Tinsmith

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A tinsmith, or tinner, is a person who makes and repairs things made of light metal, such as tinware. A tinsmith is another name for a sheet metal worker or tinplate worker.

It can also refer to the person who deals in tinware.

History of Tinsmiths

The tinsmith, or whitesmith, learned his trade by serving an apprenticeship of 4 to 6 years with a master tinsmith . He learned first to make cake stamps (cookie cutters), pill boxes and other simple items. Next, he formed objects such as milk pails, basins, cake and pie pans. Later he tackled more complicated pieces such as chandeliers and crooked-spout coffee pots. He then became a journeyman but not yet a master smith employing others. Many young tinsmiths took to the road as peddlers or tinkers in an effort to save enough money to open a shop in town.

Tinplate

Tinplate is made of sheet iron that has been dipped in molten tin and then run through rollers. This process was first discovered in the 16th century and then developed in the early 1700s . Pure tin is an expensive and soft metal and it is not practical to use it alone. Today's tinplate is mild steel electroplated with tin. Its non-rusting qualities make it an invaluable coating.

A Master Tinsmith at work in his Tinshop

Tinsmithing Tools

The simple shapes made by the tinsmith, required only a few basic tools. In addition to the big shears anchored in a hole in his bench, he used hand snips and nippers for cutting. The tin was flattened on an anvil made of a block of steel and straight and curved anvils (stakes) were used to turn and roll the edges of the tin. Solder was used to join the pieces together and a soldering iron and fire pot were needed to do this.

The History of Tinsmithing

The tinsmith has been plying his trade in America since 1720. Colonial tin products were made of imported tinplate. England banned the production of tinplate in the colonies, thus restricting the amount of goods the colonists could produce. Tinplate is thin steel that has been dipped several times into molten tin. (When you see rust on a piece of tinware it is because the tinplate has worn away or a cut in the metal has exposed the steel which has rusted.)

Colonial tinsmiths used tinplate, wire, solder, and a few simple tools to produce their wares. When tinplate was finally produced in America in the early 1800's the products of the tinsmith became more widely available. They in turn saw an increase in demand and a need to speed up production. This brought about the development of many ingenious hand powered machines which sped up production and helped the tinsmith meet the demands for his products. The goods were "brought to market" by peddlers traveling from village to village.