thin malleable iron when
it can be obtained, can all be shaped
as easily as damp leather, in fact, more
easily, because they retain any form or
indentation more firmly. The pro-
cesses for making- leaves and flowers
are indeed essentially the same with
those of the old-fashioned leather or
wax work, so that anybody who is

familiar with one, could immediately

work the other.
successfully in For
and ordinary sheet iron, which
thick
is harder and more brittle, smithing,
or heating and shaping by hammering on the anvil is necessary ;

of this I do not propose to write, but would say that to those

who have thoroughly mastered all the lessons here given —which,
it must be admitted, are extremely easy even for children, if

gradually and carefully learned — ordinary forging or hammering

heated metal will be found even easier, and there is also in it a
certain fascination or pleasure which is indescribable. I was
very much astonished when I first learned how easy it is to
forge a knife, dagger, or sword, especially when the pupil has
 Moulded Sheet Metal Work. 47

some previous knowledge of design, model-

ling, or wood-carving.
Therefore I earnestly urge the pupil, when
it is possible, to practise, even if it be but
for a short time, making leaves and flowers
of sheet wax, paper, or damped leather,
because this very easy work is an admir-
able preparation for sheet metal, especially
for children, who find no difficulty in learn-
ing the former, and in going from it to the
latter, but who find the metal at first difficult.

To make a leaf in thin sheet metal, after

having moulded one in wax or leather,
requires no knowledge or practice beyond
being told to hold one end with the flat
pliers, and give it shape with the round-

nosed or pipe pincers. If the stem or

vine be a wire, then let the stalk terminate
in a strip which may be wound around
the wire. To prevent it slipping, flatten
the wire slightly in one place, and hammer
the wrapper to it, or else rivet through
the flattening. P^ig. 62, /, q, r, t, etc.
A piece of soft sheet metal maybe easily
moulded into any form of leaf, scooped or
goffered, fluted or waved, by means of the
pliers, round-nosed or flat, the ball-punch,
or the hammer. This work may be per-
formed on the anvil, on a piece of soft pine
plank, or on a bed of the cement used in
repousse, according to the curve required.
describe in detail how
It is quite useless to
every kind of depression, or hollow, or boss

Fig. 61. Border or

Frame.

L
Fig. 62. Patterns for Metal Flowers, ^tc.
 Moulded Shed Metal Woi'k. 49

is to be made, since all such detailed descriptions are more con-

fusing to youthful beginners than helpful, and even young children
require no instruction to imitate the bend of a leaf in wax or paper.
I have taught classes in such arts for years, and have always
found that if the pupils will only begin with very easy imitations
of models or designs, and, taking an interest and working indus-
triously, tho7'otighly master the rudiments, they always find their
way onwards, step by step. All that they require is to know
exactly what they are expected to do, and to see the objects,
models, or pictures, of what they are to make, and if these are
not beyond power or intelligence, they will make them,
their
and, while so doing, learn something for more advanced work.
This is well shown in this modelling of leaves and in bending
metal, in which any intelligent pupil —
the tools, metal, and
—
model being given is sure to find his way to do good work.
This is the only way to make a good artizan or artist, that is, to
make the learner think and stimulate his inventive power. He
is the best teacher who does this.
The mid-rib or lines on the leaf are very easily indicated with
and command of which can
a tracer, like a screw-driver, the use
be acquired in an hour Repousse," p. 61). The pupil should,
(•t^/^ig"

however, take great pains to learn to execute all these " inside
lines " very carefully. They require a rather sharp tracer, and
must be light in many cases it is best to make them with a
:

graver, or sharp cutting tool.

A
rose is made by formingwhat may be described as twoorthree
circles, of different sizes, with scalloped edges. Or, as described
in my "Leather Work," p. 61 :
— "The processes of cutting out
leaves to make flowers are the same as those followed in making
them from paper. Thus, to form a rose we cut out a scalloped
circle, and then a smaller one, which is placed on the first. The
outer, or green leaves of the calyx, are in like manner cut from a
third disc [or round piece (Fig. 62 a, b, c, d, e) ]." wire is then A
E
50 Metal Work.

taken, to one end of which is fastened a circle, or button, or small

screw by riveting, and the other end is then passed through the
holes in the centres of the scalloped circles.
It is to be understood that the scalloped ends which represent
leaves are previously hammered into a saucer-like shape, and
otherwise shaped out. done first in sheet wax, or
If this be
even in thin cardboard, damped, or stiff paper, the imitation in
metal will be easy. As regards the saucer shape, it may be
remarked, that if we take any round piece of sheet metal,
thick or thin, be it half-a-crown, or a disk of sheet iron, and

gradually tap on an anvil with a small hammer, it will /<?/';;/ a

it

saucer of itself \{ beaten only on one side.

Oak leaves, which admit of great variety of graceful curves,
as also the ivy, are beautifully adapted to frames. stick of A
hard wood with a round or ball end, or an iron implement, as, for
instance, one like a bolt with a round end, or a ball-headed
punch, and a tracer, are useful in shaping and making leaves.
There are certain varieties of metallic buttons which can be
admirably adapted to metal flower work, to form centres for
leaves. Spherical buttons and metal beads, strung together on
wire, form ingenious bunches of grapes or berries.
Brass or copper may be easily hammered into a cup like half
an egg-shell. Two of these fitted one into the other, and
riveted or soldered, make oranges or apples. The riveting is
effected by first putting into them a round disk of wood just in
the centre, and driving the rivets in from the outside, or they
may be soldered together.
It will be found much easier for the pupil to make flowers for
himself out of paper or wax, and then imitate them in metal,
than to make them at once in metal, even from the most clear
and careful directions ; and it is advisable to copy real flowers
as much as possible, as this will make an artist sooner than
copying the best models.
 Moulded Sheet Metal Work. 51

Sheet metal work is allied to strip work on one hand, and to

repoiiss^ on the other, but there is an endless variety of objects

which can be made in it, either with, or without either. It is
well, to begin with, to remember that whatever can be made in
paper or cardboard can be imitated in sheet metal. Thus, to
make a shallow receptacle which may be adapted to hold a square
inkstand or lamp, cut a flat piece of brass or iron into the form
indicated in Fig. 6'}^ bend up the ends, turn them round,
;

solder them or rivet them with brass nails, with semi-spherical

heads, bend over the handle, and you will have a useful object of

Fig. 63. Inkstand. Fig. 64. Ash Tray.

'
which the merest beginner can make fifty in a day, that is if the
handle be riveted on instead of being cut out.
Another kind of receiver, patera, or saucer, or ash tray, is very
easily made by taking a piece of sheet metal, square, round,
elliptical, or, in fact, of almost any form or size, and hammering
it into a shallow or deep scoop, or concave form, or cup, or
basin. To this a handle or handles may be riveted, so as to
make of it a basket or give it the Roman lamp form, Fig. 64.
A cylinder or cannon-shaped receptacle may be made into a
tankard, or converted into the base for a lamp. Take a more or
less square piece of sheet metal and roll it into the requisite shape,
52 Metal Work.

and then rivet or solder

it firmly. The bottom may be a round
piece, withedge turned up, into which the cylinder fits exactly,
which may be soldered or riveted on. As before described, this
turning the edge is easily effected on the anvil with a hammer,
and there is a cheap little machine, used by every tinman, by
means of which it can be done accurately, and in a minute. A
handle of strip iron or nail rod can be also riveted to the
can. Fig. ^6.

Fig. 65. Cylindrical Fig. 66. Tankard.

Rfxeptacle.

It may herebe observed that old, discoloured, Rorhan copper, or

bronze coins, which can be bought in most curiosity shops for as
little as a penny a-piece, and which are in reality often quite

worthless to a collector, being as unrecognizable and as ugly

as can well be, look very quaint and interesting when set into
the centre of a receiver, or around the side of a cylinder or
cannon tankard. If the reader will try this he will be quite
satisfied with the effect (Fig. ^j). To set the coins, take a strip
 Moulded Sheet Metal Work. 53

or band of metal large enough to pass round the cylinder and

lap over a quarter of an inch. While flat, mark out on it the
exact size of the coins. Then within
these rings mark out smaller ones, which
are to be cut out. An easy way to do this
is with a very strong pair of carpenter's
compasses with steeled points. The diffe-
rence between the two circles must be
exactly broad enough to be "knocked
up " and just turned a little over the
—
edge of the coin practise this first with
thin brass or sheet tin —
then set the coins,
slip the band over the cylinder, and rivet \

or solder its ends.

