What tools did the colonial goldsmith use?

Answer 1

Soldering and Casting Tools

• Several tools are needed to melt the gold to solder or cast for making and repairing gold items. A torch melts the gold or gold solder. A casting machine creates casts to make gold rings and items. The casting machine creates a wax form that's filled with melted gold to create an item. Use safety goggles, air respirators and gloves when soldering and handling melted gold..

Hammers and Pliers

• A goldsmith needs a few pliers, such box joint, flat, chain nose, long-beaked and wide-beaked, to work with gold. A basic bench hammer is also handy, as it can be used with round, flat and bevelled engraving tools.

Polishing and Other Tools

• A silicon carbon sanding disk is a necessary tool for scoring and bending the gold. Hand files and cutters help file and cut the piece of gold into a desired size. Buffs, brushes and brass and nickel brushes polish the gold to a shiny finish. A 10X power loupe--a small magnifying glass-- is also helpful

Answer 2

Gold was mainly mined in Germany, from where it was exported all over Europe. The 12th century writer Alexander Neckham gives us a full description of the English goldsmith's work:

"The goldsmith has a furnace with a hole at the top so that smoke can escape. One hand operates the bellows so that the air may blow up the coals and that it may feed the fire. Let there be an anvil of extreme hardness on which gold may be softened and take the required form. It can be stretched and pulled with the tongs and the hammer. There should be a wide hammer also for making gold leaf. The goldsmith must have a very sharp chisel for engraving; he must also have a rabbit's foot for smoothing, polishing and wiping the surface of gold. Small particles must be collected in a leather apron. He needs a fine-toothed saw and a gold file as well as gold wire for fusing."

The gold would first be melted and purified in a small metal pot called a crucible; impurities would float to the top and could be skimmed away.

Making gold leaf was a very long and tedious process, usually the task of a boy apprentice. A piece of gold had to be hammered repeatedly until it was thinner than the finest tissue paper; a single ounce could be made large and thin enough to cover an area the size of a modern football pitch.

Answer 3

The same ones as a silversmith!

Answer 4

yes