Last week I took another trip to Nechamkin Silver Studio for the next lesson(s) on the Teapot Project.
This week I learned many things. 1) cleaning the solder joint inside and out, 2) fix any pin holes, gaps, and under cuts, 3) heavy planish the seam, 4) truing the tube, and 5) planning the next step which is raising the top and bottom.
We started off with how to properly clean the excess solder off the solder joint which is lots of filing and gentle sanding but not taking off the silver; just the solder. Once that was done we could evaluate the seam to determine what gaps and pin holes had to be fixed and why. Then we moved onto heavy planishing of the seam to get a consistent wall thickness. All of this consumed 3 days. On the the 4th day and my last with Liza, this week, we trued up the seam and then we could get to work refining the design. We had to take measurements from the sketches and the tube to determine where to start the raising at each end and from there we made our templates. From the templates I can cut/carve wood stake models which I will then have cast. Then the other design elements had to be considered - spout shape and size the handle shape and where to place both, the lid shape and how to fit the lid to the pot and the bottom rim or feet?
One must not forget an important part of tea pots - how does it pour? Many a teapot do not pour correctly because the spout is too short or too long which can cause the tea to spill out the lid or placed to high on the pot wall such that the last bit of tea can't be poured. And the pot handle - can you get the lid off and on easily? Does the pot have a vent hole to facilitate the tea flow??
I now have lots of homework to do before I return next year:
1) make 1 if not 2 more tubes, in brass, so we can use them for practice raising. This means they have to be soldered and cleaned to the point where we ended, this week
2) make a stake for truing the tube(s) because when you heavy planish, the tube is no longer round.
3) get the raising stakes made - so I have to cut the wood and get them cast. Finding a casting house will be fun!
4) study teapot design and make some choices for the spout, handle, lid and lid finial, and the bottom - feet or rim?
Here are lots of pictures ...
This week I learned many things. 1) cleaning the solder joint inside and out, 2) fix any pin holes, gaps, and under cuts, 3) heavy planish the seam, 4) truing the tube, and 5) planning the next step which is raising the top and bottom.
We started off with how to properly clean the excess solder off the solder joint which is lots of filing and gentle sanding but not taking off the silver; just the solder. Once that was done we could evaluate the seam to determine what gaps and pin holes had to be fixed and why. Then we moved onto heavy planishing of the seam to get a consistent wall thickness. All of this consumed 3 days. On the the 4th day and my last with Liza, this week, we trued up the seam and then we could get to work refining the design. We had to take measurements from the sketches and the tube to determine where to start the raising at each end and from there we made our templates. From the templates I can cut/carve wood stake models which I will then have cast. Then the other design elements had to be considered - spout shape and size the handle shape and where to place both, the lid shape and how to fit the lid to the pot and the bottom rim or feet?
One must not forget an important part of tea pots - how does it pour? Many a teapot do not pour correctly because the spout is too short or too long which can cause the tea to spill out the lid or placed to high on the pot wall such that the last bit of tea can't be poured. And the pot handle - can you get the lid off and on easily? Does the pot have a vent hole to facilitate the tea flow??
I now have lots of homework to do before I return next year:
1) make 1 if not 2 more tubes, in brass, so we can use them for practice raising. This means they have to be soldered and cleaned to the point where we ended, this week
2) make a stake for truing the tube(s) because when you heavy planish, the tube is no longer round.
3) get the raising stakes made - so I have to cut the wood and get them cast. Finding a casting house will be fun!
4) study teapot design and make some choices for the spout, handle, lid and lid finial, and the bottom - feet or rim?
Here are lots of pictures ...
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