Another way to produce this projec-
tion, so as to make a ring to receive and
Fig. 67. Tankard inlaid
hold the coin, is as follows. Bore in a WITH Coins.
piece of hard wood a hole a very little

larger than the coin ; then prepare a wooden cylinder of exactly

the diameter of the coin. If we place a piece of thin sheet metal,
from which a round piece has been cut, exactly on the hole, put
tlieend of the wooden roller over and give it a blow with a
it,

hammer, it will of course knock up the edge of the metal into a

band which will just hold the coin (Fig. 68). This is the same as
if you were to force your finger through a piece of paper there ;

would be a hole, and the paper would rise

up round it on one side only. This is the
better process of the two.
A candlestick is made as follows. Form
a tube (of the size of a candle) of sheet
metal, first make in the end three cuts or
splits : after closing the tube, hammer these splits out and
they will form three feet on which it rests. Add a riveted

V
54 Metal Work,

handle if needed. Bands of brass may be put on, if it be of iron,

an ornament.
for
Tlie most striking kind of sheet metal work is the one least
I
practised. This consists of either repousse, or plain flat sheets
simply outlined, which are then painted with strong, common
oil-paint, or coloured by the processes described
further on. Dark-green and black oil-paint
take such a firm chemical hold on brass that
after a few months they set almost like enamel,
and can only be scraped away with great diffi-
culty. They can be cleaned, when hard, like
the metal itself. The pattern may be thus
blacked, or only the ground, or both alter-
nately (as in Fig. 70). Work of this kind is
very beautiful, and extremely effective.

Fig. 69.
To ornament brass work with black bands,
or to fill up hammered or repousse hollow
places, use a mixture of sulphur and ammonia. It has an un-

pleasant smell, but sets as hard as enamel, and takes a polish.

This mixture of sulphur and ammonia is very black. When used
to fill lines or other cavities in silver it has the appearance of
what is called uiello.
To give copper a rich green rust, apply sulphate of copper
dissolved in water. Green figures may thus be produced on the
burnished copper surface.
Nitric, or sulphuric, or muriatic acids, and even strong vinegar
may be employed to rust copper, brass, or iron.
B7'onzing may be applied to brass —
especially grounds very —
often with good effect. There are so many methods of doing this
that the student may be most practically recommended to ask
for information of those who sell the great variety of colours in
metal powders known as bronze. There are also boxes of these
colours sold with all necessary utensils and directions. In
 Monlded Shed Metal Work. 55
I Repousse Work for Amateurs," by L. L. Haslope, which I

commend to all students as containing much practical informa-

Fig. 70. Salver or Plaque of Coloured Brass.

[The pattern may either be outlined or reproduced in repouss^J]

tion, the author gives us a hitherto unpublished recipe, the use

of a solution of bichloride of platinum in rain water. This is

applied to the work with a brush, or the brass is immersed in it till

^university)
56 Metal Work.

a sufficient effect has been produced it is then washed in water,

;

dried in sawdust, and lacquered. It will pass from yellow to

Fii(. 71. From the Baptistery, Florence. Pattern outlined on

Metal and filled in in Niello.

deep blue if the latter colour is requiredwash at once. If left

:

in the solution long enough it will become a fine black, which is

I
 Moulded Sheet Metal Work. 57

abo secured in the same way. This is an expensive recipe.

Bronzing is also effected by mixing

Sulphate of iron 2 oz.

White arsenic i oz.
Spirits of salts 20 (fluid) oz.

This is applied in the same manner. Care should be used

not to inhale the fumes of this mixture.

Fig. 72. Lamp Hook (Florentine).

 IRepousse,
OR EMBOSSED SHEET-METAL WORK.

HE art of cmbossiii!^
\
sheet metal, or making
raised designs on it, by
beating it with certain
tools and a hammer,
is called Repousse.
Exact imitations of
such work can also be
made by pressing the
sheets into dies with
stamps by machinery,
but this is not rep cmsse
as regards xvork, not
having been beaten by
hand, although it is in
relief.

embossing is
This
-'^'"'
done two ways:
in
One by beating on the face, in which case the background is
driven in with viatts or stamps and a hammer, and the pattern
 Repoussi. 59

remains in relief. The second method

is on a bed of tough
to lay the face
and hard yet somewhat yielding ce-
ment,made chiefly of pitch and brick-
and beat out or repousse (literally
dust,
push or repulse) the pattern from
behind.
The first method,^// wood^ which
I was

the first to England and

teach in
America, or to publish, as my woiks
prove, is by far the easiest and least
expensive, and most suitable for begin-
ners, as an introduction to
serving
repousseon pitch, by which latter much
bolder and more " artistic " work is
produced, though it naturally requires
more strength and skill.

Fig. T2,-
Panel in Flat
Relief.
 REPOUSSE ON WOOD.

^j .f^ O begin, let the pupil obtain a good

j"'
panel of j-^// pine wood, let us say of
six inches by six, or any other suitable
size. It n:iust be free from knots or
defects, and about three-quarters of
an inch in thickness.
The next thing to lay in a stock of
is material. Brass is sold in sheets of
from six to twelve inches, but may
be had of greater width. It is of all
thicknesses, from that of note paper
up to half an inch. No. 25, or about
10 W.G., or, as we may say, so thick that it can just be cut
without great effort with the shears, is suitable for beginners
and for most work. Be sure that you get good clean metal,
free from red or copper spots, holes, or scales. By obtaining it
from someone who makes a business of supplying amateurs and
artists, you will get the best.^
Copper, red metal, tin, and even thin pewter sheets, are also
worked in repousse.
The tools needed are as follows :

A Chaser's Hammer. An ordinary light shoemaker's hammer

^
Messrs. Barkentin and Krall, of 291, Regent Street, will supply the neces-
sary material.

I
 Repoussi on Wood. 6i

with a sound broad head may be used when the former cannot
be obtained. Fig. 74.
Most writers represent the light elastic-handled hammer, as
used for the most delicate
silver chasing, as absolutely
necessary even for strong
heavy metal, which is by
no means the case. In
Italy, where very beau-
Fig. 74.
tiful repousse is made in

abundance, it is usual to beat with a wooden stick. Fig. 75.

Tracers. These are tools which look like large headless
nails, or pieces of nail rod. The simplest is the straight tracer,
which is end exactly
at the
like a screwdriver. I have
sometimes used one of the
, 1x1,
latter when I had no other
,
^.
Fie-. 75. Italian Wooden Beater.
tracer. There are also curved tracers, meant to indent all kind
of curves, such as the entire side of a leaf at once, a whole small
circle, every bend in an S of any size, so that some workmen

^^

Fig. 76. Trackrs and Matts.

possess them by scores or hundreds. But it maybe here borne
in mind, once for all, that the first thing to do to master the
is

plain straight tracer in two or three sizes, and learn to make with

I
62 Metal Work.

it line or curve. To do this

any kind of a —
which can be effected
in afew days, with deternnined application— is to master the whole
art of repousse in low relief, or on the face. There is another
kind of tracer, the edge of which is like an extremely fine saw.
This is used for finishing, and produces a neat dotted line. Vide
Fig. 'j6a.
Matts or Stamps. The simplest of these is a round nail
with a dulled sharp point. They
are used to roughen or indent
the ground between the patterns. This, as a tool, is called a
pick. Other matts are cross hatched, like office-seals, or with
points like a small o, or stars or crosses, leaves or flowers. One
hke the flattened point of a round nail (• • •) is most common.
Vide Fig. "j^b.
Border Tools are large matts or stamps. Where we have,
for instance, a border of two lines run with a tracer, we may
repeat in it by side, a circle or a cross
at regular intervals, side
of four semicircles, diamond or a leaf For these special
a
stamps are made. But even these figures can be made with a
flat small tracer of one-tenth of an inch ( -) with care.

