The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1862-06-28
"A Great Silver Ware Manura Glory.

and Dollars Day Changed from Coin into
| Piote-The MIST Complete Siiper- WIRE Num-
nfactory in The World TwoIuns Of Siircr in
process Of Manufacturc.
! During a recent visit to Providence, r. T..
We made visit to Gprham < Co.'S nIanuf,c-
| tory of silver ware. and were politely shown
| oveI the establishment under the guidance of
! the designers remarkably intelligent English
! man. This man says that he Is acquainted
with the large sivrr-ware establishments in
| London, and that this Of Gorham Il Co., is
! the most complete OF any in The world.
This finn make ouly solid silver, using the
silver coin as they find it, neither refining nor
adding alloys. 1t contains a very small pro-
portion Of copper.
The first step in the process is to melt the
coin This is done in plnmbago crnciblcs
| set in furnaces of anthracite coal No rcver-
b"ratory arrangement is employed; The heat
| passing through the walls of the cruciblc.-
| The metal is cast into an ingot-Say an inch
thick, 10 inches wide ard feet long.
The ingot is then passed between rollers
and roll, d down to a thin plate. The rolling
| is performed while the metal is cold no
annealing being required during the process
as in rolling GOLD.
! By means of massive machines, blanks are
then punched from the plates Of suitable SIZE
10 make spoons. forks, teapots, &c.
| Then comes the process Of faShioning the
articles into the proper forms for use and
, ornament. Several methods are employed
! fol affecting this. A portion of the articles
| are placed upon an engraved steel die, and Il
mass Of cast iron is allowed to drop upon it
from a sufficient hghth to press the silver
! into the die and mold it in correspondence
/ with the engraving. The bowl of the spoons
arc formed by laying the blank npon lead
marix Of the proper form, resting til" end Of
a rounded steel punch upon it, and giving
the punch powerful blow with a sedgc.-
Tea pots and similar articles # hollow ware
are fashioned, by cutting a thin plate Of metal
| into suitable form. bringing the edges
| together and soldering them and then beating
the metal with hammers. drawing it into the
proper shape by the same process as that
employed by Il blacksmith in making Il adlc
Many hammers of a great variety of forms
are used in this operation Of raising, as it is
! called Round articles, as the covers of tea
pots, are spun upon lathe in the usual way
There are several processes of orna-
menting The most interesting Of these
is By means Of lathcs. The lathes are
quite DIS perfect in workmanship and
more complied ed IN construction than
the lathes employed in bank-note
engraving. Very complex contrivancos
are employed to give the tool the vari-
Gus motions required. In marking con-
cave surfaces, for instance, the tool is
always KEEP at right angles to the sur
face, and when occasion requires vlbra
ing motion is impaired to 1t, producing
the beautiful waved lines so often seen
on napkin rings. The chasing is done
with steel punch and hammer, and to
prevent lhc ware from being forced Out
of shape in the operation, the vessel is
filed with pitch. After chasing is COM
pleted, the vessel is inverted in warm
oven, when the pitch Is mel ed and
flows back inc the kettle, from which it
may again be dipped. Some engraving
is executed by hand, and cast ornaments
arc soldered to urns, pitchers, &c.
Afer the ornamenting is completed,
he walc is cleaned and polished. The
first operation in this part of the pro-
cess is to scour it with sea- horse hide
covered with sand. l saw a piece of
natural hide ! !. inches in thickness. 1t
is then secured with rotten stone, and
las y with oxide of iron, called rouge.
The rouge is applied first wi h bob
made Of disks Of WOODEN cloth fringcd at
the periphery, then with similar bob
of cot on, aud lastly with that most per-
fec of all cushions, the human hand
The thumbs of the workmcn engaged in
this lust labor become as thick and
tough as lea her.
One of the most interesting parts Of
the cleaning process is the picEling.-
The vase or bowl is placed upon turn
table so thaf it may be rcvolvcd, and is
heated red hot by fame the rotation
being for the purpose of heating the YES
sci on all sides equally and at the same
time. The fame is foXmcd by two cur
rents: one of illumina ing gas and the
other of a mosphcrlc air, caused to min
gle as they issue from the jet. The
current of air, is driven through its pipe
by fan and issues it a faring flame a
foot long, enveloping the ware and very
quickly bringing it to red heat. The
heat oxidizes the alloy in the surface OF
the ware, and this oxide is then dis
solved by placing the vessel in bath Of
warm dilute sulphuric acid. This
leaves the surface pure silver and of
that soft luster.ess white, which is scme-
times left on the ware and which is so
beautiful. When a luster Is desired
this pure silver surface is rubbed down
with Furnishing tool, or it is otherwise
polished. Some of the furnishing tools
are made of steel, and some of blood
stone.
The only remaining steps in the pro-
cess are to pack the ware, send it to
market, sell it and get the pay. Mr..
Gorham told us that they received one
remittance in gold from an old Gus
toner in New Orleans some time after
the &C, of secession was passed in Lou
sana.
Very few workmen are now employed
in the establishment, but in ordinary
times, 1000 dollars in coin is melted
every day, and more than two tuns of
silver are constantly going through the
process Of manufacture. The designs
are formed in clay and wax and are then
produced in plaster or copper, and are
preserved for publication in case that it
is required. The Designers room is a
large neat office, and contains a library
of the most costly works on ornamental
art.-Scientifc amer,can.
-. -
D..