Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 April 1885 — Beating Brass. [ARTICLE]

Beating Brass.

This is a very interesting work for spare hours. A recent writer in Cassell’s Magazine gives the following directions : Take a small, square pieoe first, and hammer out a pattern on it for the sake of practice. It is done in this manner. The design is first drawn in ink on the brass; a block of lead must then be procured ou which to lay the brass during the hammering process, or, in lieu of that, a smooth board will answer the purpose. The pattern on the brass is now gone over with a “tracer,” which is something like a chisel, quite lightly at first so as only to indicate the otttlin,e; this is repeated several times until it is sufficiently well defined. It is a mistake to imagine that it might as well be marked out firmly enough the first time to bring the pattern into relief; if the attempt is made it will he found that the lines are bent into undesirable shapes. The tracer makes a number of short marks, and some practice isf necessary before they can be joined imperceptibly, so as to make a clear, perfect line around the flowers and leaves of the pattern. The outline being now finished, the background is hammered in, a punch having a broad end being used for the purpose. The longer the background is beaten the higher the design may stand out. Small punches are aftewards employed to give the ground a rough, uneven appearance. Great care must be observed not to make holes in the brass, and it should not he forgotten that the longer it is beaten the more brittle it becomes. A good plan is to work from the edge of the brass up toward the pattern. Thin sheets of brass are liable to curl up during tho hammering; to avoid this the edges should be turned over the block.