Chapter XIII

FINGER BOWL, CRUMB TRAY, TEA CADDY, VASE, BELL AND BRACKET, DRAWER PULLS, ETC.

_Brass:_ Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The zinc colours the copper and gives it the yellowish or brassy look, depending upon the amount of zinc melted with it. While the operations are the same whether you are working with brass, copper, or silver, the presence of the zinc in brass makes it less pliable than the pure metals. That is why brass hardens so quickly under hammering, making it necessary to anneal the metal very often in order to work it. But zinc and copper combined melt at a lower temperature than copper or silver pure, so that great care must be taken when preparing the metal for soldering or annealing that you do not heat it over a dull red heat before plunging it into water.

TO MAKE A BRASS FINGER BOWL

Finger bowls of brass are very ornamental and useful and can be made of the simplest designs. A half dozen are a welcome addition to any table. Design the bowl and proceed exactly as you did with the copper bowl, working the sheet of brass up into a rough bowl shape on the hard wood block. Using the same tools, finish the bowl on the round stake. The surface of the bowl may be left mottled, or it can be smoothed up, as one wishes.

These sketches suggest a number of articles that can be made out of brass.

CRUMB TRAY AND SCRAPER

_Material:_ One piece of brass, 10 × 6 ins., No. 16. One piece of brass, 12 × 4 ins., No. 16.

_Tools:_ Anvil stake, mallet, shears, dividers.

_Directions:_ With the dividers set at 5 ins., one leg of the dividers tangent with the top of the brass plate and the other in the centre lengthwise of the piece, draw a circle. Cut around the circle with the shears. Beat over 3/4 in. of the centre part of the circle, tapering along the circle line toward each end. Round up this edge and curve it a little inward on wood block so that when grasped by the fingers it will be comfortable. Smooth off edge and make the flat part perfectly straight, so that when placed on the table to receive the crumbs it will lie perfectly flat.

CRUMB SCRAPER

A very simple design is given here. Mark out the dimensions on a sheet of paper and lay the design on a sheet of brass. Cut the brass out to fit the design. Using the mallet, drive up the rounding part on the anvil stake to match the rounding part on the tray.

_Handle of scraper:_ Place the handle part on a hard wood block and with the small end of the raising hammer drive down on the handle, embossing it from the outside toward the front. Give it a half hollow shape. If the edge of the handle is smoothed off with a file and made rounding, it makes a good handle for the scraper. Flatten the scraping edge so that it lies flat on the table and picks up all the crumbs on its way to the tray. Polish and finish as you did the tray.

TEA CADDY

_Material:_ One piece 24-gauge soft brass (yellow), 11 × 3-1/4 ins. (for body). Disc 3-7/8 ins. in diameter (for bottom). Square: 4-3/4 ins. for lid. Two strips, 11 × 3/4 ins., one for rim of lid and one for rim of body.

_Tools:_ Block used to make round tray (copper), drilling hammer, mallet, wooden peg, iron stake, silver solder, steel stippling tool.

_Directions:_ Take the piece of brass 11 × 3-1/4 ins. Bend it till the edges meet to make a cylinder. Bind it round with a piece of binding wire. See that the edges come together tight. Wash with borax. Use silver solder and proceed as before with soldering. Cool in water, clean off the joint both inside and outside till the surplus silver is filed off smooth. This leaves a fine joint line which will take on the colour of brass in time and will scarcely be noticed. Round the cylinder up by placing it on a round stake or on a round wood block. Tap gently with your mallet to do this.

_Bottom:_ Take the 3-7/8-in. disc. Draw a circle on it equal to the bottom of the cylinder. Put the anvil stake into the vise. With the edge of the circle on the square end of the stake, drive the metal with the driving hammer, so that the upturned rim is at right angles to the disc. Test this to see that the rim stands up all round and fits the outside of the cylinder close. File the top edge of this smooth and a little rounding. Shape up and solder as you would a copper piece, keeping in mind the low melting point of brass. The heating of the bottom for soldering must heat the body of the caddy to a red heat and there is danger of unsoldering the part done. To prevent this melting, the soldered joint should be painted both inside and outside with rouge or ordinary clay wash. Mix a little clay in a saucer to a liquid and rub it over the joint. If the soldering is carefully done there will be little filing to do afterward.

_Rim (for the body):_ Take your 11 × 3/4-in. piece. Bend it into a circle to fit the inside of the body. Cut it off the right length, bind and solder the two ends together. Clean off, round up on the stake, and make it just large enough to drive it into the top, pushing it down until about 3/8 in. extends above the cylinder. This supports the rim of the lid. If it is driven down tight it will hold of itself in place. If not, use a little soft solder to make it secure.

_Lid:_ One square piece, 4-3/4 ins. Take the mould used for your round tray. Punch holes in each corner of the brass plate, and nail it right over the depression as you did when you made the round tray. With your round peg drive the metal into the depression. When the metal is perfectly smooth and fits the impression take it out. Place the body of the caddy over the top of this lid piece and mark around it. Make a second circle 3/8 in. beyond the one just made. Cut out along the outer circle. Now draw a circle on the inside of the lid equal to the body of the tea caddy. Place the lid on the anvil stake and turn it up as you did the bottom piece. This should be made the same size as the bottom, as it must fit over the same diameter. Make the rim for the lid in the same way as you did the rim for the body. Round it up. Be careful that the rim of the lid fits over the rim of the body and that the diameter of the rim on the lid equals the diameter of the body of the caddy. Place the rim on the lid and soft solder it.

