Undo. 
THE CRAFTS 
WOOD CARVING AND PYROGRAPHY. LEATHER AND METAL. BASKETRY, ETC. 
the management of Miss Emily Peacock, i6j South Ninth street, Brooklyn, N. Y. All inquiries in regard to the various 
Crafts are to be sent to the above address, but will be ansivered in the magazine under this head. 
METAL WORK 
Emily E. Peacock. 
ETAL work is one of the earliest 
handicrafts, as shown by the records 
and examples of work in gold, silver, 
bronze and copper from prehistoric 
times. Many of these records and 
examples are of personal ornament, 
and implements of war showing great 
skill in workmanship. The methods 
used in those early days were those 
of hammering and casting, both of 
which are being used in much the same way to-day. The 
extreme antiquity of molten and graven images, beaten work 
and beautiful jewelry is known to us through the writings of 
Moses, and in European collections of any importance we find 
ample proof of his words, showing the great skill of the 
Egyptians in the most elaborate processes of metal work. 
The Assyrians excelled in the making of jewelry and 
arms. The Greeks also set a standard in metal work which 
no nation of to-day can reach. With them all work was art 
and the fine adaptation of the vessel to its use was both a joy 
and a duty. They did a great deal of casting, but more ham- 
mering or embossing with punches. In this manner silver 
especially was wrought, but gold and bronze also, and even 
iron in many districts. The fragments left us by this nation 
are to-day an inspiration to our metal workers. 
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Italy was famous 
for its metal workers, Benvenuto Cellini being the most 
celebrated. Donatello, Luca della Robbia, Ghirlandaio and 
Botticelli were all skilled workers. They had the craftsman's 
sense of the distinctive character belonging to this material. 
They carried out their designs themselves instead of being 
content to design and intrust the work to others as many 
artists do to-day. 
M. O. BroBiner. Mrs. H. Fi-oehlicli. M. G, 
In the few illustrations, I have tried to give some simple 
problems for the beginner in this work. The student should 
acquaint himself with the use of a gauge so that he can buy 
intelligently the different thicknesses of sheet metal for any 
kind of work. The American and English standard gauges 
are more generally used, though there are three others. For 
instance, he would need a strip of copper lo x 1 1^ of No. 17 
gauge for the paper knife, fig. i . 
The first step is to see that the metal is perfectly flat. If 
it is not, it can be made so by pounding it on a steel block or 
on a hard piece of wood with a wooden hammer. A metal 
hammer would be apt to make marks hard to erase. Heat 
the metal red hot by applying the flame with the blow-pipe 
or by holding it over the fire. This is to soften the metal, 
and the process is known as annealing. While the metal is 
red hot drop it into an acid bath made by putting three table- 
spoonfuls of sulphuric acid and two quarts of water into a 
porcelain dish. This is kept hot by placing it inside a pan of 
water and keeping that at boiling point. This process is to 
cleanse the metal from the effects of the flame, or from any 
foreign substance, and is more effectual if the solution is hot. 
In a few moments the copper will look pink and clean ; take 
it out with a piece of brass wire bent to make a hook. Never 
put iron in the bath. Wash under running water and polish 
with wet pumice powder; dry, and the metal is ready for the 
design. Draw or trace the design on the metal, then scratch 
in with a steel point. Cut out the knife with a bracket saw. 
See that the points of the saw run down when put in the 
frame. Hold the metal very firmly, keeping the saw oiled 
and holding it up straight as in fig. 2. 
F{j. 3. 
Emily F. Peacock 
To cut out the design drill a hole through the round end 
of each space; put saw in drilled hole and work as before. 
After each space is cut out the edges will need filing to give 
them a round finish. For this purpose use a small half round 
file, No. 3 of the Glardon make. To put the line on the lower 
part of knife place it on cement and chase with rather a large 
outlining tool. 
The cement is made of 5 lbs. of black pitch, 5 lbs. of 
plaster of Paris and one-half lb. of mutton tallow. Dissolve 
the pitch first by heating slowly in a large iron pot, add the 
mutton tallow and later stir in the plaster of Paris; boil very 
gently for about two hours, taking care that the cement does 
not burn. In hot weather the cement gets soft, then add 
