CHAPTER VI

Copper Trimmings

After the finish on the chest has thoroughly dried, any copper trimmings desired can be applied, providing, of course, that the appearance of the chest will be improved by them. If good joints have been obtained on the corners, copper corners will help but little, but if the joints are open, well-designed corners will cover up the defects without detracting from the appearance of the chest. As a rule, handles of cedar, well executed, look better than metal pulls attached to the ends of the box, but if metal corners are employed the pulls should also be of the same. If a lock is attached, it will need an escutcheon, and hinge plates on the cover go well where the other metal trimmings are adapted.

Sixteen-gauge copper is the metal usually employed. Brass looks well, but it does not harmonize with the red cedar quite as attractively as copper.

The design should be first worked out on paper, and transferred to the metal by using carbon paper. Care should be exercised with the designing. A poor design looks worse than no design at all—copper bands with straight edges certainly give a pleasing appearance, as Fig. 29 shows. The student will do well to co-operate with the art teacher when designing his trimmings. The illustrations in this chapter offer suggestions for design, Fig. 67 showing escutcheons, Fig. 68 pulls, Fig. 69 hinge plates, and Fig. 70 corners. Although these designs do not emphasize it, the same motif should be used in every case. For example, straight bands across the top should not be used with fancy-sawed corners. A reasonably plain hinge plate will not look well on a chest with very elaborate pulls and corners. Care should be given this designing that the different parts do not show incongruity.

ESCUTCHEONS

The escutcheon can be small and plain, or rather long and fancy. Fig. 67 illustrates both kinds. The design should be symmetrical about the vertical center line. The key hole size is dependent upon the size of the key furnished with the lock, and its distance from the upper edge is governed by the depth of the key hole in the lock.

[Illustration: _ESCUTCHEONS_

SHADED PORTIONS REPRESENT SAWED OUT PARTS

1 INCH

Fig. 67]

[Illustration: _PULLS_

1 INCH

Fig. 68]

[Illustration: _HINGE PLATES_

1 INCH

Fig. 69]

[Illustration: _CORNERS_

1 INCH

Fig. 70]

After the design has been carefully traced on the metal, it should be cut out with a fine metal saw in a jeweler’s saw frame. The edges can then be filed smooth. The inside cutting is accomplished by first drilling a small hole, then inserting the saw and re-fastening it in the frame.

Holes drilled for the tacks will complete the construction.

PULLS

The backs of the pulls are sawed out exactly like the escutcheon, the handle being the most difficult part to construct. On the even wire design, a piece of heavy round copper can be bent to shape. It is fastened through a piece of thinner metal, which, in turn, is spread out after passing through a slot sawed in the plate, Fig. 71. Those of uneven designs, the first for example, can be sawed and filed from a piece of copper 1” thick, or, if the school teaches molding, a wooden pattern the shape and size of the pull can be made, a mold taken from it, and a copper casting made in the mold. A little filing and polishing will put the metal pull in excellent shape. Where the wire is thicker in the middle, it can be hammered out or filed before bending, as in Fig. 72. The boring of the nail holes in the plate will complete the construction.

[Illustration: Fig. 71]

[Illustration: Fig. 72]

HINGE PLATES

Hinge plates are used on the cover to give the chest a more massive appearance. They extend to the back edge, or are bent over it. After the design has been traced on the metal, they are sawed, filed, and the nail holes drilled as before.

CORNERS

Corners are made like hinge plates with the addition of a right angle bend in the middle. This bending is accomplished by placing the metal between two hardwood pieces screwed up in a vise, and driving the upper half over with a mallet. In some instances, Fig. 19 is an example, the corner does not go around the end, a flat plate covering the end grain being fastened on the front only.

FINISH

The metal trimmings should be rubbed very briskly with fine steel wool, and polished with water and pumice stone. They will keep this polish if coated with banana oil or some other good lacquer. This finish should be applied before the trimmings are fastened on the chest.

NAILS

Copper nails with various size heads can be obtained, or brass headed tacks copper coated can be used in their stead. The copper plating can be done by any plating concern, and at a very small cost.

DECALCOMANIA TRANSFERS

[Illustration: Fig. 73 Chest Decorated with Decalcomania Transfers]

A line of chests has recently appeared on the market with decorations that appear to be hand painted. Fig. 73 gives an example. This form of decoration results from the using of Decalcomania transfers, and, since it is very attractive and easily applied, deserves notice in this chapter.

The transfers are applied in colors to the Decalcomania paper, in which condition they reach the consumer. The face of the transfer is sized with a thin coat of varnish, the paper is placed in position on the chest, and is then soaked off, very much as the small boy soaks off the old-fashioned transfer pictures from his hand or arm. The operation consumes but very little time and when properly done, the decoration is as much a part of the piece as the finish itself.

It is applied over the final finish, or it can be put on before the last coat of varnish is placed.

Many excellent designs are available, especially in marquetry and pearl inlay where the work has been reproduced so carefully as to challenge detection. A chest decorated with a fine band of inlay lines of black and holly presents a wonderfully attractive appearance.

Decalcomania transfers can be obtained only from the manufacturers. The Meyercord Company, Inc., Chicago.

[Illustration: An Italian Chest of the Fifteenth Century (Made in Florence about 1475)]