FINGER PLATES.
The finger plate used on the edge of a door to receive the wear of the
hand serves as an excellent exercise in sawing and filing. The design is
transferred to the metal by use of carbon paper. The sawing is done as
in the escutcheon. The surface may be left smooth or it may be gone over
with a hammer having a face somewhat rounded. If the design calls for
any repousse work, it is done as described on page 64.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: PLATE 18. FINGER PLATE]
[Illustration: PLATE 19.]
PAD CORNERS.
Desk pad corners while not difficult to make, are very useful as well as
ornamental. The design may be carried out in any one of three ways:
pierced, embossed or enameled.
In making the pattern for the pad corner, an allowance must be made for
the thickness of the pad, as at A, and also for laps as at B, that are
to go under the pad to hold the corners in place. The corner may be
riveted to the pad at the back or the laps may be bent in such a way as
to clamp them to the pad, and permit of their removal at any time.
When the design has been pierced or embossed, the laps can be bent over
a piece of metal equal in thickness to that of the pad. If the design is
to be carried out in enamel, all bending must be done before enameling
as any expansion or contraction of the metal will crack the enamel.
[Illustration: PLATE 20. PAD CORNERS]
BOX CORNERS.
Box corners serve primarily to protect the corners of the box and to
increase its strength, but they can be so made that they give character
to the box. The corner should be designed to suit the particular box or
chest to which it is to be applied. The method of making a box corner is
slightly different from those previously described. After the design has
been drawn, a pattern made from it in heavy paper will be found helpful,
for this pattern may be used to mark out the design on the metal. In
this way irregularities in the design are less likely to occur than when
the design is transferred with the carbon paper directly to the metal.
The decoration may be pierced or embossed, according to one's choice.
After the sawing or embossing has been done, it should be filed
carefully and smoothed up with fine emery cloth to do away with crude
and sharp edges.
The holes for the rivets are then drilled and the burr that is made by
drilling is removed with a larger drill. The two edges, A A. Plate 21,
that are to come together when in place on the box should be beveled a
little so that they will form a better corner. After this is done, the
sides are bent down over a block of wood or metal placed in the vise. A
rawhide hammer should be used to avoid marks on the face of the corner.
In this as in other work, if it is desired that the metal have a
hammered surface, the effect must be given before the design is cut out.
Suitable rivets are next made as described on page 98 and illustrated on
page 99. After being colored or polished the corner is ready to be
applied to the box.
[Illustration: PLATE 21. BOX CORNERS]
[Illustration: PLATE 22. BOX CORNERS]
STAMP BOXES.
Stamp boxes may be made in various ways, three of which are described
below:
Box No. 1 and 2, Plate 23.
On a piece of 20 gauge metal, lay out or draw the pattern as shown on
the plate; first with pencil, then with a scratch awl to insure
permanency, going over the lines lightly on the metal. By the use of a
saw frame and a No. 3 saw the corners of the square are cut out.
[Illustration: FIGURE 18.]
The edges that form the corners are next filed up, keeping all edges
straight and at right angles; after this, the edges are beveled a
little, forming a mitre which, when soldered, makes a better joint than
otherwise.
The sides are next bent up over an iron block placed in the vise as at
Figure 18. The corners should be brought well together, using a rawhide
hammer, No. 1, Plate 2.
[Illustration: PLATE 23. STAMP BOX]
A piece of iron wire about No. 24 is then placed around the box and
twisted tight enough to hold the corners in place while being soldered,
Figure 19. Borax and solder are next applied and the soldering done as
described on page 63. In this case, however, all of the corners should
be prepared at the same time for soldering. If but one corner is
prepared and soldered, the heat necessary for soldering causes the
copper oxides to come to the surface at the other corners which must be
removed before they can be soldered. This is remedied by coating with
borax and placing the solder at all corners before applying any heat.
[Illustration: FIGURE 19.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 20.]
After the soldering is done the box is pickled. Surplus solder is next
removed by filing. The box is again placed over the iron block which is
held in the vise; the corners and bottom edges are squared up, using the
round end of hammer shown at No. 2, Plate 2, and the top is filed off
level. This completes the body part of the box.
The cover is made in the same way as the box. Much care must be taken to
have the pattern carefully and accurately drawn so that when the cover
is finished it will fit closely to the body. The design, if there is
any, whether it is embossed or enamelled, must be carried out before
cutting it to size.
Box No. 2, although of different proportion, is made in the same way as
No. 1.
Box No. 3, Plate 24.
[Illustration: PLATE 24. STAMP BOX]
[Illustration: PLATE 25. STAMP BOX COVER DESIGNS]
Take a strip of metal as wide as the required depth of the box and as
long as the sum of the four sides. The length of each side is measured
off on this strip and a line scratched at right angles to the edge. The
strip is then placed over a block of metal and, with a rawhide hammer
bent at right angles at scratched lines, making three corners, leaving
the ends to meet at the fourth corner where they are to be soldered.
These ends should be mitered as in Box 1, before soldering. After the
corner has been soldered and the box pickled, it is again placed over a
block and trued up square. Having decided which is to be the top and
which the bottom of the box, file the bottom edges level and at right
angles to the sides. A piece of metal is then cut for the bottom large
enough to allow about 1/16" to project on all four sides.
It is then prepared for soldering and bound together with iron wire,
Figure 20. The solder should be cut in small pieces and placed about the
inside edges. In soldering the bottom, care must be taken not to
unsolder the corner. This may be avoided by keeping the flame away from
the soldered corner until the rest of the solder has run, applying it to
the corner at the last and only for a fraction of a minute.
After the soldering, the box is pickled and the edges of the bottom
filed square. The 1/16" that was allowed to project may be filed flush
with the sides of the box or left to project a little.
The cover is made by taking a strip of metal about 3/16" wide and long
enough to fit around the inside of the box. The length of the sides
(inside measurement) is laid out and then bent over a block as
previously described. The corner is soldered and the upper edges are
filed off level and soldered to a piece of metal, forming the top. This
strip on the inside keeps the cover in place. If the design on the cover
is to be carried out in enamel it should be done after the cover is
completed. If the design is to be embossed, it should be done before the
strip which holds the cover in place is soldered on.
[Illustration: PLATE 26.]
Box No. 4, Plate 24.
The body of this box may be made like either No. 1 or No. 3. An addition
is shown on this one which allows the stamp to be taken from the box
more easily. A strip of 20 gauge metal 1/16" wide is soldered on the
inside next to the top edge extending from one end to the other as shown
in the section at D. Another piece of the same gauge metal is cut, in
length equal to the inside length of the box and about 1/4" wider than
the box. This is placed inside the box and sprung into place as shown at
C in the section. This device may be applied to either of the other
boxes.
The cover of this box is made of but one piece and hinged with a strap
hinge, which also forms the cover decoration.
To give the surface of the metal of this box a bold hammered surface
adds much to its attractiveness.
MATCH BOX.
The Match Box may be made in the same way as the Stamp Box with the
exception of the cover. It seems better to have the cover of the match
box hinged. The hinge may be made so as to form a part of the decoration
of the cover by making it a strap hinge as shown at Plates 15, 16, 17.
The hinge may also be made of tubing and extend across the back of the
box. This method leaves the cover to be decorated in some other way,
either by embossing or by enameling or by both.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: PLATE 27. MATCH BOX]
[Illustration: PLATE 28. MATCH BOX COVER DESIGNS]