11ERAMIC STUDIO 
293 
in thickness. The texture of the stone reproduces itself on 
the metal providing it is thin soft sheet. The heavier 
metals do not lend themselves to this process. Sometimes 
pieces of cast iron, have a texture that will look well on 
copper when worked in this way. 
A little experimenting will probably reveal other sur- 
faces that can be used also. The requisite requirement is 
that it be firm enough to withstand the hammering. Cau- 
tool and as it is difficult to buy one of the required shape, 
the method of making it will be given. 
Forge or file a piece of £ tool steel, shape the end as 
Fig. 8, cut off five inches. Hold the shaped end in the fire 
and allow it to heat to a cherry red. A white heat will 
spoil the steel. Immerse it vertically in water to cool it 
rapidly. If the steel was really tool steel and had not been 
heated too much, it should be impossible to make any im- 
pression on it with a file. It is now too brittle to be used 
with safety, so must be tempered. Rub the hardened end 
on a piece of emery cloth until it is bright about an inch 
and a half from the end. Heat it at the junction of the 
polished and unpolished surfaces and watch the colors of 
the films that form. As the heat is conducted to the end, 
the films disclose the temperature of it. The first film is a 
pale straw color, followed successively by yellow, orange, 
red, purple and blue. When the purple film has reached 
the tip immerse the tool in the water again. Polish the 
tool by rubbing it in a crevice in a soft board that has had 
some rouge sprinkled on it. 
(To be continued.) 
tion must be used, that it not be overdone. What is 
wanted, is an unobstrusive surface that will break the glare 
of a smooth piece of copper, and give a semi-mat texture 
that will look as if it had always been there. A careful 
study of Japanese metal work will be a help in learning the 
right use of textures. Matting tools generally give a 
labored effect which is bad. 
Cut with the shears a strip of sheet metal that will 
wrap once around the long way of the box, allowing a 
quarter inch lap on one end, while there is an allowance 
of enough metal on the upper edge to bend until it reaches 
the inner lining. As the piece will cover the four sides and 
contain all the decoration of the body, the design should be 
worked out at this time. First fit the strip carefully on, 
allowing the lap to be at a rear corner. Gently tap the 
metal over the keyhole with the mallet which should give 
the outlines of it. With a piece of soft wood rub the metal 
at each corner of the body to make it fit snug. This will 
also outline the dimensions of each face of the body and 
show how much space is to be used for the decoration of 
the faces. Then remove the strip and lay on a pine wood. 
If you have decided to use a line effect for your decora- 
tion, relying on a harmonious proportion of spaces, the 
lines should be drawn on the inner surface of the strip with 
a sharp point. They are then worked over with a chasing 
: 
... 
Fig. No. 19— A, Engraver's ball B, Free space 
Leather cushion EG, Engraver's tools F, Han 
the handle of the mould. 
r mortise CC, Walls of ball D, 
ner HH, Steel jaws I, Hole for 
ART IN PEWTER 
(CONTINUED) 
Jules Brateau 
Box in Shagreen and Metal. By J. P. 
Courtesy of International Studio. 
THE ENGRAVING AND CHASING OF THE HOEEOW MOUED 
At the end of the various phases through which the 
mould of the goblet has passed in most rational succession, 
there remains another process quite as important as the 
others, and the final one; that is, engraving and chiseling. 
This constitutes in itself a peculiar art, which, with rare 
exceptions, can be practised by specialists only. 
The engraver opens the mould, removes the cores and 
shapes; retaining on his bench only the three parts of the 
mould proper, on which the design appears in hollow. 
He sets up the model before him, together with the 
three plaster sections which were used in the founding 
process. He uses an engraver's ball (Fig. 19 A) ; its top end- 
ing squarely and cut out deeply, leaving a sort of mortise 
flanked by thick walls (Fig. 19 C), one of which is pierced 
by two thumbscrews passing through the middle space and 
striking upon the opposite wall. The lower part of the ball 
rests upon a leather cushion, on which it can turn in any 
direction. The whole forms a kind of anvil which may be 
inclined at any angle, and therefore greatly facilitates the 
work. 
The engraver's tools consist of small curved files with 
