Metalsmithing Jargon
June 24, 2008 4:36 pm Crafts, Glossaries
| Annealing: | heat treating (softening) of metal after it has been work-hardened with steel tools, and is necessary between raising and forging stages; annealing is also used to remove tension in a piece of metal before brazing to help reduce warping |
| Brazing: | form of soldering that utilizes high temperature alloys to join high temperature metals |
| Chasing: | technique of detailing the front surface of a metal article with various hammer-struck punches |
| Checking: | hammering down onto the edge of a form to strengthen and visually thicken the edge |
| Crimping: | rapid raising process by forming radiating valleys from the center to the outer edge of a metal object then raised |
| Die Forming: | process of stamping or hammering a sheet of metal into a form, which has the outline of the object |
| Drawbench: | narrow, waist-high bench equipped with a chain dragging a pair of draw tongs (large coarse-toothed pliers) used to grip the end of a piece of wire and then pull the wire through a series of consecutively smaller dies (round, square, triangular) reducing its thickness |
| Engraving: | process of cutting shallow lines into metal with a sharp graver, reproducing artwork, which has been drawn on the metal article |
| Firescale: | purple stain that develops in sterling when oxygen penetrates the outer surface of an object during brazing, oxidizing the copper content |
| Head: short, | polished, cast metal mushroom-type stake that fits into a horse and is used for planishing and burnishing metal objects over |
| Horse: | held in a vise, this straight or L-shaped holding devise accommodates various heads |
| Planishing: | act of hammering or refining the surface of a metal object with highly polished hammer faces |
| Polishing: | process of refining a metal surface by use of a polishing wheel attached to a long-spindled motorized arbor that runs at high speed |
| Raising: | technique of forming a flat sheet of metal over a cast iron T-stake or head, forming and compressing the metal to take a hollow form |
| Repoussé: | process used to roughly emboss a metal object from the back or inside with larger punches than those used in chasing |
| Rolling Mill: | hand or motor-driven cast iron mill with polished or patterned hardened steel rollers that reduce the thickness or impart a texture on metal sheet or wire |
| Scratch Brush: | long-spindled motorized arbor using fine wire wheels rotating at slow speed, burnishing the surface of a metal object after soldering; soapy water is used as a lubricant between the wheel and object |
| Silversmith: | one who fashions silver objects and wrought items such as forged flatware |
| Sinking: | hammering of a flat piece of metal into a concave hemispherical shape in the top of a tree stump or any dished form |
| Snarling: | embossing from underneath or inside an object with a long-armed steel tool, with one end placed in a vise |
| Soldering: | low-temperature form of brazing |
| Spinning: | forcing of a flat disc of metal over a profiled steel or wooden form (chuck) with long-handled, polished steel tools |
| Stake: | any polished cast iron or steel tool placed in a vise and is used for forming and planishing metal over |
| Surface Gauge: | vertical steel rod mounted with an adjustable arm fastened to a heavy base |
| Surface Plate: | a perfectly level steel, cast iron or granite table of any dimension; used to check the level and flatness of an object |
| T-Stake: | any polished, cast iron or steel tool in the form of an elongated “T”; used in a vise for raising, forming or planishing metal |
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