REALIZATION OF TIN DECORATIONS: METHOD USED BY THE COMDT WORKSHOP - Toulouse Occitanie

Warnings:
the operations described in this sheet must be carried out in accordance with the safety rules. Use gloves and a leather apron for your manipulations, avoid flip-flops, wear protective glasses and especially work in a ventilated environment to melt the tin, possibly wear a mask. This list is not exhaustive and it is your responsibility to take all the necessary measures to avoid an accident.

The following article was written by Pascal Petiprez, current factor of the Center Occitan des Musiques et Danses Traditionnelles Toulouse Occitanie.

I will tell you about the pewter decoration technique that I use for my instruments. This technique was taught to me by Bernard Desblancs, with whom I had the chance to learn my trade for 11 years. Himself, learned a lot about pewter inlays in the 1970s, with a postman, Slovak musician named Anton Vranka. It no longer needs to be demonstrated that the boha has a lot of similarities to some Eastern European single reed bagpipes, including decorations.

As we can see on photo 1 , once the piece of wood has been turned (here, a wind holder), I will trace with a pencil and machine the patterns of decoration chosen, which correspond to the path that the tin will take.

On photo 2 , the patterns are finished, all that remains is to polish the wood, because afterwards we will no longer be able to rework it.

I then glue the silicone sealant of the flexible cardboard on the part and I cut it again so that it corresponds exactly to the patterns of the wood. This is a long job and must be done as accurately as possible. On the one hand, it protects the wood from the heat of the tin melted (+200 degrees, the boxwood being a light wood, it would blacken under the effect of this heat) and moreover, the cardboard creates an extra thickness on the wood which in the end will give relief to the work. Photo 3 : cardboard cut according to the patterns

On photo 4 , we are ready to pour the tin. I melt it in a saucepan, and once liquid, I pour it all at once into the mold, here cardboard held by string, but we can also make a rigid mold, in wood, for example, which will force the tin to go deeper into the hollowed out furrows. Be careful, the tin that is not hot enough will not go everywhere correctly and this will create gaps. Conversely, a tin that is too hot, at the boiling point, risks trapping bubbles. and this can also create shortages. A lot has to be done and missed to know when the tin is ready to pour into the mold.

Photo 5 : The pewter is poured into the mold, all you have to do is wait for it to cool before turning it.

Then all you have to do is take the part again as shown in photo 6 and remove the excess tin which is of course recovered in order to reuse it. for the next instruments.

On photo 7 , we can see the decorative patterns appear, as well as the cardboard (here in pink color) which protects the wood. As soon as this box appears, I know that I must stop remove some tin, otherwise I will no longer have the desired extra thickness. Now I will finish the tin with very fine sandpaper, if there are traces of machining , the cardboard also protects the wood from the tin dust associated with sanding. For my part, I try to work on the finish during turning and keep the shine of the machining. Then, you just have to remove the cardboard, as well as the thin silicone film, with your fingernail, to cut carefully all the edges of the tin with a scalpel (or the like) and shine it. I use for this a "burnisher" small boxwood stick at the tip rounded which I soak in oil and with which I press on all the sharp edges of the pewter patterns, this gives shine and relief.

All you have to do is finish the windshield by turning the other end, here the horn part. Photo 8

Photo 9: door wind finished. This will soak for 12 hours in oil before being mounted on the pocket.