[Jewelry making - Article 00190] - Re: [Orchid] Flatware filler

[James Miller]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

    I must agree with Ian Wright's comments on the filling of flatware
    handles. I have been in the trade for 45 years now, and when I was an
    apprentice back in the 1960s, one of my jobs was the preparation of
    what we called "cutler's cement" and also the filling of the hollow
    handles with the cutler's cement. I used to melt black pitch in a
    large saucepan, then add plaster of paris to thicken the mixture and
    finally add parrafin wax, not acurate measures so I can't give exact
    percentages. Then I would prepare a large steel flatplate with lines
    of old flat files, like the lines on a writing page, then I would
    pour the molten mixture onto the flatplate molds and it would set in
    12 inch lengths, these were easy to hold and warm with a torch flame
    and drip into the handles. 

    To hold and fill the handles we had a container filled with wet
    sand, the handles were pushed into the sand with their openings
    facing upwards. I would then melt the cement into four handles at a
    time, to about 75% full, then I would heat the tang of either the
    knife or fork, slightly and push it into the handle, by heating the
    tang a little, this made the cement easy to push into and also made
    the cement stick to the tang. 

    When the handles were set, any overspill from the handles would chip
    off easily using a chisel shaped piece of hard wood. To paint you a
    better picture, some of the cutlery sets that I worked on had
    hundreds of pieces of cutlery in the set, each place setting had
    three pieces with hollow silver handles. One last tip, if anyone has
    only a few handles to fill, then setter's cement is a good quick
    substitute. 

    I hope this is of interest to someone. 

Peace and good health to all Orchideans
(http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/jmdesign.htm)
____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________