A Ball Tool, Fig. 78, a, is a punch or matt with a round end, like
half a pea. It produces an indentation.
A Cup Tool, Fig. 78, b, is the re-
verse of the ball tool. Itproduces a
round rising relief. Similar tools,
both hollow and in relief, of diamond,
or oval, or star, or other shapes, are
sometimes used.
In addition to these, the beginner will require a very black
soft lead pencil, thin but very tough strong paper, carbon paper,
black or blue, and an agate or bone or steel point. Also small
screws.
The panel of wood and the brass should be of the same size,
and the brass should be fastened at the edges with the small
 Repoussi on Wood. 63

screws. Do not use tacks or small nails, as they are apt to pull
out. Let them be about one inch apart. Fig. 79.
Then draw on the brass a straight line, or a number of lines,
either with a lead pencil or ink, or a crayon pencil, half an inch
apart. Take the or smooth tracer in the left hand, hold it
flat

vertically, and moving it alongket^ tapping on its top with

zvhile
a hammer. The motion of the tracer and the tapping must be
simultaneous. As a preparatory exercise you may take a piece
of cardboard or very thin metal and draw a line by hand without
the hammer. This will give you an idea of the line to be
produced. It must be even, or without a break. Do not first

:ji

Fig. 79- Fig 80,

stamp the tracer, as many do, and then repeat the mark. Run
it on continuously.

The tracer with a dotted edge for finishing is not however run
along. With it you make successive marks, taking great pains
to unite them in a clean line. This finishing may or may not be
executed, according to the work.
When you can run a clean straight line, and not before, draw
long curves and run them in like manner. Such curves joined
form leaves. Fig. 80. Do not make these lines too lightly nor
too heavily.
You may now draw a simple pattern, say a circle or leaf. Take
any simple matt, and with care indent the ground round it. Bring
Fig. 8 1. Fig. 82.
Simple Exercises.

Fig. 83. Study of Simple Flower Form.

 Repouss6 on Wood.

this indentation close to the line made by the tracer. Then go

lightly over the line made with the tracer. Figs. 81-83.

Fig. 84. Study of Weeds, entirely in Outline, with Tracers,

Let be impressed on the mind that the pupil, before going

it

•ther, to run the lines and execute the matting or

must learn
grounding with perfect ease, confidence, and accuracy. One
F
66 Metal Work,

hour of earnest work at this stage may save weeks or months of

feeble and amateur-like labour in the future. Fig. 84.
To prepare brass for work, either pass it through a roller if it
be not perfectly smooth, or else iron it flat with a common flat-
iron. Then rub the surface with fine sand-paper, or with pumice
stone or emery powder. Then screw it to the board.
To draw the pattern on brass, execute it first on thin strong
paper with a very black soft lead pencil or with a crayon pencil.
Then lay this, face down, on the brass. To hold it in place you
may gum the edges to the metal. Then with an agate burnisher
or a paper knife, or any smooth hard substance, rub the back, and
the pattern will be transferred. If not quite distinct, draw it over
with pencil or ink.
Another way isto lay black carbon-paper on the brass, and on
this the design, and go over the whole with an agate or bone
point, or even a very hard lead pencil.
A third method which I have often employed, is to lay the
pattern on the brass and go
over it with a prick-wheel,
which may be bought for 9</.
^'^- ^5- Fig. 85. This
at the shops.

will leave lines of small dots in the metal. Go over them with
pencil or ink.
Having the pattern on the metal, outline it with the tracer,
and note that the accuracy and clearness with which this is done
will determine the value of the whole work. Then execute the
matting. Take great care not to cut through the brass if you ;

attempt to produce a finished line at the first eff"ort you will be

sure to do this. To avoid it go over the line.
Ancient brass was so hard and brittle that it could not be
easily worked on wood. It was the discovery by me, that as

now made it is more ductile, which led to working on wood.

But if the pupil finds that after much hammering the brass
» Repoiissi on Wood. 67

becomes hard, and brittle, and breaks easily, it may be softened

by laying it on a fire till it is quite hot, or even red-hot. This
process is called Annealing. To dispense with it, endeavour to
avoid too much beating and needless repetition of matting. The
art of producing the most effect with the least work will come
with practice. As a rule, annealing is seldom required in working
on wood. If the brass be cut through, any tinsmith will solder
the breaks, but it is well to learn to do this yourself.
Where there are very small curves and corners, the worker must
use the smallest curved tracers, and the pointed matt. Figs. 86,
87. With a little experience he will
soon overcome all such difficulties.
Working on wood is only discredited
by some because they have never
patiently experimented with it and
discovered all its capabilities. When
the pupil has found out by careful
work how farhe can go and what de-
gree of relief he can produce, — and this
is far greater than is generally sup-
posed, — he can greatly increase the re-
lief in two ways. One of these is to
take the metal from the wood, and glue Fig. 86, Study of Small
on to the latter, where a high relief is Curves.
needed, another piece cut to shape. On this the metal will, with
careful work,assume a high relief.
Another method is to apply, or fix, a lump of cement on
the wood, and work on it. This forms a transition stage to
working on the mass of pitch, but is extremely easy. Where
the pitch and brickdust cement cannot be had, shoemaker's wax
mixed with dust or dry clay forms a tolerable substitute.
What is to be specially noted in minor art work is, that per-
severance and ingenuity will enable any pupil, with even scanty

I
 Metal Work.

resources, to accomplish more, and develop more readiness and

confidence, than if he had a well-fitted workshop and every con-
venience. He who learns by attending carefully to the rudi-
ments to make the very utmost out of everything (which is seldom
done), will, when provided with abundance of tools and materials.

Fig. 87. Ornamental Plaque.

make surpassing progress. I have known boys of thirteen and

fourteen years to produce on wood, in my school, beautiful re-
pousse work in high relief, which skilled workmen declared it ]

was impossible to make save on cement or pitch. |

A block of lead one inch in thickness is specially adapted to !

 on Wood. 69

sheet-silver work, and for fine or delicate brass repousse. It is

not nearly so easy as working on wood where large patterns are
used, nor does it permit such bold relief. Lead is generally used
by jewellers.
It is worth observing, that if the pupil has really mastered

working on wood, it is miicJi less difficult than working on pitch,

so far as moderate reliefs are concerned (which are all that are
required in more than half the articles made in sheet metal),
while the results are, of their kind, fully equal to anything
made on pitch or cement, if the worker gives the same amount
of care to them. In the Middle Ages an enormous proportion of
all the decoration, now so much admired, whether in wood-
carving,wall-painting, or leather-work, was the result of a
thorough knowledge of the merest rudiments.
I would have it, however, distinctly understood that I do not

at all give preference to wood, or anything else, over pitch or

cement, especially for deep relief and elaborate work. But I
insist on it, that in every instance where
have heard or read
I

of wood being decried altogether, I have found that those who

did so were utterly ignorant of its capacity or what can be done
on it. Neither did they understand what Karl Krall, one of the
first artists in England, has recognized, that working on soft wood

is the most practical, easiest, and cheapest method for beginners,

and is therefore the best. It is very important that, for such

beginners, everything shall be as simple as possible, therefore, as
hammering on wood is far simpler than on cement, young people
can learn by it more readily.

was entirely from its great cheapness, ease, facility of

It

transport, and cleanliness, that brass-work on wood became

very suddenly popular, and if repousse on cement has since
followed in its wake and is now extensively followed, it owes
its prosperity to the beginning made by the former.
Repousse can also be admirably executed in raiv hide, i.e. of

t
70 Metal Work.

