Here, the body of the cup was shaped and has been soldered to keep its shape and to make it watertight. The tool in his right hand is the soldering copper which has been heated in the charcoal fire to melt the solder.
Meet Richard Eckert, Interpreter, Tin Shop, at Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. OSV’s Tin Shop is a reconstructed early 1800s shed brought to the Village in 1985. Inside this small, dimly-lit working tin shop are all the hand tools and early machines Eckert and the other “tinners” at OSV need to turn tinplate into everyday objects the old-fashioned way.
Here, tinsmiths in period costume play historical interpreters and demonstrate for guests how everything from traditional lanterns to pans and kitchen tools were made in the 19th century. Many of the demonstrated items crafted in the Tin Shop are sold at OSV’s Village Store within the village. We took a tour of the Tin Shop and had a chance to speak with Eckert back in December where he was showing off his craft to a group of school children. In these pictures, he shares with us what goes into turning sheets of tinplate into objects still in use today.
The tin plate worker’s workbenches were constructed similarly to other workbenches in other trades. These would have square holes in them to hold such tools as the one laying on the bench called swages or stakes which are similar to anvils.
Take a look at the soldering stove. Prior to the 1850s the only fuel used was charcoal. Tin shops would make the stove themselves out of sheet iron. When using the tools to solder copper to tin, the tip of the tool would be placed in a fire hot enough to melt the solder.
Making tin items often required forming a rolled edge. If the edge is straight, the tinplate worker uses a bar folder to fold the edge. Here a handle’s edge is being folded 180 degrees over.
As a tinplate worker starts to solder the joint of the cup body he starts where the pliers are, and an angular soldering iron pulls the solder away letting the heat warm up the cup allowing the solder to flow and level out making the cup one piece.
After soldering the joint of the cup, the tinplate worker shows off how smooth the soldered seam is. From here he can continue soldering the bottom and handle. Many items produced were round, as that is a very simple and easy shape to make quickly including cups, pans, coffee pots, and others.
After soldering the cups body, the solder hardens, holding the cup together and making that section water-tight.
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