_To decorate:_ With the steel stippling tool mark any little design on the surface of the lid or body, or both, pricking up the design. Finish the work by polishing the same way as copper is polished. You can prevent its tarnishing by the use of lacquer. This lacquer can be bought at any paint shop. It is put on with a brush and left to dry. The lacquer being transparent does not cover up any of the design.

VASE (IN BRASS)

_Material:_ Yellow brass, No. 20. One piece, 7-1/4 × 9 ins. (for the body). One piece, 5-in. disc (for base). Handles, 2 pieces, 5-1/2 × 5/16 ins. square.

_Tools:_ Hard wood block, shears, anvil stake, files, raising hammer, carpenters' gouge, chisel.

_Design:_ Vase, 7-1/4 ins. high, with a diameter at the top of 2-1/2 in. The body tapers toward the base. Two handles, one on each side, to be designed according to taste. The base is to be weighted in order to insure safety when in use for flowers, etc.

_Directions:_ Make a pattern for the vase in the following way: Draw a 2-1/2-in. circle. Using the same centre, draw a 1-in. circle inside the 2-1/2-in.

Through the centre of these circles draw a line 9 ins. long; 3/4 in. below the outer circle, over this centre line draw a line 1 in. long, 1/2 in. on one side and 1/2 in. on the other. Seven inches below this 1-in. line draw a 2-1/2-in. line, 1-1/4 in. on one side and 1-1/4 in. on the other. Connect the inside points of each line with the top line (see design), drawing lines between the two points. If the pattern is carefully developed from the drawing the metal will fold up in the right way for a vase. To do this, continue the tapering lines beyond the circle until the two lines intersect. With the point of the compass on the point of intersection, and the pencil point where the sides meet the 1-in. line, draw an arc of a circle any length. Using the same centre, open the compass until the pencil reaches the base lines. Draw an arc of a circle any length. Use your 30° and 60° angle and divide the half of the circle into 6 equal parts. Take one of these 6 divisions with your compass, and step off their distance on the large circle 12 times. You now have the exact circumference for the top of the vase. Draw lines from these points to the point of intersection. This marks off the small circle or base. Connect the 12-in. point on the top and bottom with solid lines. Cut this pattern out and lay it on the metal. Cut out the metal and fold up. It should fit the drawing. The edges should meet close. Clean, bind, and solder as you did with the copper work.

_Base:_ Use the hard wood block and drive up the 5-in. disc over the depression. Shape it as nearly as you can like the design, using the same method as you did with the copper bowl. Keep annealing this brass whenever it feels springy. Place it on the anvil stake. Use the driving hammer and shape it.

Repeat the annealing and hammering until the desired shape is gotten. Notice in the design that the neck is a little smaller than the bottom of the vase. Place this small end on the point of the anvil stake and swell it out, forming a little rounding collar so that the end of the vase will slip in and fit tight. When the end of the vase is in position, wash the joint with a little soft-soldering fluid, place a little soft solder in the joint and heat until it melts. Be careful that the solder does not run over the collar. It is so hard to file off the brass.

_To weigh down the base:_ Turn the base upside down. Melt enough soft lead to fill up the opening level with the bottom. A circular piece of brass is made to fit over the lead to hide it. Lap the edges of the base over the piece just enough to hold this and the lead in place.

_Handles:_ Handles are a matter of individual taste. The vase can be left without handles if desired.

Take two pieces of 5 × 5/16 ins. square; file into shape according to the design. Bind the handles on the body of the vase. Place a little silver solder wherever the handles touch. Be careful to guard the joint made by soldering the body of the vase with clay or rouge, as was done when making the tea caddy. Now you are ready to solder the body of the vase and the base together. Push it in place, see that it is perfectly straight, bind and solder. If not well soldered it will not hold water. File off the surplus solder, polish and lacquer as you did the tea caddy.

BELL AND BRACKET FOR A WALL DECORATION

This stationary bell is very useful for any purpose that a small bell serves. It has the advantage of being always in one place.

_Material:_ No. 20 brass, used for both the bowl and bracket. The size of the design determines the amount of material used.

_Directions:_ Make the bowl in the same way as you did the copper bowl, raising hammer, wood block, etc. The last work done on this bell should be of such a nature as to harden the metal so that the ring is clear. This clearness of the sound depends upon the hardness of the metal. The harder you can get the metal without splitting it, the better the bell's tone.

_Bracket:_ The bracket is made of two pieces, the plate and the hanger. The plate can be made of any design or shape suitable--square, oblong, oval, or round.

Decide upon your design, mark this on the plate, and cut out. Drill small hole for the nails to fasten it, either to the wall or to a small piece of hard wood 1/4 in. thick for a backing.

_Hanger:_ The hanger can be made of flat, square, or round material. This picture shows a design made of No. 20 brass. It is cut tapering and shaped over a round wood block in the vise. The slots are sawed out as shown. The bell is fastened to the hanger by means of two or three links formed together in a chain, one large enough to hook over the hanger, and connected to the bell with a little eye bolt made of brass, which is pushed through the bell and riveted on the inside.

The ringing of the bell is done by a small brass rod fastened to the hanger with a small chain. The work is finished up by the use of pumice stone.

SILVER WORK