oxen or cows, which, when dry, is hard and yet tough. This
is a material as yet little known except in America, where the

most durable trunks in the world are made of it. In Italy the
most beautiful of leather-work was made of raw hide, stamped
'

or cut.
 Repoussi on Wood. 71

It is worth noting that all the process for working sheet brass
on wood is almost exactly applicable to sheet-leather work, so

that in learning one we learn the other. Even the same tools
are in a great measure used/
Relief may be increased by placing on the wood layers of
pasted paper, felt, or card, or pasteboard, the use of these
depending on the thickness or quality of the metal. Willow-
wood, when it can be obtained, admits of a very deep relief.
All kinds of lines can be executed on metal surfaces by
stamping with the hammer, but for these, of course, different
viatts or tracers are needed. With a very small and not too
dull (nor too sharp-cutting) tracer {e.g. -), and with one or
two slightly curved {e.g. -^ '^'^), one can execute hair on
animals, and in fact all the ordinary details of pen-drawing.
Care must be, however, taken not to cross over or mix lines
when it can be avoided.^
It is not unusual, even when there is a large surface covered
with a small embossed, chased, or repousse pattern, to polish the
whole equally. The result is to greatly diminish the contrast
of light and shadow, which it is the real object of embossing
to produce ;and what is more, this relief disappears with every
fresh cleaning-. The numerous and minute details often so freely
imparted as to how to use machinery, tools, sand, lime, dipping in
aquafortis, etc., must be consulted with great caution by all be-
ginners. Rotten-stone, or any ordinary soft cleaning powder,
with spirits of turpentine or sweet oil, and then an application of
petroleum with a soft rag or chamois, will answer all ordinary
purposes.
Oxalic acid is very thoroughly cleansing ; care should be taken

^ Vide " Leather Work." Whittaker and Co.

^ This is also
a good rule in pen-drawing many very eminent artists,
;

such as Callot and the late Rey. Mr. Petit, often executed very elaborate
pictures with very little crossing of lines.
72 Metal Work.

to wear gloves while using it, as it is very painful and even

poisonous in scratches or cuts. The best preparation with which
I am acquainted is a German paste made and sold by Barkentin

and Krall, Regent street, who will supply all that is needed for
repousse work.
But while the pattern or relief should, it is true, be kept well
polished, theground may in many or most cases be even darkened
slightly to advantage, as by rubbing paint or sulphate of am-
monia into the minute dots and scratches of the matting. It
is not merely because this makes an object look antique and

interesting that this effect is beginning to be imitated so much

in art, because it really produces a vivid relief, and contrasts

it is

shadow with light, also defining the pattern more distinctly. To

secure this latter object all pains should be taken in decorative
art, especially where the design is at all elaborate or compli-

cated. In most ordinary repousse work the outline at least may

be thus darkened to advantage.
All weak amateurs, and those who are feeble as regards design,
are greatly given to produce large aggregates of petty ornament,
and it is precisely this kind of work which is soonest and easiest
polished into invisibility.
 REPOUSSE ON PITCH.
^-^ylO get the highest relief in sheet-
metal work we must of cour^e
push the pattern out from the
back, and not drive the back in
from the face. To do this the
sheet must be laid on some
substance which will oppose a
moderate resistance, and yield
a little to every blow, but not
give way all at once. The sub-
stance best fitted for such a re-
sistant consists of a cement made
ofaboutonehalf Burgundy pitch,
and one half of brickdust, or of
brickdust and plaster mixed.
In some cases where we need a body which is more yielding, this
is tempered with a little linseed oil and rosin. Pitch and dust
harden too much in cold weather, therefore, and especially in
America, where there are almost Russian winters and tropical
summers, the composition of the cement is a very important
matter. Dealers in tools for chasing and sheet-metal work
generally sell a carefully prepared cement in cakes, which saves
the great trouble of heating and mixing.
P^or repousse on cement, or, as it is generally called from its
chief ingredient, " pitch," there are needed, in addition to the tools

I
74 Metal Work.

already described as used for embossing on wood, certain others.

It will be at once seen, from the cost of these and their bulk and

Fig-. 89. Repouss^, High Relief. From the Baptistery,

Florence.

relative difficulty of management, why it was that when the easier

process was made known, or hammering on wood, it became so
 RepoussS on Pitch. 75

popular ; and if repouss^ on pitch has also become of late popular

the fact is due to the impulse given by the humbler art.

The tools referred to are as follows.

A chasing Jiammer, and one of a heavier kind.
Beaters. These are stamps of different sizes, and with more or
less rounded, flat, or oval heads. They are intended to beat
hollows into the metal. Fig. 90.
A tin or iron cnp to hold the beaters, tracers, and matts.
One good mallet.
A spatula or metallic spreader.
A pair of strong compasses and ^ square.

Fig. 91.

Fig. 90.

A cushion to hold the work. Fig. 91.

A strong bench.
A pitch block, a stone slab, one inch thick.
i.e.

A chaser s bowl.
A pitch pan. A common frying-pan will answer for this. Fig.

A bottle for pitch.

A stove, or fire.

A small iron stool for the stove.

The pitch is laid on a bed, which varies according to the shape
and size of the work. It may be a block of stone, or a flat pan,
a piece of plank with raised sides, or a wooden bowl. It is some-
76 Metal Work.

times applied in small quantities to special surfaces, for the

purpose of working small objects and again, cups, goblets,
;

and hollow vessels, are generally filled with melted cement, and
when this is hard they are worked on the outside face.
Having melted the cement in a pot or boiler, dip it out with a
ladle, and pour it into the pan or on the stone, gradually, till it
is, let us say, an inch deep. Before it is too hard, lay the brass
plate with the design already drawn on it, and bring enough
cement or " pitch " over the edges to hold it firmly when
cooled. This is done with the fingers, which are dipped in water
to prevent the pitch from sticking to them. A
spatula, or flat
knife, is often used in treating the pitch. The pan is most
convenient for beginners, as it can be filled and kept till needed.
All that is necessary is to re-warm it, or else warm the brass and
press it on, when the cement, as it cools, will hold it fast.

Now take a ball-hcadcd tool, and with the mallet gradually

beat in the brass into the cement, before it is quite cool. Do
not attempt in this, any more than working on wood, to get to
in
tJie full relief all at once anywJiere. Beat it at first shallow with a
large tool in the large hollows, and then do the same with a
smaller tool in the lesser parts, and so on, moulding or sculpturing,
as it were, in a hollow. If you are very careful and patient, it is
probable that you may make a good piece of work at the first
trial.

All directions in print as tohow to handle or manipulate the

tools to give a form are only bewildering, and quite as useless
as attempting to tell how one should model in clay. If the
beginner has already a model or cast, or beaten work exactly
like what he is trying to produce, it will, however, save him a
great deal of uncertainty and trouble so much indeed, that this
;

may be regarded as really indispensable where there is no skilled

teacher to direct his work.
When the work appears to be finished, the pitch' can be
 Repoussd on Pitch. 77

warmed, the work taken out and washed clean with petroleum,
and then, if it appears to be imperfect, repeat the process. If it
seems to be all right, then, filling it well with cement, lay it
reversed on the pitch, and when hard work it on the face. In

Fig. 93- Copper Scalding to contain Burning Charcoal.

