Fred Fenster is a metal worker who primarily uses pewter and sometimes other ferrous metals to make artistic household containers. He makes teapots, cups, salt/pepper shakers, etc and he does it in NO TIME! When he showed a slide of one of his teapots and said, "I did this in about two days" I was floored. Of course he has way more experience in metal working than me AND pewter is much softer than the non-ferrous metals we are using in the beginning jewelry class.
He was extremely interesting to listen to as he lectured mostly on technique. He explained how he made almost every piece. Ex: "I fused a cone to a cylinder and dropped a cup in for the shape... I used a scratcher to weaken these points so they collapse under pressure..." He also explained the different between soldering and fusing. Fusing one end of a sheet of pewter to another followed by a little hammering results in a seamless mixture of of pewter and THUS a hollow form is made!
Fenster also engaged us with his "heavy rim theory." His theory (which he instilled throughout the lecture) brings attention to the edges of a piece and frames the rest of your detail.
I was especially intrigued to learn about the properties of pewter. Unlike the metals we use in the beginning jewelry class, pewter has a melting point of 465 degrees. The metals we use have a melting point near 1200. Because of this low melting point, the torch used to fuse pewter is much smaller. Pewter is also a poor conductor of heat so you could be holding one side of your piece WHILE you are fusing the other side and not have to worry about getting burned. It is much more malleable than copper, brass, or silver. On the downside, pewter is a contaminant to other non-ferrous metals. The smallest fleck of pewter powder on your amazingly crafted copper or brass piece can eat a hole right through the metal when heated. The lower melting temperature causes a chain of chemical reactions that will continue to happen whenever heated unless the pewter is cut, filed, or scratched out!
Fred Fenster is conducting a two day pewter workshop at VCU today and tomorrow.
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