A tiny challenge

 

I had a request to add to my functional recycled silver-plated spoons and ladles. The request was for a condiments spoon - something small that could be used for salt, pepper, spices, herbs etc. I was asked to make it along the lines of my Leaf Teaspoons.

As you can see from the photo above I have made a stash - the six above are going to Maleny Additions.

Below are some process photos including the template I made for the prototype - turns out it was fine for the rest of the spoons.

The spoon is quite small as you can see from the comparison with a bandaid wrapper - once ground and polished the length is about 9cm.

Some of these will also be in our shop.

This and that

 

Saturday was spent in the DEP studio-gallery-shop. As well as attending to customers I set and printed a postcard regarding the importance of seeing and holding on to fragments of beauty in dark times. The words we by John O'Donuhue. I used a 24pt script type - the lowercase is quite small - took a bit of time to compose. You might be able to pick up a typo that I didn't pick up until I had finished printing and cleaned up and put the type away.

Today I managed to finish the last of the leaf tea caddy spoons and leaf teaspoons. The metal working gloves on the bench have just about seen their day.

I also cut up and annealed about 30 largish copper blanks for a future project; and cut and sanded 3 hardwood cubes for another future project. Both those projects will be revealed at a later date. Turned out to be a full weekend.

Functional pieces

 

I sell quite a few of my functional items (ladles, leaf spoons, leaf pate knives, leaf tea caddy spoons) through one of our local shops - Maleny Additions. Apparently they have had a bit of demand for my bits and pieces recently and asked me to replace stock - so that is what happened today - production. 

I quite like the photo above showing a stash of leaf tea caddy spoons after the first couple of stages of production. I like how they are nestled together.

My aim is to make at least: 7 leaf tea caddy spoons; 7 leaf teaspoons; and 7 leaf pate knives. The process photos below show I made quite a bit of progress.

But  I only got the 7 pate knives finished.

More work to be done on Sunday.

Metal on the workbench

©2020 Barry Smith - Stash of leaf pate knives made from metal cut from recycled vintage trays - ground and polished Leaf Pate Knives on the workbench

As you might be aware I have had quite a stash of metal on my work bench. I have been concurrently progressing: ladles, tea-caddy spoons, leaf-spoons and leaf pate knives. I completed the ladles last week; so this weekend I have attempted to get some of the other three finished.

As you can see from the opening photo I did manage to get the Leaf Pate Knives finished; and  the last photos shows the Leaf Tea-caddy Spoons were also finished.

Process photos follow.

©2020 Barry Smith - Leaf Pate Knives - formed and ready for grinding and polishing

©2020 Barry Smith - Leaf-spoons - leaf section formed

©2020 Barry Smith - Leaf-spoons - bowl section hammered - ready for grinding and polishing

©2020 Barry Smith - Polishing the leaf section of a Tea-caddie Spoon with a brass wire brush

Tea caddie spoons were also given a good grinding and polish.

©2020 Barry Smith - Leaf Tea-caddy Spoons 

These functional pieces of metal art shall make their way in to my website shop in the very near future.

Of rust and product

©2019 Barry Smith - The rusting process has begun

We have purchased some strips of Corten steel to create a border around part of the gravel on the new sculpture terraces. This type of steel is meant to rust but not rust away. When it was picked up it was a blue metal colour but after only 24 hours in the rain it has already started to rust and form some gorgeous patterns as you can see from the photo above and below.

©2019 Barry Smith - Almost looks like a rusty landscape

I will install the strips as soon as we get fine weather.

I managed to make time this morning to finish polishing and tagging the Leafspoons and Leaf Pate Knives to take in to Maleny additions.

©2019 Barry Smith - Polished pieces on the polishing bench - with a bit of gratuitous rust

©2019 Barry Smith - Six very reflective Leaf Pate Knives

©2019 Barry Smith - Pattern on the back of the pate knives

©2019 Barry Smith - Six Leafspoons ready for market

This afternoon I got out the metal I cut to make my International Peace Day pieces. I have started the stamping process - but that will be the subject of another post.

Progressing product and giveaway draw

©2019 Barry Smith - Leaf Pate Knives and Leafspoons ready for the final polish and tweaking

I managed to get back on track with silver-plated product production over the weekend. As you can see from the photo above I managed to get 15 items to the ground and wire brush polished stage. Now I need to do the final polish before adding swing tags and sending them off to Maleny Additions.