Venetian Work.

this stage the outlines are renewed or sharpened, and the

matting or roughening the ground to give a dark relief to the
shining pattern is executed.
To work repousse on a jar, pot, or vase, etc., fill the vessel

I
 78 Metal Work.

with " pitch " or cement, and then let it cool and harden. To
remove it, heat it again.
If the pupil will be contented to begin by simply working a
hemispherical figure like half an orange, and then perhaps a pear,
by and so on through a dozen easy models, with great
itself,

care, without hurrying to produce something remarkable, he

will really need no teaching whatever. But it is so usual for
even elementary books to set forth difficult show-pieces even for
a first lesson, and almost all beginners are so ambitious to
display what seems to the ignorant to be a masterpiece as a
first effort, that it would seem to be almost useless to insist on

this. But as I and all sensible writers on repousse

have said,
agree with me, it and truly only by observing closely
is really
the manner in which relief or depression follows one's moulding
or manipulating, and by thinking and trying, that one learns to
repousse anything, and not by being told or shown how and it ;

therefore follows inevitably that if the pupil would begin by very

easy efforts, and thoroughly mastered everything as he went
along, on the " acquiring strength by going " principle, he would
have little or no need of a teacher.
After the pupil has thorougJily learned the rudiments of an
art, it is almost useless to describe the advanced processes and
great difficulties, for the simple reason that they are rarely, if

ever, read by anybody ; always more easily acquired

for these are
in the studio or workshop from seeing others working, or by
divining them from models and works of art. Yet it is precisely
these difficult things to which the authors of " elementary " books
of instruction devote most time, as if they were either anxious to
show how much they know, or were apprehensive of being
considered ignorant, while the rndivients, in which nine-tenths of
all education lies, are slurred over. And for this reason I beg
all who follow this book to execute easy repousse, especially on
pitch, with careful slowness, and if they do, they may be sure
 Repoussi on Pitch. 79

that I have clearly shown them enough to produce great or

good work, if they are ever destined to do it.
I beg the pupil to pay special attention to this fact following:

Hammering in high relief on pitch is effectively the same thing

as modelling in clay or wax, the difference being only this, that
metal and different tools are employed. Now it is in repousse
—
exactly the same as in modelling the most apparently difficult
curving, moulding, and turning, are nothing but the work of the
first lessons repeated perhaps many times. Thus if you can

Fig. 94.

repousse so simple a thing as a pear or a curved leaf, Fig. 94,

and zvill have the patience to execute it ivitJi great care, several
times, before —
proceeding to more ambitious work, that is to say,
make you can do so from memory, with perfect confidence
it till

—
and ease, you will not only find that most large pieces involve
quite the same zvork over and over again, but also that you have
saved yourself months of work by perfectly mastering the first
steps. In Decorative or Minor Arts — —
design apart careful mas-
tery
t of the rudiments is equivalent to genius.

I
8o Metal Work.

There are very few people who reflect when they see a beauti-
fuldesign that it is probably only a simple pattern doubled or
quadrupled, with perhaps some trivial alterations, or that the
most bewildering and complicated designs may be made by any
child,by the simple process of cutting out two easy patterns in
lines and laying one on the other. And I have found many
very well-educated people who were astonished to learn that a

wall-paper whose design was to them quite a mystery, consisted

of nothing but a single ornament repeated and connected by a
vine, the construction of which is to the last degree simple and
mechanical, and which anybody can learn to make in five
minutes. This is precisely the case with higher repotiss^, of

which it may be very truly said that all its difficulties lie in the
preliminary details.
 Repoussd on Pitch.

Snarling.This is a very curious element in embossing metal.

The reader probably aware that the very moderate tap of a
is

hammer on metal produces at least a slight indentation, and

that if repeated, on the " continually dropping " principle, a very
large cavity can soon be produced. On this principle a long

Fig. 96.

P'Curved bar of peculiar shape, held in a vice, and frequently

'

struck with a hammer, will keep vibrating, and if its vibrating

end strikes all the time on sheet metal, it will of course bend
it. Now as it is impossible for us to hammer, let us say, inside
a narrow-necked copper vase, and beat out the side into a

I
82 Metal Work.

given form, this is most ingeniously and very easily done by

snarling, that is, by introducinj^ the end of the iron into the vase,
so that touches the spot required, and hammering on it. To
it

do cream-jug is placed on the chaser's

this the vase or bottle or
bowl, and this on the cushion to steady it. Snarling irons are
both light and heavy, and they are not confined to working
inside vessels. When the vibration is given by a treadle or by
the aid of a second person, it is easily applicable to a great deal
of work, and is saving of much muscular exertion to the artist.

Begin by snarling on a bit of waste brass or tin, and you will at

once learn the method of working.
Snarling involves the same principle as spinning, and both
that of making pottery on a wheel that is to say, we avail
;

ourselves of the principle of producing by means of a machine a

greateramount of force, or more frequently repeated blows, or a
more persistent and effective pressure, than we could do by the
hand alone. Vide Fig. 95.
 PATTERNS FOR REPOUSSE WORK.

Fig. 97. Pattern either for a Panel or for a Cvlindrical Vase.

It may be enlarged, if necessary, by repeating one or more of the
divisions.
Fig. ICO. Ellicws.
Fig. ID2. Design for Salver.
Fig. 103. Repousse Panel.
Fig. 104. Roman Repousse Work in Bronze. Fifteenth
Century.
(In the possession of the Author.)
 Fig-. 105. Necklace with Pendants.

ORNAMENTAL SILVER WORK.

THERE are many very pretty silver ornaments
which any lady might wear, and yet are ex-
tremely easy for any girl or boy to make, and
require very few implements. I have seen in

Nubia very neat objects of the kind actually

hammered from coins with only a nail and a
stone, and among the Red Indians of America
a hammer, a pair of scissors, and a flat-iron,
suffice to make a great variety of decorations.
Of these latter, known as Nispemanl, I possess
more than a pound in weight.
The metal for this work is generally obtained
Fig. 106. Scottish , ., •
n T u
by hammermg
, .

r^r.o^ T-xTr.,TA,rT., Sliver coins flat but*-4-i

the amateur
V^KOba ; ENGRAVED .
:

, . , .

Silver. "^^7 begin with real or German silver, which is

sold in sheet form of different degrees of thick-
ness, some silver wire, and for advanced work some silver solder.
The first and easiest thing to make is a shawl-brooch. Take a six-
pence or a shilling, lay on the anvil (as before said, the Indians
it

use a flat-iron reversed), and with a small hammer gradually and

carefully beat the coin into a saucer shape. Fig. 107, a,b. If

I
90 Metal Work.

neatly done, it will be quite smooth. Do not make it too thin or

it bend too easily, and not wear well. When this is done,
will
take a file and make a hole of from half an inch to three-quarters
of an inch diameter in the centre. With a round cutting punch
and a blow of the hammer this round centre

/
^—^\ may be cut out, and the bit thus removed may
serve as a pendant.
I ! This done, bore a small hole edge of
in the
the brooch, pass a strong pin through bend it,

the dull end into a ring to hold it, and the brooch
is finished. Fig. 107, c, d. It may be observed
that any small jeweller will solder a pin which —
will be better than the bent one —
for sixpence,
and that a steel pin is better than one of silver.
To use the brooch, pull the shawl through the
hole, put the pin through it, and the shawl, as it
pulls, holds the pin down. It is not uncommon
in Scotland for people to make penny pieces
into brooches by the simple process of filing a
round hole in the rim, and, without hammering,
adjusting a pin to it.

These brooches maybe ornamented byetching

with nitric acid, and the lines nielloed with am-
monia and sulphur as before described (p. 54), or
they may be hammered in repousse. Fig. 108.
Fig. 107. A Silver I possess a broad silver brooch which I once dug
Brooch. out of an old Indian grave. On it fs a figure of
a bear, which had been neatly pointed in with a
dot-zvlieel. Adot-wheel is a little implement which is used by
shoemakers, and which may be bought for ninepence. Fig. 85.
A silver chain is very easily made. Take the bit of wire, turn
its end once round the round-nosed plier, then hold the ring in

the flat plier, turn the other into an S. Of course the ends meet,
 Ornamental Silver Work. 91

like a figure 8. Then cut a second bit, repeat the process, link
one into the other, and so on.
Two strands of silver wire may be twisted, or three may be
braided into a cord, which may be made into a necklet or bracelet,
according to its length. When
two are twisted a loop may be
made at one end, and the two
bent into a hook at the other to
catch the loop. Where there are
three braided, one of the wires
must be secured by soldering or
Fig. 108.Old Scotch Brooches
winding its end round the other ROUGHLY ENGRAVED.
two. It is advisable to make
such necklets and bracelets first in bell-wire before venturing on
silver.

