REPOUSSÉ WORK FOR BOYS.
The term Repoussé is applied to any sheet-metal in which a pattern is hammered out or left in relief, by means of a hammer and common nail, or a regular tool made for the purpose. It does not simply refer to brass-work, but applies equally to work of like character either on silver or gold.
If you have friends who have made the voyage of the Nile, you have probably seen the beautiful silver bracelets bought by them of the Nubian workmen as souvenirs of their Eastern travels. These bracelets are made, I was told, by the natives of the interior, with simply a nail and a stone, but the effect is very artistic and pretty. So, if ignorant Nubians can make these beautiful things with such primitive tools, certainly an intelligent American lad can do equally good work, with a little instruction and better materials.
REPOUSSÉ, OR HAMMERED BRASS.
This work is chiefly produced by means of a punch and hammer. An ordinary tack-hammer can be used, but that generally in use by most workers is of rather peculiar shape, like that in Fig. 1.
The round end will be found very useful in working from the inside of the pattern, which will be explained hereafter. The punches are of various forms; but a set of common board nails of different sizes, and varying shaped ends, make good tools for beginners. A very nice piece of work can be done with a common French nail whose end has been ground flat.
It is desirable that a beginner should practice upon the thinnest sheet-brass until he becomes perfectly acquainted with the use of his tools. Brass can be obtained for about twenty-five cents a pound, and one-quarter of a pound of No. 25 will be amply sufficient for this practice.
A tool which is of great assistance in all brass work is a dull chisel or screw-driver, with a serrated edge, so that a dotted line is left when it is pressed upon the metal; however, if this is not readily procurable, a common screw-driver will answer the same purpose in most instances. In this practice, the first thing to be done is to draw a line of some design upon the brass with a soft lead-pencil or with impression-paper, taking extreme care that this line is precisely like that in the copy, as all irregularities should be corrected in the drawing, and none left for the punch. It is, indeed, very difficult to make the proper corrections after the work is commenced. Then having traced your line as perfectly as you can do it, lay the brass upon a piece of soft wood, and with the end of the screw-driver pressed evenly upon the line, give the head a light blow with the hammer; then move the blade along the penciled line, so that its edge shall just touch the end of the last indentation, and give it another slight tap with the hammer. If you strike with too much force your line will be unequally deep in some places, and your work will not present as good an appearance when finished. This process should be repeated along the entire design, and a perfect unbroken line should be the result. Until this is accomplished it is best to attempt nothing further. After you have succeeded in making one unbroken even line, mark two parallel lines upon the metal, and do them in the same manner. When these present a satisfactory appearance, trace some very simple design upon the same thin sheet, and after nailing the sheet at each corner to the block, commence with the chisel and mark lightly around the figure. It is often necessary to do this tracing over two or three times during the process of working, as too deep denting at first warps, or, as the regular brass-worker would say, “buckles” your pattern. Now commence at the outside edge of your design, with your nail placed near the line, strike upon it with a light blow, and continue this operation until your whole background is covered with little dents, and presents a thickly mottled appearance. When this is removed from the block, the pattern will seem to stand out from the rest of the surface.
Care must be taken at first not to crack or break holes in the brass, but after a little practice, and a thicker quality of brass is used, you will learn to avoid this danger.
PLAQUE IN HAMMERED BRASS.
When quite confident in the use of your tools, you can proceed to make a card-receiver decorated with an antique head, as in the figure; or by enlarging the design, and making the background circular, a plaque will be the result, which will be useful for holding fruit, or, set in a velvet frame, will make an ornament for your walls. A sheet of brass nearly one-eighth of an inch in thickness, and at least seventeen inches square will be required.
As in work of this character a deeper relief is desirable, you will find it more agreeable to work over a bed of composition, which is more yielding than wood, and can be made with but little trouble; this composition can be obtained in small cakes at any store where jewelers’ tools are for sale; but you can easily make it yourself by thoroughly mixing fine sand, well-sifted wood ashes, or even brick-dust, with equal parts of pitch or resin; a tiny bit of tallow improves it considerably. This pitch bed, as it is called, can be spread on a flat table or board, and the sheet of brass, after the design has been carefully traced thereon, fastened down upon it by means of four screws at the corners. To draw the design for the plaque, with a strong pair of carpenter’s dividers describe a circle whose diameter shall be sixteen and one-half inches, and within this draw a second circle, with a diameter of fifteen inches. The space between these two circles is to be left untouched, as it will be turned over to inclose the wire which forms the edge, if for a platter; or will extend under the edge of the velvet, if intended to be framed. Be sure and put your screws outside the large circle, as holes in the body of the plaque would ruin its effect. In this work heavier blows with the hammer will be needed; and a large, well-shaped nail used for the background. Work around the pattern until it stands out in line relief.
The brass will become discolored and black during the process of hammering; but, when done, it can be readily cleaned, at first with oxalic acid and rotten-stone, then a final polishing with chamois-skin.
When well polished, take it to a tinsmith and he will make it up for you as a platter, or trim and bend the edges for a plaque.
CARD-RECEIVER.
In making the card-receiver, take the design off on tracing-paper, and then carefully trace it with a sharpened stick or end of a bone crochet-hook, over the impression-leaf on the sheet of brass. In this also the relief should be high, thus rendering it necessary that it should be hammered on the composition-bed. Polish and finish this in the same manner as the plaque.
FOXING.