A few process photos follow.

©2019 Barry Smith - Gorgeous detail on this metal cut from a huge heavy silver-plated nickel silver - pieces will become Leaf Pate Knives - pattern will be on the reverse side

©2019 Barry Smith - Pate knives hammered and ready for bending and twisting

©2019 Barry Smith - Metal trimmed from the leaf spoon blanks.

©2019 Barry Smith - On the work bench

I also committed to drawing the recipient of the giveaway today. I did it the old fashioned way - put 9 names in a bowl and draw out the winner - and the winner is Bridgette - so a set of Daily Leaf Words will be packed and sent to her in the next couple of days.

©2019 Barry Smith - And the recipient of the giveaway is Bridgette G-M

Thanks to all the who checked out the post on ten years of blogging. Thanks also to people who still visit and leave comments - that takes time in this click and swipe age - so the effort and support is appreciated.

Off to market

©2018 Barry Smith - Sixteen Leafspoons ground and polished - yet in need of a twist and final cloth polish

I have been making product to go to Maleny Additions and Entangle. This can be fairly mundane creativity. I can put a bit more interest into the work if I: look for ways to improve the pieces; streamline the techniques; and find new 'tools.

The photos below show some steps in the process of making 16 Leafspoons and the photo captions give an idea of what I mean by streamlining and or finding tools that work better.

©2018 Barry Smith - Four of the found tools that I suet progressively and gently unfold the leaves - the fifth step is setting the leaf on the anvil with a plastic-nylon mallet. From left to right the tools are: head of a chisel shaped hammer, wine barrel chisel, carpet layer's chisel and a heavy duty cheer knife.

©2018 Barry Smith - Leaves unfolded but they need the spoon section to be created

©2018 Barry Smith - Thumbprint like indent in the end grain of a piece of hardwood used for forming the spoon bowl shaped section 

©2018 Barry Smith - Leafspoons in the rough

©2018 Barry Smith - The six hammers I use in the Leafspoon making process

Ten of the Leafspoons, along with 10 Tea Caddy Spoons, will be delivered to Maleny Additions tomorrow. There are some who say that people only really buy the Leafspoons so that they can get one of Fiona's handmade swing tags - could be right.

©2018 Barry Smith Leafspoons with swing tags - ready for delivery - made from recycled silver-plated trays

A good Friday in the garage-studio.

Production number 2

In all I delivered 23 pieces of silver-plated objects to Maleny Additions. Add to that 6 peace leaves and you can see why I thought it was useful to separate the products out into two posts.

©2018 Barry Smith - Cut and ground front end in the metal dapping block

I'm focussing on Leaf Tea Caddy Spoons and Leafspoons in this post. One would think that because the objects are both spoons the process would be the same - similar but not the same.

First some images of the Tea Caddy Spoons,

©2018 Barry Smith - Dapping tool and hydraulic press form bowl

©2018 Barry Smith - Pressed bowls - they will need further work at the end of the process

©2018 Barry Smith - Folding in the vise without damaging the bowl

©2018 Barry Smith - After gently finishing the folding on the anvil the leaf form is hammered

©2018 Barry Smith - Opening the leaf forms on the anvil edge

©2018 Barry Smith - Looking good

And the old favourite Leafspoons.

©2018 Barry Smith - Folding the flat leaf blank in the vise

©2018 Barry Smith - All forms half folded in the vice

©2018 Barry Smith - Folding finished on the anvil with a nylon hammer and then the leaf form is hammered with metal hammer

©2018 Barry Smith - Leaf forms opened on the anvil edge but bowl is still flat

©2018 Barry Smith - The hardwood timber form I made for creating the bowl shape - well worn

©2018 Barry Smith - Ball hammer used to sink the bowl form

©2018 Barry Smith - Ready for grinding and polishing

©2018 Barry Smith - Seven Leafspoons looking good

If you study the photos you will note that the main difference in the sequence is that in regard to the Tea Caddy Spoons the bowl shape must be done first - it just cant be done elegantly after forming the leaf. Whereas with the Leafspoons the bowl is done last so that it does not collapse when forming the leaf as it would if done first as in the case of the tea caddy spoons.