Stuff and questions.

[2ndoldman]

Today to keep the pics to a minimum I am going to dispense with most of the before and after photos. 
On Wednesday I sent out an invitation to one of the new members and unfortunately the message was not seen until to late but I still had fun.
I think this is part of a candle holder.

Another buckle for the collection.

And another destroyed pocket knife. Why are the blades so cheaply made these days. :angry:

  Only one silver on Wednesday

Thursday while waiting for a dentist appointment this silver humming bird popped out of the ground.

After the dentist a near by beach called out to me.


I will get back to the other in a minute as well as one more interesting find from that beach. Later in the day a local park was to inviting to resist after dinner.
Can you tell the difference between dry land and ocean finds? PS the Kynoch Birmingham 10 gauge and the round ball were from the beach.

[2ndoldman]

And this silver dime finished off the day.

I managed to mostly straighten out the little brass case and it has been suggested that it might be a cigaret case.
Possibly for tiny cheroots? Does anyone recognize the design?


  It seems to small for a card holder and my original thoughts were possibly for matches. :dunno:

The other interesting item from the beach is what I think is a copper mallet. Now the only reason I can think off for having a copper mallet this size is to be used where sparks are a definite NO NO so around explosives?


The hole is approximately 2" deep and it is in vinegar at the moment to see if I can remove the rest of the crud.

OH and by the way cellphones hate salt water. :rolf:

[painshill]

Hi Bruce
If you needed a hammer in a munitions factory (or fireworks, matches, petrochemicals etc) you’d certainly want a “non-sparking" tool – typically copper, Monel metal (copper-nickel alloy), brass, bronze or aluminium bronze (copper-aluminium alloy). Those kinds of tools are also used in coal-mining and high-dust environments such as flour mills.
Even non-sparking metals can generate a spark but they produce what is known as a “cold-spark” that doesn’t have enough thermal capacity to ignite anything. Non-sparking tools can also produce enough impact or frictional heat energy to detonate an explosive material if wielded heavily, whether they generate sparks or not.
For that reason, soft materials like pure copper are preferred in very sensitive environments because they deform readily and that helps dissipate the energy of the blow. The other situations where pure copper would be used are when the component being hammered is highly finished or precision engineered and you don’t want to damage it: aviation -and- auto industries; and bearing assembly for heavy industrial use such as in shipyards and locomotive assembly. I use a small one for silversmithing too because once you’ve put a dent in something you’re shaping, it’s impossible to remove except by filing all the surrounding areas down to the same level.
As for the case, I don’t know if that’s anyone’s propriety “logo” (doubt it), but as a design it’s classic Art Deco, which firmly puts the date as no earlier than the 1920’s and potentially through to the 1940’s. The Art Deco trend fizzled out post-WWII.
I agree that at 70mm it’s a little small for business cards (usually around 3 – 3 ½ inches/75 – 90mm approx in length for standard card sizes) but I doubt it’s a match or vesta case. Those usually don’t exceed about 60mm in length (for 2 inch matches). Also they usually have a hinged flip-top (often so that a ridged abrasive strip for striking could be incorporated on the bottom). I’ve seen examples with a side hinge, but it’s usually on the short side so the matches are presented length-wise when it’s opened. It could conceivably be for small cheroots I suppose, but for either of these uses, there would usually be a couple of lugs allowing a piece of elasticated fabric or something similar to be stretched to prevent spillage on opening.
I suspect it is for cards… but not business cards. There was a fashion for calling cards or visiting cards from around the 1820’s which persisted through to the 20th Century, but declined before WWII.  It was considered very poor taste to use a business card when making a social call (or, in later times, when introducing oneself) so there was a clear distinction between the two. Business cards were used by common tradespeople and exchanged between businessmen and their customers. Leaving such a card with servants at a household would imply that a call had been made for reasons other than social pleasantries and regarded as vulgar.
This is from the Antiques Trade Gazette website (originally from “Rules of Etiquette and Home Culture”, published in Chicago in 1886):
“Callers should always be provided with cards. The cards of unmarried and married men should be small. For married persons a medium size is in better taste than a large card. The engraving in simple writing is preferred, and without flourishes…
… A gentleman should carry cards loose in a convenient pocket; but a lady may use a card case [and in later times, so too did fashionable gentlemen]. No matter how many members of the family you call upon, you send in but one card. Where servants are not kept, and you are met at the door by the lady herself, of course there is no use for a card. If you call upon a friend who has a visitor, send in but one card; but if they are not at home, leave a card for each.”

[2ndoldman]

Roger I suppose that calling cards may have had different sizes, some being smaller than others. :dunno:
This is a printing plate for a calling card that I found last year is 101mm X 51mm

By the way this pic was taken in a mirror to be readable.
Unfortunately this was another ocean find as was ground down by the shifting sands.  :angry:
Roger I would like to see some of your silver creations.

[2ndoldman]

Roger I know that this is not an exact match but the dimensions are almost spot on.

http://www.johnwinter.net/jw/2015/01/the-vesta-case/

[painshill]

2ndoldman wrote:

Roger I know that this is not an exact match but the dimensions are almost spot on.

http://www.johnwinter.net/jw/2015/01/the-vesta-case/

  Yes, that one is strictly speaking a “matchbook case” rather than a true vesta case (also known as a “match safe”. It would have held smaller safety matches sold in booklet form (which had an integral red phosphorus striking strip) and first commercialised in the late 1850’s, rather than larger ones sold as loose matches which were “strike anywhere” and more properly known as “vestas”. Note however that the hinge is as I described for match cases – on the shorter of the edges – so that the matches are presented lengthwise when the case is opened. Card cases sometimes have that presentation too, if they’re “flip-top” or have a separate detachable lid, but are more usually side-hinged with the hinge always on the long edge.
I’ll put up some pictures of my silversmithing efforts in a day or so. The wife is rather better at it than I am! They moved the classes we were taking from evening to daytime last year so we had to duck out… but since we’re retiring in July we can sign up again. We bought all the basic tools needed some time ago so we could practice our learning at home anyway, so it won’t be too difficult to get up to speed again.