Silversmith's Guild Newsletter

Lots of exciting things going on at the moment. The Committee has been earnestly searching for a new home for the Guild. After a thorough search there really was only one affordable and suitable choice. The Tannery developments include a series of workshops down Tanner St, which are being rebuilt at the moment. 

After having the agreement checked by a lawyer the Committee has signed a contract for two years at 39C Tanner St. We are planning to be in our new workshop for the 4th Term Classes, and are in the process of having work stations and some shelving built after receiving some very favourable quotes. 

The workshop will be fully lined, wired, and have a toilet and running water, with some natural light as well. We are very excited about these developments and are looking forward to moving to our own space once more. SIT at Sockburn have been wonderful to us, providing somewhere to operate from at a very reasonable outlay, but they need us to be out in early December. This has meant that we have really had to act swiftly, and are confident that this is the right place for us. 

There are sufficient funds available at this point to manage for 2 years without any further growth in the Guild, and we are anticipating a lot of interest and new members as it becomes known what we can offer people once we are up and running at Tanner Street. The majority of new and replacement equipment, including some new display cases, are being paid for from the funding that Karen and Mark   got for us to help re-establish our workshop after all the losses from the earthquakes.

So, lots to look forward to. It will be so good to have our tools and equipment set up so we don't have to lock everything away each time we finish a class or workshop.

Next Committee Meeting will be on Monday September 3rd, 7pm at SIT

Committee Meeting Minutes - Summary

August 6, 2012. 7pm

Present:  Arthur Harrison, Noeline Walker, Jo Crompton, Solvejg Ruarus, Diederic Ruarus, John Weeber, Karen Atherton,  Crystal Mathieson

1.             No apologies  

2.             Minutes of last meeting were approved as read

3.             Correspondence:  Secretary (Karen) will write and send a thank you card and enclose a $25 petrol voucher for Robyn Gordon who donated equipment to the Guild.

4.             Treasurer's report:  Attached reports received from Diederic.  He proposes raising class fees and tutor pay.  The committee agreed to discuss these changes when the new class brochures are printed for next Term 1.

5.             Classes report:  Noeline has had 12 enquiries so far for Term 4.  The response has been good from the ad in Coffee News but we have been informed that the price might rise.  Tutors reported that classes are going well and we are coping with the more flexible attendance scheme that allows people to make up a missed class.

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6.             Membership:  There are 35 members paid at $65.  Diederic proposes raising membership fee but will need to do that at an AGM.  General agreement, however, that raising subscription to $75 next year will be considered.  Jo offered to take on the administration of the Membership Rolls from John Ogilvie.  Question of whether to purge or reach out to lapsed members.  Decided to contact entire membership by hard copy in April. 

7.             Workshops:  Arthur will run an Open Studio workshop on August 18^th to include repousse, rolling mill, black pearls and help with any problems or current projects.  Noeline offered to host he glass workshop in her garage when the weather warms up – we need a long cooling off time for glass and SIT is not suitable.  Suggestions for workshops with master craftspeople included Ann Visser Cox and Peter McKay (maybe a visit to his studio).

8.             Mentoring Programme:  The mentoring program notes by Noeline were approved.  The mentoring program will start in home studios and then migrate to the new workshop.  Mentors will charge a $10 donation to the Guild for the home studio use.  When we move to the new workshop the cost will be $12 per morning or afternoon three-hour session, or a punch-card for ten sessions for $100.

9.             Exhibition:  Karen will chair the Exhibition committee and work with Sol, Jo, Noeline and Crystal.  No word yet on request to use Buddhist Temple space.  Karen will approach again.  If we cannot use the Temple we will use the new workshop.

10.         Display Cabinets:  The glass display cabinet was evaluated and approved by everyone.  We will buy six more cabinets and get more if we need them. 

11.         Tannery Proposal:  Diederic has sent the proposal to a lawyer for evaluation.  Subject to her approval of the terms the Committee unanimously decided to accept the proposal and move to The Tannery.  We will pay rent from October 1 and will sign a two-year lease.   Discussion about fittings and rules took place and the following tasks were agreed upon unanimously:

General plan of fittings:  Arthur will draw a plan and send it to Grant McIver at The Tannery.

