A commission to design and make a silver tea strainer for someone who loves his tea as much as the sea.
I thought it would be interesting to take some photos of the
process
...
The flat silver square where I started, a circle for the main bowl of the strainer and a rim to be added later.
Sinking the metal
It took ages painstakingly working around the inside of the bowl in small circles from the outside in. It's such a slow process and a killer on my shoulder!
Planishing the outside
I started by using a rawhide hammer and moved onto this planishing hammer positioning the blows carefully so no dents would appear on the inside.
Punching
When I was happy with the shape I moved onto the design. I punched lightly to
indent the metal so I could drill a hole without the drillbit slipping.
The main wave outline finished, with my brass prototype, springloaded punch, needle files and drillbits.
Drilling all those holes
Had to be careful not to join the holes together but keep them separate.
Drilled holes and the curly silver shavings
Preparing the rim
Soldering the rim to the strainer
This was tricky as it would be easy to melt the silver due to the many tiny holes weakening the metal. I wedged flame-proof material on the inside and a piece on top to avoid overheating.
Snipping off the excess silver
I attached a larger rim than necessary so that I could position the base more easily when soldering. After this there was a lot of filing, sanding and polishing before I was finished!
I love the Moroccan feel, the bright pinpricks of light as you hold it up to the sky.