When very thick, a single piece curled once

the silver wire is

or twice round the wrist, and simply cut off, makes a neat
bangle. To this pendants may be affixed or hung.
A simple flat band of sheet silver, worn round the wrist, and
lapping over at the ends, can be cut by anybody with a. pair of
shears or even strong scissors, and it makes a very attractive
ornament. When nielloed with ever so little skill it is very
pretty. With the round or ball punch bosses may be worked
on these flat bangles, and the outside ornamented by chasing,

acid-etching, or repousse.
An endless variety of beautiful ornaments for pendants is made
by the simple process of cutting out from sheet silver, with a
pair of scissors, any kind of figures suitable. Even the ancient
Etruscans, who surpassed the first artists of modern times in a
perfect knowledge of the art of jewellery, took a great pleasure in
this simple, easy method of making pendants, by merely cutting
out and stamping thin gold and silver metal, and it is found side
by side with the exquisite powdered gold articles, which, according
 Metal Work.

to Castellani, no one can now imitate. And if there was not

now prevalent in the world a vulgar belief that excess of expense,
labour, and finish constitutes " beauty " in jewellery, we should
now see ladies wearing ornaments made by themselves according
to their own and designs. Fig. 105.
original tastes
The easiest way to make these
is to draw the figure on ordinary

paper, paste it on the sheet metal, and then cut it out with fret-saw
or scissors. If there be inside spaces " where the scissors cannot
"

be used, then lay the plate on the anvil (a block of solid lead is
far better), or even a block of hard wood, and cut them out with
a cutting-tracer or a file. Silver is very easy to saw.
have a pair of very pretty silver earrings which I bought of
I

an American Indian woman, and which are made as follows

Take a piece of sheet silver of about an equilateral-triangular
shape. Roll this into a long cornet or horn of a narrow
cone shape. Fig. 109. Leave enough of a hole at the
point to pass a wire, either to form a hook or a loop.
If you choose, a coral bead may be put at this end,
the wire passing through it. Before rolling up the
silver with the pliers, practise making such cones with
thin brass or tin. These cones also serve as pendants
for brooches. A very pretty, substantial pair of such
earrings, with the coral beads and wire, would not cost
more than two and they would be much more
shillings,

Fig. 109. attractive than most of the machinery-made and more

Earring, expensive articles of the kind generally worn.
Silver wire may be braided, twisted, and woven into
many kinds of ornaments. The very pretty chain pattern shown
in fig. 10 on page 9 may also be adapted for a bracelet, and when so
worked is called " open " filigree work —when soldered on the
plain surface of rings, bracelets, or other ornaments, it is

" applied " filigree.

The wires plain and twisted, when soldered along the edges
 Oi^namental Silver Work. 93

of work, impart toit a very good finish, besides strength and

durability. should advise every worker to invent new ways

I

and forms in the arrangement and manipulation of plain and

twisted wires of various thicknesses, without following the special
types characterizing the filigree work of each country and he ;

will find that when finished and polished, the reflected lights and
shadows of these wires prove very effective and pleasing.
will

One other excellent adaptation is to solder on wires to re-

present the mid-rib and side ribs of foliated ornaments (see figs,

49. 53. 55. ^0. using thick wire for the main lines, and thinner
wire for the remainder, and if a different metal is adopted, say
on iron ornaments, and copper wire for brass or
silver or brass wire
silverornaments, the contrast when finished is very gratifying.
Tracery and Gothic leafwork of the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries have frequently been finished with this enrichment.
As have described, any silver coin, from the size of a sixpence
I

up to a crown,may be easily beaten into sheet silver, and formed

or cut into jewellery or ornaments and the processes are so easy
;

that any girl who will first make the experiment with a few penny-
worth of very tJiin brass or iron, or even sheet tin, will find at
once that it is extremely easy to make objects which are pretty
to wear or easy to dispose of.
It is much to be desired that those who are anxious to
stimulate the general practice of Decorative Art among all
classes should organize an exhibition of such jewellery or
ornaments and objects of silver as are here described, made by
amateurs. For the love of such adornment is innate, and since
it exists it would be most sensibly gratified by encouraging

young women to make their own brooches and earrings or

bracelets. This would develop skill and taste at no great
expense, and perhaps do more to extend knowledge of decorative
art than anything else. I have observed, by the way, that in

cases where girls have thus made their own jewellery, they have
94 Metal Work.

taken great pride in it and never tired of it, —so true is it that
"a poor thing, but my own," is always a special delight.

Fig. no. Patterns for Pendants,

Soldering silver, or any other metal, is by no means so difficult

a process as it is supposed to be, but when possible it is best to
take a lesson in it from some jeweller. Once acquired, it enables:s

1
 university)
Ornamental Silver Work. 95

the workman make or finish a great variety of articles.

to
Thus ends may be neatly joined, and coins, gems, stones, etc.,
be soldered into cups or flat bangles, at very small expense, yet
so as to greatly enhance the value of an article. Thus I have
seen three old Roman silver coins, worth two shillings each,

Fig. III. Russian Silver Crosses in the Possession

OF the Author.

soldered into a silver cup which cost a pound, for which five
pounds was asked, nor did it seem to be too much, as the
article was really in good taste.
Silver is frosted or roughened by beating it with a tool like a
file, or laying a file on it and beating in the latter. It is whitened
by heating it red hot and dipping it into diluted sulphuric acid
96 Metal Work.

(one part of acid to four of water). A

wire brush called a scratch
brush is also used to produce a finely scratched or frosted
appearance.
A silver ring is easily made by putting a pointed iron rod or
mandrel into the vice, the point upward. Then take a silver
wire, pass it once or twice round the diameter required, and cut
the wire and solder it, or twist or clamp the ends. Or you may
take a shilling, make a hole in it, put the point of the presser in
the hole, place the shilling on the table or block, and keep
turning the iron while tapping it.
gently The operation
requires great care, and it will be aided if you place the ring
once or twice in the fire to anneal it.
The pupil may remember that with the fret-saw silver of
considerable thickness may be easily sawn with care. row A
of ornaments or pendants in the forms of fish, leaves, vases,
frogs, or birds thus sawn, with a few touches of repousse chasing
or etching, even if rudely executed, form when hung on a chain
a very pretty ornament. These pendants can be made from
sixpences a little beaten out. Fig. no.
Any pattern for a border given in this book may be repousse-
worked on a flat band of silver for a bracelet. Leave about one
inch of the band to lap over.
Round holes can be made with a round-pointed file (rat-tail).

If there any roughness on the edges after

is fret-sawing,
carefully remove it with a fine file and emery paper.
Silver may be nielloed or blackened with the mixture of
sulphur and ammonia or nitric acid.
Any leaf or flower is a good pattern for a pendant.
Any one pendant may be repeated many times for a row on
a necklace, chain, or wire. Small pendants may serve for ear-
rings, large for lockets.
Cut out patterns in thin brass before attempting them in silver.
Always cut them first in paper, and then paste it on the metal.
 Ornamental Silver Work. 97

A little knowledge of graving, such as may be acquired in a

few days, is a great aid in silver work, especially for the inside
lines of leaves. The back of a piece of stereotype plate or a flat

piece of lead is best to begin practising with.

Fig. 112. Old Dutch Silver Work.

k
 Fig. 113. Nail Work.

NAIL, SCALE, AND STENCIL WORK.

