[26] This means that the pliers are 5 inches long.
The Materials You Need.
—The work is made of ¹⁄₃₂ inch thick soft iron strips and this can be bought[27] in four different widths, namely ¹⁄₈, ³⁄₁₆, ¹⁄₄, and ³⁄₈ inch.
[27] Complete manual training outfits for Venetian bent iron work can be bought of Hammacher, Schlemmer and Co., Fourth Avenue and 13th St., New York.
In general it is the best practice to use the ³⁄₁₆ and ¹⁄₄ inch wide strips for all designs except the smallest and largest. The strip iron comes in coils of 50 feet and the prices range from 16 cents to 25 cents a coil.
 |  |  |
| BINDERS | ||
| COIL OF WROUGHT IRON STRIP | LEAD WIRE FOR MEASURING |
Fig. 30. materials you need for venetian iron work
Then you will need a package of binders—these are merely bits of strip iron cut off and bent as shown in [Fig. 30], they come in four widths and cost about 10 cents a hundred. Also get a couple of 3 foot pieces of lead wire for with these you can quickly form the scrolls and circles you intend to make of iron, then straighten them out and accurately measure off the length of iron you need. They cost 5 cents a strip.
What to Do First.
—Making a Simple Design.—The first thing to do after you get your tools and materials together is to draw on a sheet of paper the object you are to make of bent iron.