Part II
METAL-WORKING
Chapter V
VENETIAN AND FLORENTINE METAL-WORK
In Italy, many years ago, there originated the pretty household art of making small objects from metal strips bent into graceful curves and scrolls, and then banded together. During the past few years American and English boys have taken up this Venetian and Florentine metal-work, and to-day the materials may be purchased at hardware stores in all the large cities.
The tools required are a pair of flat and a pair of round-nosed pliers, or pincers, a pair of heavy shears, and a pair of wire-cutters; a small bench-vise will also be useful.
The materials include a few sheets of thin stove-pipe iron of good quality (it may be purchased from a tinsmith), several yards of fine, soft iron wire, and some heavier wire for framework.
From the sheets of iron narrow strips are to be cut with the shears, and for ordinary work they should be not more than three-sixteenths of an inch in width; for heavier or lighter work the width may be varied. If it is possible to obtain the prepared strips at a hardware store, it will be better than making them at home, since it is a tiresome task to cut many of the strips from sheet-iron. Soft, thin iron that will bend easily is the only kind that is of use, as the hard or brittle iron breaks off and it is impossible to bend it into uniform or even scrolls.
A little patience and perseverance will be necessary at first until the knack of forming scrolls has been mastered, but once learned it will then be an easy matter to make many pretty and useful objects.