Tinsmithing

An important part of the technical education of those connected with tinsmiths work is a knowledge of laying out patterns. When making the various forms of tinware, or, as they are commonly called, house furnishing goods, the greatest care must be taken in developing the patterns, for if a mistake of but one point is made, the pattern will be useless. There are general geometrical principles which are applied to this work which, when thoroughly understood, make that part plain and simple, which would otherwise appear intricate. These principles enable the student to lay out different patterns for various pieces of tinware where the methods of construction are similar.

Construction - Before laying out the pattern for any piece of tinware, the method of construction should be known. Knowing this, the first thought should be: Can the pattern be developed and cut from one piece of metal to advantage, as shown in Fig. 1, or will it cut to waste, as shown in Fig. 2? Will the articles have soldered, grooved or riveted seams, as shown respectively by A, B and C, in Fig. 3? Also, will the edges be wired or have hem edges at the top, as shown respectively by A and B, in Fig. 4.  Sometimes the pattern can be laid out in such a way that the article may be made up of two or more pieces, so that the patterns may be laid in one another, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby saving material. This is a plan that should always be followed if possible,

When the patterns are developed, tin plate should be obtained of such size as to have as little waste as possible. By means of the table on pages 45-47 tin plate may be ordered which will cut to advantage, for there is nothing worse in a tinshop than to see a lot of waste plate under the benches, whereas a little foresight in ordering stock would have saved material.

Capacity of Vessels - Sometimes the tinsmith is required to make a piece of tinware which will hold a given quantity of liquid. The methods of tinding the dimensions are given in Arithmetic and Mensuration, which subjects should be reviewed before beginning this work.

Shop Tools - The most important hand tools required by the tinsmith are: hammer, shears, mallet, scratch awl, dividers and soldering coppers. The other tinsmith tools and machines will be explained as we proceed.

Various Methods of Obtaining Patterns - The pattern drafting for this courseis divided into two classes:

1. Patterns which are developed by means of parallel lines.

2. Patterns which are developed by means of radial lines.

The principles which follow are fundamental in the art of pattern cutting and their application is universal in tinsmiths work.