Today the group went to Persistence Works to learn how to make a spoon with Sally and Drew. The morning began with an introduction to the workshop, and the group reflected on the word exercise that took place at the allotment to draw inspiration for their spoons.
No one of the group had worked with metal before, let alone made a silver spoon. So there was a lot to learn and the group went straight in at the deep end! Drew demonstrated how to make the spoon bowl end while Sally showed the other half of the group how to forge the handle.
There were many new skills to learn but everyone picked them up quickly. By breaking each task down into different stages meant that it was less daunting to the group. First the bowl shape was pierced out of a piece of silver sheet and then the edges were filed smooth. This was then annealed, which is when the metal is warmed with a flame to soften it and make it more malleable. The spoon ends were then formed over a stake with a mallet and after repeated hammering and annealing the bowls form slowly emerged. After we were happy with the shapes we had made we planished them with a smooth polished hammer to create a smooth and even finish to the bowls.
The handle was made by forging the silver rod into shape. This is where the silver is struck with a hammer to shape the metal. Different techniques were used to stretch and flatten the metal in certain areas to create the handles form. By hammering the silver in different directions and with different levels of force the spoon handles started to take shape. This required the piece to be annealed several times so that it remained soft and didn’t become too hard through over working it. This task needed constant evaluation so that the group were really considering how they were hammering and what outcome they were working towards. It was really good to see that everyone had managed to create something completely different.
At the end of the first day the group had worked extremely well and picked up a lot of new skills very quickly. By this point, everyone had an idea in their head of how they wanted their spoon to look and most of the forming had been done. They then began considering how to apply the lettering to the handle and how the 2 halves would come together.