Benches:  Arthur and Diederic will arrange to have 12 double workbenches made.  Along with the two bought from Harvey and Katrina we will have 14 benches.  They will be made like the photo example but with plywood tops and more substantial legs.

Benchpins:  Noeline will order 14 anvil and bench-pin assemblies from Rio.

Lighting:  We will evaluate LED lighting for benches.  Diederic suggests natural light-bulbs to avoid eye strain.  Crystal’s dad will look at lighting needs.  He might be able to do the job at a mate rate.

Solder stations:  We will have a main solder bench and also use the two portable stations.  Noeline’s Orca torch was seen and liked by all. 

Safe:  We need one for our silver and Arthur will look for one second-hand.

Bus route:  The Tannery is on Bus Route #23.

Acid room and fume hood:  Arthur suggests having that near the front window.  To be discussed further.

Options for overhead storage:  We don’t need it now but it is good to know we can add loft storage if we do need it later.

Newspaper article:  Sol suggested that we approach Christopher Moore to write an article about the Silversmiths moving into The Tannery.  Maybe do this through Alistair Cassel.

Guidelines for workshop use:  Each member will draft guidelines for discussion and adoption later.

Notice to members:  Jo will announce it in the newsletter. 

Southern Institute of Technology (SIT):  Arthur will shout them morning tea to say goodbye.  We will arrange a display cabinet full of student pieces so they can see the results of our work there.

Also briefly discussed a sign, table and meeting space, barred windows and security door, painting walls a light color, electronic security system and a security light on the outside.  Also, whether or not we need a phone.  These need further discussion.

Meeting adjourned at 9:15.

Next meeting, Monday, September 3, 2012

Worksop Saturday Report by Karen Atherton

I bought a pitch pot for repousse work a couple of years ago but waited for a workshop to teach me how to use it.  During the workshop last week Arthur gave me several hours of instruction and lent me some of his handmade tools so I could have a go.  You can see the result of my efforts to learn this technique in a day.

Repousse is the art of raising a design on sheet metal by using chasing, setting or dapping tools and a hammer to push the metal into a firm but yielding surface -- the hardened pitch.  Each blow of the hammer pushes a tiny bit of the metal into the pitch and leaves a small indentation.  It takes hundreds of overlapping indentations placed with different shaped tools in order to make the metal do what you want it to.

I used a piece of .03 copper which was annealed and cleaned.  I marked a simple jumping rabbit design on the plate using a paper and graphite transfer method and then scratched over the design with a scribe to make it permanent.   Arthur gave me some wee nails and a little bit of board so I could tack my pattern down to anchor it for outlining in the design.  Using a sharp wedge-shaped lining tool (like the end of a screwdriver but with no sharp squared edges) I tapped out an indented outline.  When I was happy with the outline I removed the design from the board and cut it down to fit my small pitch pot. and turned it over to work on the other side.

I softened the pitch with the torch.  It only takes a little bit of heat to set the stuff on fire, so be careful. I squared off the corners of my piece with a pair of shears and bent them down so they would catch in the pitch.  As I ran the torch lightly over the copper it just sort of sank down  into the softened pitch.  When the pitch cooled the design was firmly anchored.  I used several different types of rounded tools to tap within the outline of my rabbit and push it into the pitch.  This took a couple of hours.  When I was happy with the depth of the design I heated up the metal and pitch with the torch again and lifted the metal out to clean it off.  This process is very messy!  Hot sticky pitch coated the copper and hardened into a stubborn black shell.  Arthur showed me how to melt off most of the pitch with the torch (back into the pitch pot) and then burn off the rest (flames!) and use solvents to clean it thoroughly.  

The next step was to turn the design over again, anchor it to the pitch surface again and start tapping outside the outline to sink the background and raise the rabbit design even higher.  My hands and my back were sore after several hours of tapping.  At the end of the day just left the piece in the pitch rather than go through the messy cleaning process again.  I will remove it when I decide what to do with the finished design.  It would make a good book cover decoration or could maybe be turned into a brooch.  

One of the reasons I joined the Silversmiths Guild was to have access to specialist tutorials and practice sessions like this workshop.  When we move to The Tannery we plan to offer many more opportunities like this.  Many thanks to Arthur Harrison for putting it together and sharing his knowledge.

Karen