Foxing, or sticking the metal to be embossed upon a block covered with pitch, is a favorite method with many workers. The block can be of iron or wood, and should measure eight or nine inches across; this rests upon a deep ring of straw, which is readily made by an ingenious boy, as it simply consists of the twisting several wisps of rye straw in the form of a large cable, and then bending them into a small ring of even thickness. Catch them in place with a large darning-needle filled with wrapping-twine. Nice rings, made of leather, and designed expressly for this purpose, can be obtained in the trade, but the home-made ones answer as well for any work a novice would be competent or even desirous of undertaking. The top of the block is covered with pitch, which should be warmed, and then given the slightest possible coating of oil, whenever a new object is to be placed upon it. Care must be taken that too much oil is not used, as in that case it will be impossible to make the surface of the brass adhere to the bed. In work of a nice nature, where the lines are many and fine, and the background complicated, this is by far the most satisfactory bed to use, and when the metal is “annealed” it will be found invaluable.
ANNEALING.
When working in very heavy metal, it is often necessary to soften it somewhat, especially if a deep relief is desired. This is accomplished by placing the plate upon a bed of glowing coals, and allowing it to remain there till it becomes soft, but not in the least melted, and then removing it with pincers. Hammering upon the cold metal is inclined to make it brittle, and at times slightly unmanageable, and this unpleasant quality can be overcome by annealing; but so much care and patience are required to accomplish this process successfully, that it is not very popular with young workers. In many larger designs, a very high relief is obtained by turning the brass after the plaque has been hammered upon the right side as much as seems necessary, and with the round end of the hammer sending strong, even blows into the figure, at whatever points the highest work is desired. By annealing the metal, and working the pattern from the inside after the background is finished, a very fine bunch of well-rounded grapes is easily formed, and makes a very nice subject for a fruit-dish or dining-room plaque. A dragon, and the emblem of St. Mark, both make unusually fine designs for a mediæval plaque.
As you become more expert in this art you will constantly desire new punches. Designs will suggest themselves to you, and it will be impossible to obtain them ready-made, so it is well for a boy to learn to make his own tools. A kind of square steel wire about one-eighth of an inch thick is made for this purpose, and can be bought in any quantity; this can be cut with a file, and the ends formed into the desired shapes.
A SALVER IN REPOUSSÉ.
A very beautiful salver, which will not only be ornamental but exceedingly useful, can be easily made by one accustomed to work upon sheet-brass. A piece twenty by fifteen inches in size, and about one-eighth of an inch thick, will be required for one of medium size. Strike off with the dividers a quarter circle in each corner, to give it a slightly oval effect, and draw a line around the salver parallel to the intended edge, and one and three-fourths inches from it. The entire central surface can be hammered in the honey-comb pattern, which is so popular just now, and is done with a perfectly straight-edged punch, its length determining the side of the hexagon, or if preferred the pentagon, as both forms are equally attractive; or it may contain some graceful design done in low relief. The more original the design the more unique the salver, provided it is artistic and in harmony with the object and use for which it is intended.
It would be well for all young workers in brass to examine carefully any work of that nature which comes within their field of view, especially any antique or foreign brasses, with a view toward perfecting their own designs, or gaining ideas for others.
When the work on this salver is completed, take it to the tinman, and tell him how you wish it made up, and he will do it for you for a very small sum.
A SILVER BANGLE FOR A LADY’S BRACELET.
For the past few years there has been an increasing passion among young girls for the little round bangles, which tinkle so musically with every movement of the slender white wrist, that we are forcibly reminded of the old nursery rhyme:
“With rings on her fingers,
And bells on her toes,
She shall have music
Wherever she goes.”
And as it has long been a matter of rivalry, as to who should display the greatest number of these resonant favors, it is quite certain that one of the pretty trifles will make a very acceptable present to any of your sisters or girl friends you may desire to please. They are usually made from ten cent pieces, but occasionally a bit of silver no larger than an old-fashioned three-cent piece is used. The coin is beaten or rolled flat, and the giver’s initials or monogram, with perhaps a date, is engraved on one side. Now a much more unique and artistic thing could be made by annealing the coin, and beating its surface flat on some firm, hard bed. After the silver is reduced to the proper size and thinness, with a pen or pencil draw some odd designs, and hammer it in shape with a small, blunt-pointed nail. Ancient coins, such as are frequently on exhibition in store windows, afford excellent subjects for this class of ornaments. When the design is well indented, the work can be cleaned by boiling it in sulphuric acid and water, and polishing it with chamois-skin.
A BANGLE BRACELET.
A bangle bracelet can be easily made of hammered work, from a narrow strip of sheet-silver, which can be obtained from any silversmith at a small cost. The design is to be traced on the silver in the same manner as upon the sheet-brass, and great care must be taken in the working out of each little detail. When the work is finished, it should be sent to a jeweler to be made up and polished. This is of course an expensive, as well as a very nice piece of work, and should not be tried until considerable skill in the manipulation of sheet-metal has been acquired, and success seems in a large degree certain.
Many ladies are fine workers in repoussé, and it cannot fail to be a source of satisfaction to every one interested in the art to know, that each year its merits are becoming more fully known and appreciated by that great class of people, whose purchases govern the prices of all artistic things. Now, boys, I have simply touched upon this very interesting subject of repoussé, and given you a few directions, culled from my own experience. If, however, I have succeeded in stimulating in you a desire to pursue this subject further, you will find many excellent helps, in the form of books or pamphlets, in any of our large stores devoted to artists’ materials and supplies.
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