- Tinsmith
.Made by a
Civilian Conservation Corps tinsmith.] A tinsmith, or tinner or tinplate worker, is a person who makes and repairs things made of light-colouredmetal , particularly tinware. By extension it can also refer to the person who deals in tinware.Training of tinsmiths
The tinsmith, or whitesmith, learned his trade, like many other artisans, by serving an
apprentice ship of 4 to 6 years with a master tinsmith. He learned first to make cake stamps (cookie cutter s), pill boxes and other simple items. Next, he formed objects such as milk pails, basins, cake and pie pans. Later he tackled more complicated pieces such as chandeliers and crooked-spout coffee pots.After his apprenticeship was completed, he then became a journeyman, not yet being a master smith employing others. Many young tinsmiths took to the road as peddlers or tinkers in an effort to save enough money to open a shop in town.
Raw material
Tinplate consists of sheet iron coated with tin and then run through rollers. This process was first discovered in the 16th century, but was hardly introduced to
England until about the1720s . PreviouslyGreat Britain had imported most tinplate fromHamburg .The British
Iron Act of 1750 prohibited (amongst other things) the erection of newrolling mills , which prevented the erection of new tinplate works in America until after theAmerican Revolution . Certificates submitted by colonial governors to the BritishBoard of Trade following the Act indicate that no tinplate works then existed though there were severalslitting mill s, some described as slitting androlling mill s.Pure tin is an expensive and soft metal and it is not practical to use it alone. However it could be alloyed with
lead andcopper to make pewter or alloyed withcopper alone to producebronze . Today's tinplate is mild steel electroplated with tin. Its non-rusting qualities make it an invaluable coating. However, its quality depends on the iron or steel being free from rust and the surface tin an unbroken coating. When you see rust on a piece of tinware it is because the tin coating has worn away or been cut in the metal. The respective properties of the metals mean that corrosion once started is likely to be rapid.Tinsmithing tools
The simple shapes made by the tinsmith, required only a few basic tools. In addition to the big shears anchored in a hole in his bench, he used hand snips and nippers for cutting. The tin was flattened on an anvil made of a block of steel and straight and curved anvils (stakes) were used to turn and roll the edges of the tin. Solder was used to join the pieces together and a
soldering iron andfire pot were needed to do this.History of tinsmithing
Tinwares were being produced in
London by the 1630s, being known as Crooked Lane Wares (from the street where they were made). [W. Minchinton, "The British tinplate industry: a history" (clarendon Press, Oxford,1957), 3. ] TheWorshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers were incorporated as a separate LondonLivery Company in1670 . However, tinplate workers were widespread.The tinsmith has been plying his trade in America since 1720. Colonial tinsmiths used tinplate, wire, solder, and a few simple tools to produce their wares. When tinplate was finally produced in America in the early 1800s the products of the tinsmith became more widely available. They in turn saw an increase in demand and a need to speed up production. This brought about the development of many ingenious hand powered machines which sped up production and helped the tinsmith meet the demands for his products. The goods were "brought to market" by peddlers who are aliens traveling from village to village.
Tinware was a popular
folk art in colonialMexico andNew Mexico , and continues to be made there by local artisans today. Fine examples may be seen at theMuseum of Spanish Colonial Art [http://www.spanishcolonial.org/] in Santa FeReferences
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