Sometimes known as whitesmith, tinner, tinker, tinman or tinplate

1. TINSMITH
•A tinsmith, sometimes
known as
a whitesmith, tinner, tinke
r, tinman, or tinplate
worker is a person who
makes and repairs things
made of TINWARE, or
other light metals. By
extension it can also refer
to the person who deals in
tinware, or TINPLATE

2. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHITESMITH AND
BLACKSMITH
•A whitesmith may work with tin, pewter, or other
materials. Unlike blacksmith (who work mostly with
hot metal), tinsmiths do the majority of their work on
cold metal (although they might use a hearth to heat
and help shape their raw materials). The term is also
applied to metalworkers who do only finishing work –
such as filing or polishing – on iron and other "black"
metals. Whitesmiths fabricate items such as tin or
pewter cups, water pitchers, forks, spoons, and

3. TRAINING OF TINSMITHS
• The tinsmith, or white smith, learned his trade, like
many other artisans, by serving an apprenticeship of 4
to 6 years with a master tinsmith. He learned first to
make cake stamps (cookie cutters), pill boxes and
other simple items. Next, he formed objects such as
milk pails, basins, cake and pie pans. Later he tackled
more complicated pieces such as chandeliers and
crooked-spout coffee pots.
• After his apprenticeship was completed, he then
became a journeyman, not yet being a master smith
employing others. Many young tinsmiths took to the
road as peddlers or tinkers in an effort to save enough

4. WHAT IS A METAL SHEET?
•Metal formed into thin pieces is called sheet
metal, and it has many applications in the
building and manufacturing industries. Many
kinds of metal can be formed into sheet metal,
including titanium, aluminum, brass and
copper. Each use for sheet metal requires a
specific thickness, or gauge. A higher gauge
number indicates a thinner piece of sheet
metal.

5. COMMON MATERIALS
USED IN TINSMITHING
AND METAL SHEETS

6. PEWTER ALLOY
• Pewter alloy is made of tin,
bismuth, antimony, and
sometimes copper or silver
— depending on the alloy
your artisan has selected for
a specific item. Colonial
pewter often contained lead
to give it strength. Lead
causes old pewter to turn it's
characteristic dark gray
color. Today’s lead free

7. TIN PLATE
• The material to use is
called tin-plated steel, or
tin-plate (.012" thick).
This is basically the same
stuff that was used 200
years ago. Finding tin-
plate can be difficult.
• You will find that most
suppliers carry galvanized
steel. This is dull gray
stuff that looks nothing

8. NICKEL
• is an inert silvery metal
• is resistant to strong alkalis and
to most acids.
• It resembles iron in strength and
toughness and copper in its
resistance to oxidation and
corrosion.
• Nickel takes a high polish and
can be hot and cold rolled
forged, bent, extruded, spun,
punched and drawn.

9. BRONZE
• The term “bronze” however,
is no longer used in this
limited sense. In
commercial practice the
terms “brass” and “bronze”
may be used without much
regard for their original
meanings.

10. CHROMIUM
• is a steel-white metal which
takes a brilliant polish and is
harder than cobalt or nickel.
• It is nonmagnetic at ordinary
temperatures but becomes
magnetic at 13F.
• It does not tarnish in air, resists
oxidizing agents, is soluble in
acids and strong alkalis.

11. COPPER
• It is highly resistant to
corrosion by air and salt
water.
• On exposure it soon reacts
to form a surface layer of an
insoluble green salt which
retards further corrosion;
this green color on copper
is known as its patina.

12. ALUMINUM
• Extrusion is the process of
shaping material by forcing
it to flow through a shaped
opening in a die.
• Extruded material emerges
as an elongated piece with
the same profile as the die
opening.

13. BRASS
•As a class, brass alloys
are less hard and
strong than steels
(iron-base alloys) but
are superior in
workability and
resistance to
corrosion

14. STAINLESS STEEL
• Stainless steels generally used in
architecture are highly alloyed steels
that contain more than 10%
chromium. They are characterized by
their resistance to heat, oxidation and
corrosion. They are used where
corrosion resistance, durability, and
minimum of maintenance is
necessary principally for exterior and
interior wall finishes, doors, windows,
trims, railings, signs and letters,
appliances, etc.

15. IRON
•Irons find their largest
use in heavy machinery
and industry because it
has significant
compressive strength
and the ability to absorb
energy and stop
vibration.

16. TINSMITHING IN
CONSTRUCTION

17. GUTTER
• “RAIN CATCHER”
• is a narrow channel,
or trough, forming the
component of
a roofsystem which
collects and diverts
rainwater away from the
roof edge.

18. CHIMNEY CAP
• a device fitted to the top
of a chimney to improve
the draft by presenting
an exit aperture to
leeward

19. CHIMNEY
• a structure that provides
ventilation for hot flue
gases or smoke from
a boiler, stove, furnace or fi
replace to the
outside atmosphere.
Chimneys are typically
vertical, or as near as
possible to vertical, to
ensure that the gases flow
smoothly, drawing air into

20. WIRE FABRIC
• Wire fabric made of cold-
drawn steel wire is widely
used for the reinforcement
of concrete slabs and floors,
as well as for stuccoed
work.

