Handforging spoons

To make a spoon the traditional by way of handforging, a bar of silver is marked up to the correct proportions for the bowl and handle.

Overview

It is then heated until red hot and held in tongs and using the hammer and anvil, beaten into shape. The tip of the bar is pointed to form the tip of the bowl, then hammered to form the bowl. If a heel is to be added, a section down the centre is left thicker. The edges of the bowl and the tip of the spoon are left thicker as this is where most of the thickness is needed. The handle is then started and hammered out to length going from thick at the neck and gradually tapering down in thickness giving a balanced feel. During this process the piece becomes very hard and has to be annealed several times, then worked again until the final shape is achieved.

The bowl is filed to shape, often using a metal template. The bowl is then formed using a tin cake and spoon stake. The molten tin is poured around the spoon stake and left to harden. The handle is then bent down to 45 degrees, and the spoon is hammered into the tin using the spoon stake and a heavy hammer, to form the bowl. The bend in the handle is then adjusted to match the other spoons in the set and so it sits correctly on the table. The bowl is then filed level, a process called striking off. The surfaces are filed, first with a rough file to remove the fire stain from the surface, then with a smooth file. It is then buffed to remove any file marks and fire stain from inside the bowl and is polished to the desired finish.

During the hand-forging process the spoon will have been hit with a hammer over 300 hundred times. A machine made spoon receives one or two blows from a press.

External links

* [http://www.925-1000.com/spoon.html The Making of a Spoon] Illustrated article on the hand forging of a spoon.
* [http://www.nickrobinson.info/clients/fletcher-robinson/media/forging.wmv] A Video of a spoon being Handforged at fletcher Robinson Ltd
* [http://www.nickrobinson.info/clients/fletcher-robinson/media/finishing.wmv] A video of a handforged spoon being Polished at Fletcher Robinson
* [http://www.fletcher-robinson.com Fletcher Robinson Ltd] A link to one of only a handful of companies that are making hand-forged flatware