NAILS AND NAILED STRIPS. I

was extensively recognized in ancient metal

work that shining points of light were of
themselves very attractive, and therefore
bosses were so freely used in armour, and
even imitated in round coloured spots on
cloth. Hence the frequency of grapes and
other round fruit in old repousse or em-
bossed sheet brass work.
This is the leading feature in the work I
now describe. This beautiful and very easy
style of ornamentation has been very little
practised since the Middle Ages, although
some very fine specimens of it were executed and exhibited at
the International Exhibition a few years ago in London. It
consists simply of round-headed or boss nails of iron, brass,
copper, or silver, of which many varieties of all sizes may be
purchased from dealers in metal-ware. These nails are simply
 Nail, Scale, and Stencil Work. go

arranged in Tows so as to make patterns, and are driven into

boxes or chests.
Boss nails can be very freely employed in strip and sheet
metal work, and, indeed, I may say, all kinds of metal work

may be combined and intermingled.

freely
Harness makers and others have a great variety of elegant
ornaments, coats of arms and crests, attached to nails, which can
be used for decorating surfaces, I have in my possession a very
old flat carved Florentine powder-horn, which has been made
very attractive by having fastened to it a stag's head in brass,
which was manifestly at first attached to some carriage harness.
For this purpose of ornamenting caskets, cabinets, etc., the
Japanese cast a great variety of pretty little objects, which you
can find attached to boxes, etc., at a very low price in most
Japanese shops,
African savages often make a curious decoration for sword-
handles by driving small brass-headed nails or tacks closely
together so as to quite conceal the wood. Some of the Red
Indian tribes of North America also ornament their whip-
handles, hatchets, knives, etc, very curiously with brass-headed
tacks.
What is known as Bent Iron, Ribbon, or Strip Work, when
attached to wood, is called by Germans " Venetian Nail Work,"
it being a combination of the t\v^o kinds of work, that is, of bent

on the panel. This is not properly

iron rosettes nailed at intervals
nail work English kind, but rather the art of
in itself of the old
making, firstly, highly ornamented heads of nails in bent iron,
repousse, etching, and casting and secondly of forming orna-
;

ments such as rosettes or bosses, which were nailed on at regular

intervals. There is perhaps no kind of decorative work in which
such admirable and striking effects can be obtained with so little
labour as in this, as it consists of ornaments which are for the
most part very easily made.
 Metal Work.

There is a combination of strip and nail work which was often

executed in the Middle Ages, which consists entirely of straight
lines, all the angles being made by riveting. This is chiefly
applied to flat surfaces, as, for instance, doors of cabinets or
boxes. To attach it to a surface, nails are here and there driven
through the rivet-holes. The whole method of making it is

shown by the illustration, Fig. 1 14.

A very pretty application of flat metal, brass or iron, is to take
a box or and nail strips round it, using round-headed nails
chest,
for rivets. This was extremely common at one time. Fig. 115,
Flat strips are sometimes interwoven like matting, and when

© ©1
F^-n
(0 01

tlL"_Ll
(0
I®

-«
!

10 d
Fig. 114. Fig. 115. Box Front.

inclosed in a frame may be used as a diaper ground,' on which to

rivet flat sheet metal in cut-out patterns. This forms a kind of
metal woven fabric. '
It is pretty when arranged diagonally in
the frame.
Arab or Moorish patterns in straight lines, geometrically
arranged, which are made from the simplest square crossed with
a triangle, up to the most elaborately complicated and elegant
combinations, are all adapted to flat strip iron work. The

'
A diaper ground is one in which the whole is covered with one small
pattern frequently repeated. It may be a mere dot, or a little circle like a
small O, a flower, a diamond, or a more developed ornament. On such a
ground large ornaments may be placed at intcr\als.
 NaiL Scale, and Stencil Work.

student who can draw or construct, may find full directions how
to make such Moorish patterns in my little work on Design.
Nail, knob, or boss work of any kind is specially suited, not
only to chests and caskets, because it is suggestive of strength
and firmness, but for the same reason to panels of doors, to
squares placed above doors and windows to improve their effect,
and in many cases and places to furniture. On a small scale it

was much employed by the

monks in bookbinding, not
merely for ornament, but to
attach leather to boards, and
in many cases to protect the
painted or jewelled surface of
the cover, when laid flat, from
friction.
Where no great relief is de-
ornaments
sired, may be cut
from flat metal into disks,
circles, . flowers, rosettes, or
figures, and attached by flat-

headed nails to the surface.

Fig. Here the nail
1 1 6. is

properly a mere aid, but as

Fig. ii6. Pattern for Nail
such it plays an important Work.
part in metal work, especially
when it is a central convex shining point, Thus the attaching
of clasps and ornamental covers to books, sidepieces, or ornaments
anywhere by means of projecting points, belongs properly to nail
work.
It may be observed that nail work ranges from dots the size
any size, also that
of a pin's head up to circles, disks, or knobs of
it includes all kinds of small applied ornaments which are held

by a nail of which they are the heads. Therefore (as in bead

 Metal Work.

work sunk in wood) by making lines of nail-heads we can

execute any designs or patterns in lines which we please. Fig.
117.
Ishould mention that square-headed nails can be bought with
which work in lines is very effective.
When the ground or wood is light coloured, the effect of nail
work, especially for brass, is much improved by painting the

CoMPi.iCATKD Pattern in Nail Work.

pattern in black bands. This method is particularly striking

where elaborate patterns or picture-making is desired. It was
very much in vogue in old Scandinavian ornament, and was
profusely imitated in stone-carving. There is a curious survival
of old Norse and Middle Age nail work on black bands to be
seen on many old trunks, in which strips of black or red leather
formed the band. The effect is improved by making the band a
little broader than the diameter of the nail head.
 Nail, Scale, and Stencil Work. 103

If we box of walnut wood, very good

have, for instance, a
effects may
be produced by taking thin disks of wahiut wood
with bevelled edges larger than
the diameter of the metal knob,
and driving the nail into the f ^^r^ \ ^r^
centre. Fig. 118.
The simplest form of nail work
consists of driving short pins, or pjp. jjg
pins which have been shortened
by clipping with scissors, into a panel in lines.
off Very pretty
designs can be thus made with a little ingenuity.

NAIL-HEAD ORNAMENTS.
A NAIL driven in a wall is an ugly object but the worst and
;

roughest may easily be converted into an ornament. For this

there are two ways. Cut out a leaf or sprig with a narrow

tapering stem, and wrap this round the nail after it has been
driven in. Then bend or curve one end of a leaf over the nail.
Fig. 119, a.
Or, more easily and quite as elegantly, cut out three leaves
T04 Metal Work.

united. Drive the nail through the lower part of the stem, hang
the picture, and then bend the central leaf downwards, so as to
cover the nail. Fig. 119, b, c, d.

This may be still further improved by cutting out the three

leaves, or as many as you please, and then nailing another leaf
before the central one, and bending the former down over the
nail.

SCALE WORK.

^
OMEWH AT like this is a very easy
and effective style of ornamentation,
which has also never been described
in any book. This is Scale Work,
which can be made from any waste
metal. Cut the iron or brass into
,

disks or round pieces. Then, using

perfectly flat-headed nails or tacks,
like artists' drawing tacks, or pii-
;/<^/j-^j-, fastendown one on a board,
and then another lapping over it.

The result will be a series of scales like those of a fish. This,

when combined with painting or carving, may be used to produce
very good results, which may be heightened by employing mat-
ting, outlining, graving, and gilding on the scales. The scales
may be oval, shaped like the ends of hearts, scolloped, shaped
like sorrel leaves, ivy leaves, or several leaves together of any
kind in Brass or iron, copper or German silver scales,
a sprig.
placed alternately, look very well. Fig. 120,
We can buy at most metal or curiosity shops, or founders, masks
o occo

Fig. 1 20. Scale Work on Wood.

or medallions or ornaments in relief

which can be used as centres for scale
work. In fastening the scales, a nail
or tack should be driven into the upper
right and left-hand corners.
Tinmen have a contrivance by means
of which small disks or round pieces of
any kind of sheet metal are cut out.
Any of them would, for a moderate
sum, cut out any quantity of scales
from thin brass or iron. Large figures
of knights dragons thus covered
or
with form very striking mural
scales
decorations. Chinese often use the
small coins known as cash for this pur- Fig. 122. Scale Work
pose. Figs. 121, 122. ON Panel.
 io6 Metal Work.

