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Teacher note: A number of students contributed to this page. Each contributed diffferent information or a different perspective. You may find that each article adds to your understanding and research base.
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# 1The craft I researched was Silversmithing. The way silver smithing was done in colonial times differs from the way it is now done today. To be more clear, today we have high powered machines, and electricity. These both would have helped so much in colonial times but their work is prodomantly based on hard work by hand. Not that silversmith's of today don't work but from the research I have done I would say well, "colonial work is much harder." (Though there are still craftsman who work on the silver the old fashion way.
Silversmiths made many things, most of these consisted of mostly silver. There were a number of techniques needed to complete "the simplest task." One of the popular techniques used would have to be casting. The process of casting involves pouring molten silver into a mold. Once the metal has solidified then the outer mold is removed and the item is finished off by hand. To be more specific here are the steps:
1.) The object to be
cast is molded by hand in wax.
2.) The model is then placed in a container and covered with plaster of Paris (leaving a hole at the top for the next stage.)
3.) After the plaster of Paris mold has dried, the whole container is heated, melting the wax, which is then poured out.
4.) Then the molten silver is poured in and after it has solidified, the outer mold is broken open.
5.) The cast item is finished off by hand and is then often applied by soldering to raised silver parts.
That is an in-depth example of the silver smithing technique "Casting." Although there are a few other techniques such as: "raising" a cup, "seaming" a cup, and planishing an object (which was basically just hammering and smoothing). This technique was used at the end of every single silver smithing project. Some people don't know but most of the engraved symbol that colonial Silversmiths used are still used on most jewelry today.
In order for a silversmith to make any item he would almost always
use most of the same tools for each project. Tools for silversmiths were extremely
hard to come by because the price was high. Some of the tools that Silversmiths
used were these: mold, bellows, anvils, stakes dies, lathes, vises, clamps,
calipers, shears and pliers. I'm sure there are many more but these are the
most important. To get more specific... once again, a mold was just like a ball
of clay used for the purpose of "molding" into the desired shape.
Bellows were used to give air into the fire in order to make the fire bigger
and stronger. Bellows are still used today. Anvils were used for the purpose
of being the base for the object being pounded. They needed the anvil in order
to pound on a hard surface, tables couldn't handle the pressure. Lathes were
used to make rounded objects and long rounded objects, such as tubes. All other
tools are used today and are pretty self- explanatory. But silversmiths still
needed wooden work benches, a hearth for annealing the silver, a vat containing
dilute sulfuric acid for ensuring the metal is chemically clean before soldering.
A range of hammers with various head sizes were also needed. A selection of
iron anvil heads in various sizes and shapes were used to hammer a wide variety
of forms. Sinks with water and a drainer were also a must have, so were a selecting
of burnishing, polishing, and cleaning tools.
In colonial times if you were to walk into any large town there would be a silversmith shop somewhere near-by. In little rural counties silver smithing shops were few and far between. In colonial times if your silver smithing shop wasn't very big it would be called a jewelry shop, that's basically what are jewelry shops are today, mini silver smithing stores.
In order to become a silversmith you would need to have gone through a long and hard apprentices that lasted about 7 years. Silversmiths were mostly men, but this was one craft women could do also. The purpose of this training was to turn you into a "Master Craftsman" but few if any apprentice every would be good enough to gain this title. Most likely if your father was a silversmith you were a silversmith but this was the same for any other crafts too. In order to gain all skills needed the time period of 7 years was very necessary. Your "master silversmith" would make you clean and watch him closely everyday, never exactly "teaching you" apprenticeships in colonial times were basically "Watch and Learn." or "Learn from experience."
In colonial times silver smithing was very important because there no banks and people did indeed have money. So instead of hiding it they would take it to the silversmith in the town and he would melt it into spoons, plates, and candlesticks which were engraved so that people could identify them if they were stolen. Basically this craft was a luxury it wasn't needed for survival such as other crafts were. It was only necessary to those who had money and didn't want to get it stolen.
Today this craft is very satisfying to those of us to like to deal with silver and gold. This craft would most likely be dealt with in jewelry factories or mini jewelry stores, or maybe in the Amish country where many colonel crafts are still practiced.
A Silversmith is a person who makes things out of silver
like bowls porringer, cutlery and mugs. The way they made things was by melting
coins into objects that can be used at home in your kitchen or dining room.
To make a seamed cup you would use a sheet of silver cut a small round oblong
piece for the bottom of the cup and a slightly oblong piece to form the side.
Then you would roll the piece into a cylinder by pounding on anvil. Then you
would use a blowpipe to solder the edges together. Tools you would use to make
items like this are anvils, hammers, and cooler jungh. You would find a silver
smith shop in a town or city in Williamsburg. Most shop might be homes too.
To be a silver smith you have to know certain skills. You had to have creativity like manual dexterity, social skill, math, time management, physical skill, visual interpretation, persistence, emotional skills, and language. You would also have to know the six basic ways of working with silver, which are casting, forging, raising, hollowing, seaming, and creasing. Different methods were used depending on what the person was making. These skills are learned by a very skilled silversmith. Mostly men did this craft but women did some parts. Young silver smiths were trained by older and more experienced silver smiths.
This craft was depended on because people wanted to show off how rich they were and because rich people needed items like fancy serving dishes and as a way to save money before banks were popular. Any one who had silver to use to make something for a serving piece and the training and tools of the right sort had business. This craft was necessary because it helped people with their luxury and their way at home.
Another thing, doing this might be satisfying because this craft is a lot of fun and it is entertaining to watch. In this year silversmithing might be useful because a lot of rap artists wear jewelry because it is very popular for anyone to have jewelry or silver knives, forks, spoons, platters, pitchers, teapots and other things.
Our craft is
silversmithing. Silversmiths make things out of silver like jewelery, cups,
spoons, and other things. You have to know how to melt old silver objects
down and shape them into new items. To make a seamed cup, silversmiths would
use a sheet of silver, cutting from it a small round piece for the bottom
of the cup and a slightly curved oblong piece to form the side. Then they
would roll the side piece into a cylinder by pounding it on an anvil. Next
they would solder the edges together by using a blowpipe. Lastly they would
solder the bottom piece onto one end of the cylinder to form a cup, also with
a blowpipe.
This site is created and maintained by Holly
Geddes.
Last updated on
March 11, 2003