Copper Bit. Oval Wedge. Riveting Hammer. Smoothing Hammer. Cob Hammer. Set Hammer.
In manufacturing the large vessels with circular bottoms which are so frequently made of copper, the metal is first cast in a shape resembling a round spectacle glass, that is to say, a flat cake, thick in the middle and gradually diminishing in thickness towards the edge. It is then subjected to the powerful blows of a tilt hammer, the beating being principally confined to the centre. The effect of this is not only to reduce the thickness of the copper, but to cause the disc to turn up at the edges and assume the form of a hollow dish.
Punches. Hand Vice. Cutting Punch. Spanner. Anvil. Shears for Sheet Copper. Hand Shears.
Another operation of the Coppersmith is called planishing, or hammering the metal until it becomes more dense, firm, and tough; any one who looks at the surface of a large copper vessel will see the marks of the hammer by which it has been planished.
It is by the combined operation of casting, rolling, hammering, and planishing, as well as by the processes of fastening, either with rivets or with solder, that nearly all copper articles are made.
Plumber’s Iron. Iron Horse. Pouncing Block and Hammer.
Of the tools used by the Coppersmith, beside those already mentioned, the principal are punches for cutting or piercing holes, shears for cutting the sheets of metal, the spanner for turning heads of screws or nuts, the anvil, the blocks and horses for receiving the work in such a position as to operate on any part where the hammer or the punch is required, and the iron for soldering. There are five different modes of forming copper piping out of sheet metal; in the first the edges of the sheet, which is curved round a mandril, are made to meet without overlapping, and are joined with hard solder; in the second they overlap and are united by soft solder; in the third they overlap and are secured by rivets; in the fourth the edges are folded one over the other, and are made close and firm by hammering; and in the fifth both edges of the pipe are turned back and covered with a strip of sheet metal, the two edges of which are turned in and hammered down.