As you become more expert in this art you will constantly desire new punches. Designs will suggest themselves to you, and it will be impossible to obtain them ready-made, so it is well for a boy to learn to make his own tools. A kind of square steel wire about one-eighth of an inch thick is made for this purpose, and can be bought in any quantity; this can be cut with a file, and the ends formed into the desired shapes.
A very beautiful salver, which will not only be ornamental but exceedingly useful, can be easily made by one accustomed to work upon sheet-brass. A piece twenty by fifteen inches in size, and about one-eighth of an inch thick, will be required for one of medium size. Strike off with the dividers a quarter circle in each corner, to give it a slightly oval effect, and draw a line around the salver parallel to the intended edge, and one and three-fourths inches from it. The entire central surface can be hammered in the honey-comb pattern, which is so popular just now, and is done with a perfectly straight-edged punch, its length determining the side of the hexagon, or if preferred the pentagon, as both forms are equally attractive; or it may contain some graceful design done in low relief. The more original the design the more unique the salver, provided it is artistic and in harmony with the object and use for which it is intended.
It would be well for all young workers in brass to examine carefully any work of that nature which comes within their field of view, especially any antique or foreign brasses, with a view toward perfecting their own designs, or gaining ideas for others.
When the work on this salver is completed, take it to the tinman, and tell him how you wish it made up, and he will do it for you for a very small sum.
For the past few years there has been an increasing passion among young girls for the little round bangles, which tinkle so musically with every movement of the slender white wrist, that we are forcibly reminded of the old nursery rhyme:
“With rings on her fingers, And bells on her toes, She shall have music Wherever she goes.”
And as it has long been a matter of rivalry, as to who should display the greatest number of these resonant favors, it is quite certain that one of the pretty trifles will make a very acceptable present to any of your sisters or girl friends you may desire to please. They are usually made from ten cent pieces, but occasionally a bit of silver no larger than an old-fashioned three-cent piece is used. The coin is beaten or rolled flat, and the giver’s initials or monogram, with perhaps a date, is engraved on one side. Now a much more unique and artistic thing could be made by annealing the coin, and beating its surface flat on some firm, hard bed. After the silver is reduced to the proper size and thinness, with a pen or pencil draw some odd designs, and hammer it in shape with a small, blunt-pointed nail. Ancient coins, such as are frequently on exhibition in store windows, afford excellent subjects for this class of ornaments. When the design is well indented, the work can be cleaned by boiling it in sulphuric acid and water, and polishing it with chamois-skin.