Silver is a soft metal and the only thing that will harden it so it will not bend, but will be strong enough to withstand use is tempering.  Tempering is a process of hammering and heating and hammering again.  All hand wrought silver is made by hammering.  The entire process is done with hammers which temper the metal to hardness and strength no other kind of manufactured silver can achieve.

This means that hand wrought silver is practically  imperishable.  It can be used everyday throughout your lifetime,  your children's lifetime and generations to come without any appreciable evidence of deterioration.  You just can't wear it out.

Commercial Machine made sterling is made by placing a flat piece of silver on a block containing the bottom half of the pattern die, underneath a large and heavy drop hammer, which holds the top half of the pattern die.  The huge hammer drops down clamping the two halves of the die together, with the silver in between, cutting out the outline, bending it into shape and stamping the design.  Then the polishing completes the job.

In making hand wrought silver the process is completely different.  No dies or machinery are used, each piece is individually forged by hand using various hammers.  This is why no two pieces are exactly the same, although a good craftsman is almost uncanny in his precision.  The minute differences are practically imperceptible to anyone but the trained eye.  These tiny variations are what makes this type of silver so personal, so unique, so completely individual and therefore so precious.

The photos show the steps involved in the process of making a spoon.  It starts with a bar of silver which is hammered and annealed and hammered again.  Annealing is heating the metal to soften it after it has been work-hardened by hammering.  The process is continued until the silver has been hammered to size of the pattern.  It can not be hammered to long at one time or it will become hard and brittle.  Once the silver is forged to the size and shape of the pattern and excess silver is filed off with the various files until the piece matches the pattern.  The bowl of spoon is the created and the handle shaped.  The spoon is now ready for polishing.

HERE ARE THE STEPS TO MAKING A QUALITY PIECE OF TEMPERED SILVER

	Image 1 shows hammering the spoon into shape with forging hammer on a special forging anvil
	Image 2 shows planishing spoon with special planishing hammers and anvil.  Planishing is a process of refining the surface of the metal with highly polished hammers
	Image 3 shows filing excess silver from the forged piece.  Many various sizes and shapes of files are used including rough and smooth files.
	Image 4 & 5 show stamping the trademark on the back of the spoon.  Every piece that is made at my shop is stamped Erickson Sterling Handwrought.
	Beginning to sink the bowl of the spoon
	Preparing the drop hammer to finish sinking the bowl of the spoon.
	Completing the process of shaping the bowl of the spoon with the drop hammer.  The top piece is a special stake to fit the shape of that particular spoon.  The bottom piece is a lead mold to fit the same shape.
	Planishing the bowl of the spoon with a special stake and Planishing hammer.  This process removes any marks on the inside of the bowl and leaves hammer marks on the outside of the bowl.
	The spoon is now ready to shape the handle and then polish

All photos by Jill Wachter