Silver Bottlecap

[Billy Salyers]

I have a client who want a knife that utilizes a piece of silver from the lid of an old...really old...snuff tin. Essentially, he wants the pommel wrapped with this. The best way I can describe it is that the desired final product is almost the exact size and shape of a bottle cap. My idea is to make a die with an oversized hole and then press a cylinder into the silver, hopefully forming it into the desired shape.

 

Here's my questions?

1. Am I on the right track here, or is there a much better way to do this that I am missing?

2. Experience tells me to heat the silver, at least a little, to aid in the deformation. Is there any reason to work it cold?

 

I searched the forums for similar questions, but I didn't find any. If I missed something, I apologize. Your ideas are appreciated.

[Billy Salyers]

Not sure how I managed to post this in Knife-Making. I meant to post in in problem solving. Sorry about that. I don't seem to be able to move it now.

You cant, we moved it because it is a knife question

[Latticino]

As I understand it there are a number of different ways you can make a hollow pommel cap from your reclaimed silver snuff tin, to some extent depending on your experience with the material and training in jewelry techniques.  I assume you don't plan on having any remnant of the original snuff tin in the final product, otherwise you become very limited with available options.  Typically fine silver is worked in an annealed state, not hot.  It will work harden as it gets forged, so regular annealing will be required.  It will also oxidize and either abrasive removal of oxides or pickling in a weak acid are typical.  Most likely a jewelry course for beginners would be a good start.

Some options (as I see it):

1. You can anneal the material and try to dapp it into a female cavity until it starts to wrinkle, then raise it up over a male post of the correct size
2. You can melt it down and cast it into a form (difficult for thin walls)
3. You can flatten it out completely and construct a capped cylinder by cutting the sheet metal base and cylinder walls out with a  jeweler's saw then hard soldering the parts together.
4. You can flatten it out and form or cut a disk out then attempt to spin the form on a lathe
5. You can anneal the original and attempt to press it into a form using a male and female die with an arbor press (as you were describing).  Most likely this will either tear the thin silver, wrinkle it badly, or get it stuck in the tooling (or all three).

[Billy Salyers]

Thanks for the quick response Latticino. I had considered the Dapp and post method you described. I'm leaning more and more towards trying it that way. Thankfully, I explained early on that I might not be able to do this. The reason he wanted this particular piece of silver is a pattern etched into it. That makes several methods unviable. It'll probably be lost no matter what, but it's not a deal-breaker if I decide not to use it. I'm going to try a couple of these methods on some scrap material of similar size/shape before going for broke on the silver. Thanks for the ideas.

[Frosty]

Suggest inlaying the part with the etching into the handle as a badge. Maybe use a silver coin from the same time period for the pommel.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Billy Salyers]

Thanks for the idea Frosty. Hadn't considered adding a coin.

[Frosty]

 Different eyes on the problem is a good thing. Put a smile on my face thank you.

Frosty The Lucky.