21. METAL FRAMES

22. HOW TO CHOOSE, CUT, AND
BEND SHEET METAL
THICKNESS
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS WHEN
WORKING WITH SHEET METAL IS DECIDING WHAT
THICKNESS YOU’LL NEED. SIMILAR TO WIRE, SHEET METAL
THICKNESS IS MEASURED IN GAUGES, WITH A HIGHER
NUMBER INDICATING A THINNER SHEET. TO MEASURE THE
THICKNESS, YOU CAN USE A SHEET METAL GAUGE, WHICH
WILL SHOW YOU THICKNESS IN BOTH GAUGE NUMBER
AND THOUSANDTHS OF AN INCH. ONE IMPORTANT NOTE,
HOWEVER, IS THAT FERROUS AND NON-FERROUS SHEET
METALS OF THE SAME GAUGE HAVE DIFFERENT

23. BENDING
BENDING SHEET METAL CAN BE TRICKY, BUT WITH THE RIGHT TOOL IT’S
EASY. THOSE WHO WORK WITH IT REGULARLY ARE LIKELY TO HAVE A
SHEET METAL BENDING BRAKE IN THEIR WORKSHOP, BUT THIS TOOL CAN
BE A BIT EXPENSIVE FOR THE HOBBYIST. THANKFULLY, THERE ARE A
COUPLE OF WALLET-FRIENDLY OPTIONS THAT CAN HELP YOU GET THE
JOB DONE.
USING THE EDGE OF YOUR WORKBENCH, A LENGTH OF WOOD, TWO
CLAMPS, AND A MALLET, YOU CAN FASHION A RUDIMENTARY BENDING
BRAKE. MARK A BEND LINE AND PLACE THE SHEET METAL ON THE EDGE
OF YOUR BENCH. NEXT PLACE THE WOOD PARALLEL AND SLIGHTLY
BEHIND THE BENDING LINE. CLAMP THE WOOD ON TOP OF THE METAL
TO THE WORKBENCH. FINALLY, BEND THE SHEET UP BY HAND TO THE
ANGLE DESIRED. IF YOU WANT A SHARP 90° BEND, TAP ALONG THE
CREASE WITH A MALLET.

24. TOOLS USED BY
TINSMITH AND METAL
SHEET WORKERS

25. RAWHIDE HAMMER
• This hammer has a wooden
handle, while the head is
made of metal with a rawhide
facing.
• The rawhide causes the
hammer head to strike with a
much lighter impact.
Although it is not one of the
more commonly used mallets,
the rawhide hammer is
extremely handy for certain
applications.

26. SNIPS
• Snips, also known as shears,
are hand tools used to
cut sheet metal and other
tough webs. There are two
broad categories: tinner's
snips, which are similar to
common scissors,
and compound-action snips,
which use a
compound leverage handle
system to increase
the mechanical advantage

27. SEAMING PLIER
•Seaming pliers are a
hand tool used to grip
and bend or fold
small sections of hard
but pliable material,
especially lead, but
also aluminium,
copper and zinc.

28. SEAMING TONG
•These traditional
seaming pliers are
designed to make
bends deep into the
sheet metal and are
traditionally used to
form all sorts of metal
object on the roof,
wall or gutter.

29. PIPE CRIMPER
• A crimping tool is a
device used to conjoin
two pieces of metal by
deforming one or both of
them in a way that
causes them to hold each
other. The result of
the tool'swork is called
a crimp. A good example
of crimping is the
process of affixing a

30. RIVETS
• Rivets are devices used to join
or fasten the metals. The rivet, a
metal cylinder or rod which has a
head at one end, is inserted
through holes in the materials
being joined, and then the
protruding end is flattened to tie
the two pieces of material
together.

31. RIVET GUN
•A rivet gun, also
known as a
pneumatic hammer, is
a type of tool used to
drive rivets. The rivet
gun is used on the
manufactured head
side of the rivet and a
bucking bar is used
on the buck-tail

32. CUTTING
• Many different tools cut sheet metal,
and each has its own strengths and
weaknesses. Here are some of the
more common tools, but they
represent only a small number of
options.
• Commonly known as “aviation snips”
or “tinsnips,” these scissor-like tools
are great for cutting soft sheet metals
such as tin, aluminum, brass, and
thin-gauge (24 gauge or thinner)
steel. Depending on the cut shape,
you’ll use left-cut, right-cut, or
straight snips, typically indicated by
the handle color: red for left, green for
right, and yellow for straight. Be sure

33. HACKSAW
• A hacksaw can cut sheet
metal, but its shape
limits its turning radius
and depth of cut. To
prolong blade life, rub
wax along the length of
the blade. For a cleaner
cut, put a strip of
masking tape on the top
and bottom of the sheet
to keep chips from

34. JIGSAW
• A quality jigsaw and the
correct metal-cutting blade
will make short work of
sheet metal cuts. If you need
a straight cut, clamp a
straight-edge to the sheet
to act as a guide for the
jigsaw footplate.

35. BAND SAW
• With the appropriate
blade, cutting sheet
metal on a band saw is
fairly straightforward.
Cutting metal requires
slower blade speeds than
cutting wood, but many
band saws have multistep
pulleys for changing the
blade speed.

36. THE END 
XOXO