From Paper to Metal

In the spirit of our "technical drawing on metal" analogy we have taken a rough sketch where the customer has directed where individual border cuts should go and supplied measurements, then scribbled the direction for the radiating lines which fill in the squares, specifying the distance apart for each cut. The pattern is continued over the top and sides with all cuts parallel.

The original sketch produced by the customer, annotated around the edge with the engine turner's numerical notes to allow the job to be repeated if further orders are received.

Before the clock case was produced we scored the sheet of metal for folding and soldering. This gained a respectable saving in cost to the manufacturer in spite of paying for an hour or two of engine turning because the silversmith who soldered and completed making the case had much less work to do with a box that soldered much more easily and did not have to be knocked straight afterwards.

It should be noted that we were taking advantage of a known fact - that solder runs down engine turned lines very easily. When this is a problem, like when you want to solder a bezel in a hole that has sunray lines radiating from it, you just use old fashioned water proof Indian Ink. Much better than rouge, this will stop the solder in it's tracks and better, won't be washed off when you apply the borax or other flux material.

The empty engine turned clock case ready for polishing.