STENCIL CUTTING.
ITENCILLING is painting patterns or pictures

over open spaces cut in thin sheet metal, card-

board, or wood. The latter are seldom used ;

but fret-sawed boards, when the patterns have

been sawed out, can, by bevelling or sloping
down theedges, be very often used for stencils.
That is to say, if we take a sheet of anything, cut a leaf out
from it (Fig. 29), and then lay it on another sheet of paper on

Fig. 123. Stencil Plate and Pattern.

the wall, etc., and brush it over with colour, when the stencil is
removed we find the leaf painted in one uniform flat or dead
colour. When this is dried we can, with another stencil, add the
shade.
Stencilling can of course be executed with different stencils in
as many colours. When retouched by hand with a brush very
good pictures may be thus executed, especially for wall and
ceiling decoration. This is carried to a great extent in Italy.
I am writing this in a room in di palasso in Florence, which once
belonged to Mme. Ristori, which is profusely decorated with
 Nail^ Scale, and Stencil Work, 107

stencilled- retouched subjects which have all the appearance of

well-executed paintings.
Stencil cutting in sheet metal for small or fine work applicable
to paper or boxes of white wood executed by fret-sawing,
is

or by cutting with a tool like a graver. In cardboard only a

penknife is needed.
It is necessary when cutting out a stencil to leave uncut many
spaces or places which do not belong to tlie pattern, and which

Fig- 124.
O^
are necessary to hold the stencil-plate together. Fig. 124.
These are generally painted out after the colouring. If these
necks or ties were not left, the pattern would buckle up or bend,
so that the stencil could not be used. Sometimes, for bold
mural or wall work, they are left untouched. They correspond
in effect exactly to the clamps used in bent or strip metal work.
Stencilling is well adapted to lettering or inscriptions. It is a

long and tedious process to draw and fill in a motto, say in

 Metal Work.

Gothic or black letter but if we have an alphabet ready cut we

;

can very rapidly mark out a motto, letter by letter, with the
stencils.
There are in every city men who cut stencils, generally for
lettering on boxes, who will supply the sheet metal and tools,
and give instruction as to their use.
Any person who can draw a pattern can fret-saw or
trace or
cut it out from sheet metal, and painting over it is a merely
mechanical process which only demands care. In this way any
blank wall can be easily ornamented. Let the pupil begin by
stencilling on sheets of paper —
the back of any wall-paper is
best for this purpose— and after a few trials he will be able to
make ornaments or an inscription for the frieze or cornice of a
room.
Those who cannot draw may make stencils by taking figures
of animals, such as are sold in sheets for children, or other easy
designs, pasting them on thin wood or metal, and sawing them
out.

mor^
 INDEX.
American Indians, ornaments of the, 3, Bronze powders, 54
89, 92, 99 Brooch, silver, 90
Angles, forming, 12
Annealing, 67 Candle sockets, 30
Anvils for metal work, 3 Candlesticks, 16, 30

Arab or Moorish patterns, 100 Card tray, 15

Art work, teaching, 49, 67, 78, 79 Cement for metal work, 44 ; for re-
Ash tray, 51 pousse on pitch, "j-i,

Centre-bits, 44
Back iron, 3 Chinese scale ornament, 106
Bangles or bracelets, 7 Chiselling flat sheet metal, 25
Beaters for repouss^ work, 61 Clamps and clamped work, 9
Bellows, 84 Coins, set in cups, etc., 52, silver,
95 ;

Bends, simple, 10 for ornaments, 89

Bent iron work, i, 99 Crossed-strip work, 17, 32
Binders, or clamps, 9 Curves, 11, 14, i8_
Bone for frames, 31
Bookbinding, boss work in old, loi Decoration in the Middle Ages, 69
Book corners and clasps, 44 Designs, simple, 80
Book cover design, 40 Diaper grounds, 100
Book rest, 29 Dutch silver work, old, 97
Border, sheet metal work, 47
Borders, 22
Boss work in old bookbinding, loi Embossed sheet metal work, 58

Bosses, in old ornament, 98 Engraving for metal work, 38, 97

Bowl stand, 14 Etching for metal work, 38
Box front, nail work, 100 Etruscan jewellery, 91
Bracket, hinged, 25 Eye curves, 1

Bracket for door curtain, 26

Brass, bronzing, 54 for repousse, 60,
; Figure work, 24, 37
66 brass work, painted, 54
; Finishing, 22
 Metal Work.

Flagon stand, i6 Lantern, hall, 30

Flat sheet metal work, 35 Lantern work, 31
Flat strip work, 45 Lead blocks for sheet silver work, 69
Florentine work, 19, 23, 57, 74, 85, Leaf and flower work, 47
107. See also Italian, etc.
Flower and leaf work, 47 Materials, 5. See also Tools, etc.
Frames, work upon, 20 Matts, or stamps, for repousse work,
Fret-sawed metal work, 36, 40 62
Mirror frame, 27
German work, old, 25, 35
Moorish or Arab patterns, loi
Gilding, etc., 39 Moulded sheet metal work, 47
Glass, cutting, 31 ; setting, etc., 31 ;

coloured pounded, 31 glass win-

;
and stencil work, 9S
Nail, scale,
dow work, 26 Nail-head ornaments, 103
Glass panel, 32
Nails, and nailed strips, 98
Glasses, frames for, 20
Necklets, etc., making, 91
Gold and bronze powders, 39 Niello work, imitation, 54, 56
Gothic work, 12, 26
Nielloed silver, 96

Hammers, 3, 60 Nispeman'I ornaments of the Indians,

Hanging hooks, 14
89
Norse ornament, old, 102
Haslope, L. L. his " Repousse Work
for Amateurs," 54 Nuremberg work, 43, 45

Hinge-plates, 42
Oxalic acid, on using, 72
Home Arts and Industries Associa-
tion, Lessons at, 5
Painted sheet metal work, 54
Indians, N. American, their ornaments, Panels, 59 circular, 29 in cut metal,
; ;

3, 89, 92 36 in repousse, 87
;

Inkstand, 51 Paper knives, 83

Inlaid metal work, 39 Pearl, mother-of-, setting, 31
Iron, bent, or strip work, i ; ribbon, Pen-drawing, 71
5 ; iron rod work, 20 Pendants, silver patterns for, 94
Italian work, 17, 23, 24, 45, 61, 99. Pewter, coloured to imitate copper,
See also Venetian, etc. etc., 6
Photograph frame, 28
Japanese nail ornaments, 99 Pincers and pliers, 4
Pitch cement for repousse work, 77
Knob work. See Nail work, etc.
Polishing repousse work, 71
Lamp holder, 30 Pressing patterns into sheet metal, 43
Lamp hooks, 19, 57 Punches, 4
 Index. Ill

Repoussd, 98; on pitch, 59,

38, 54, 58, Snarling, 80, 81
69; polishing, 71 in rawhide (cow- Solder, and soldering,
;
5, 33, 94
skin), 69 ;Roman, 88 tools for, ; Spirals, 12
60 on wood, 59, 61, 74 " Repouss^
; ; Stakes, 3
Work for Amateurs," by L. L. Has- Stencil cutting, 45, 98, 106
lope, 54 Strip iron work, i, 22 figure work in,
;

Ribbon iron work, 5, 6 24

Ring-making, 7, 14 Strip or band metal, 5
Rivets and riveting, 4, 8, 9, 17 Sweating on, with solder, 34
Rod iron work, 20 Swiss work, old, 41
Roman repousse work, 88
Russian silver crosses, 95 Tacks, brass, copper, silver, 14
Tankard, 52
Templet rods and pins, 5

Salvers, 55, 84, 86 Tin-plate, 6

Sawed metal, cross of,
Tools, 2, 5 ; for repousse work, 60, 72,
45
Scale work, 104 75
Scottish silver ornaments, 89, 91 Tracer, the, 49 for repoussd, 61
;

Screw-wrench, 4 Tumbler stand, 16

Scutcheons, brass, 42, 45
Silver, chain-making, 90 Dutch work ;
Venetian nail work, 99
97 engraving,
;
97 ; frosted, or Venetian work, 10, 31, "j"]

roughened, 95 ; ornaments, 89
whitening, 95 Wave-lines, 13
Silver sheet work, 69 Wire, 5, 17 ornament by, 38; silver
;

Smith's work, 20, 47 wire work, 93

Snap-punch, the, 9 Work-bench, the, 4

(vkiversitt)

CHISWICK PRESS: — C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.

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