The specialties in the blacksmith trade – choose your path
Brazier, Coppersmith, Metal stamper, Grinder and Engraver
Metal worker is not one trade, but a collection of classic metal trades under the same education. When you choose a speciality, you also choose which techniques, materials and products you will work with for the rest of your career. Some specialities are close to craftsmanship, others to fine mechanics or construction. Here is an overview to help you find your direction.
§Brazier and Brazier (fittings)
Gørtleren arbejder i messing og bronze med beslag, lamper, armaturer og bygningsdele og forener drejning, filing, montering og ciselering. Specialet gørtler (armatur) fokuserer særligt på armaturer — de mekaniske messingdele i haner, ventiler og lamper — og ligger tættere på finmekanikken. Vælg gørtlerfaget, hvis du kan lide at kombinere maskinarbejde med dekorativt håndarbejde i messing.
§Coppersmith
The coppersmith works primarily in copper and shapes it through driving folding and soldering into vessels church inventory roofs and driven items. The specialty ranges from art crafts to building conservation where copper roofing of roofs spires and domes is an important work area. Choose coppersmith if you like shaping plate into three-dimensional items and working both in the workshop and on buildings.
§Metal printer
The metal printer forms round, seamless workpieces by pressing a rotating metal plate over a mandrel. The speciality is machine-oriented and is about mastering the spinning lathe, mandrels and pressing tools to produce bowls, lamp shades, instrument dials and pressure vessels. Choose metal printer if you are drawn to forming metal in rotation and see a flat plate become a shape in minutes.
§Iron and metal grinder and engraver
The iron and metal grinder is a specialist in finishing – the path from rough surface to mirror-bright or satin finish through gradual grinding and polishing. The engraver cuts text, ornaments and motifs in metal, by hand with a punch or with a pantograph and laser. Both specialties require precision and patience and lead to very different workplaces, from the factory's finishing departments to the exclusive engraver's workshop.
| Specialty | Materiale/fokus | Typical products |
|---|---|---|
| Brazier | Brass, bronze — fittings and ornaments | Fittings lamps chandeliers |
| Brazier (fittings) | Brass — mechanical fittings | Taps, valves, fittings |
| Coppersmith | Copper — driving and roof | Vessels, church inventory, roofs |
| Metal printer | Spinning over mandrel | Bowls, screens, bells |
| Iron and metal grinder | Grinding and polishing | Finish on metal pieces |
| Engraver | Cutting into surface | Signs, jewelry, unique pieces |
“Choose the specialty you could stand at the bench with all day — that is where you become skilled.”