THE FRET—II.

Southland Times, Issue 22993, 12 September 1936, Page 21 (Supplement)

THE FRET—II.

(By

Joan K. Mahar)

Having studied various types of frets we now apply our knowledge and make a small article in pewter. A serviette ring is useful and easy to make as a first effort.

DESIGN

You will need a small piece of pewter that is fairly heavy. (Don’t use thin pewter because it has no strength or resistance.) It should measure 6in x Ilin; besides this you will need a fret saw, fret saw blades, a file and a small hammer. Take your piece of pewter and mark off the centre and a square; next paint this square with white paint or whiting and leave it to dry thoroughly. In the meantime trace out your design and have a piece of blue carbon paper at hand. Next trace the design, using the carbon paper, on to the white surface on the pewter. Then take a sharp point, such as an old com-, pass end, and scratch the design very carefully so that you do not slip or mark the rest of the metal.Every mark will show in the finished article. Now take a. small drill and make holes where the design is blacked in. You will find it much easier to use your saw and hold your metal firmly if you take a piece of w r ood about 4in to 6in wide and at least 12in long and with a triangle cut from one end with an ordinary wood saw. See diagram. Now place one end of your blade in the saw frame and the other through one of the holes—place the other end in the frame and tighten It up. Place metal on the

wood and work away from you. Do not force the saw through or jerk it as this will snap your blade. Treat it gently. And so continue till you have cut away the background (showing black in the diagram). Take both ends of the ring and force them together so that they just touch. You must be extremely careful to see that both edges are quite even; if they are not —they will not meet and you will make a bad job of your soldering. Work the shape with your fingers but watch your cut out carefully as any rough bending will cause it to snap and that will ruin your ring. Clean your two ends well. To solder well all materials and tools must be perfectly clean; this is most important. Take your solder and cut it into very fine pieces about the thickness of brown paper and about Jin square. Then paint your join with soldering flux. Place your little pieces of solder carefully in a line right over the join. Next take a taper or candle and light it, and gently and fairly slowly move it to and fro under the join, watching the pewter all the time to see that it does not melt. You will see the solder run and immediately the join is covered, leave it to cool.

If the join is perfect, you may continue, if pot, repeat the process till it is. But do not hurry. Yoik cannot do craft in a hurry. Take your time. When your join is perfect and your shape good, you have only to file the edges to gcit them straight and smooth round the ring and in the design. Polish it Well and your ring is finished.