A tinsmith, or tinner or tinker or tinplate worker, is a person who makes and repairs things made of light-coloured metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

, particularly tinware

Tinware

Tinware is any item made of prefabricated tinplate. Usually tinware refers to kitchenware made of tinplate, often crafted by tinsmiths. Many cans used for canned food are tinware as well. Something that is tinned after being shaped and fabricated is not considered tinware.-Properties:Tinware is...

. By extension it can also refer to the person who deals in tinware.

Training of tinsmiths

The tinsmith, or whitesmith, 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 cutter

Cookie cutter

A cookie cutter in American English and biscuit cutter in Commonwealth English is a tool to cut out cookie/biscuit dough in a particular shape. They are often used for seasonal occasions when well-known decorative shapes are desired, or for large batches of cookies where simplicity and uniformity...

s), 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 money to open a shop in town.

Raw material

Tinplate consists of sheet iron coated with tin and then run through rollers. This process was first discovered in the 16th century, but was hardly introduced to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 until about the 1720s. Previously Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 had imported most tinplate from Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

.

The British Iron Act

Iron Act

In American Colonial history, the Iron Act, strictly Importation, etc. Act 1750 was one of the legislative measures introduced by the British Parliament, seeking to restrict manufacturing activities in British colonies, particularly in North America, and encourage manufacture to take place in...

 of 1750 prohibited (amongst other things) the erection of new rolling mills, which prevented the erection of new tinplate works in America until after the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

. Certificates submitted by colonial governors to the British Board of Trade

Board of Trade

The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...

 following the Act indicate that no tinplate works then existed though there were several slitting mill

Slitting mill

The slitting mill was a watermill for slitting bars of iron into rods. The rods then were passed to nailers who made the rods into nails, by giving them a point and head....

s, some described as slitting and rolling mills.

Pure tin is an expensive and soft metal and it is not practical to use it alone. However it could be alloyed with lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

 and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 to make pewter

Pewter

Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...

 or alloyed with copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 alone to produce bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

. Today's tinplate is mild steel electroplated with tin. Its non-rusting qualities make it an invaluable coating. However, its quality depends on the iron or steel being free from rust and the surface tin an unbroken coating. When you see rust on a piece of tinware it is because the tin coating has worn away or been cut in the metal. The respective properties of the metals mean that corrosion once started is likely to be rapid.

Tinsmithing tools

The simple shapes made by the tinsmith required only a few basic tools. In addition to the big shears anchored in a hole in his bench he used hand snips and nippers for cutting. The tin was flattened on an anvil made of a block of steel. Straight and curved anvils (stakes) were used to turn and roll the edges of the tin. Solder was then used to join the pieces together; a soldering iron

Soldering iron

A soldering iron is a hand tool most commonly used in soldering. It supplies heat to melt the solder so that it can flow into the joint between two workpieces.A soldering iron is composed of a heated metal tip and an insulated handle...

 and fire pot

Fire pot

A fire pot is a container, usually earthenware, for carrying fire. Fire pots have been used since prehistoric times to transport fire from one place to another, for warmth while on the move, for cooking, in religious ceremonies and even as weapons of war....

 were needed to do this.

History of tinsmithing

Tinwares were being produced in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 by the 1630s, being known as Crooked Lane Wares (from the street where they were made). The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers

Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers

The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers alias Wire Workers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. Tin craftsmen were originally part of the Ironmongers' Company, while the wire workers, who made wire objects such as cages, animal traps and fishhooks, were part of the Girdlers'...

 were incorporated as a separate London Livery Company

Livery Company

The Livery Companies are 108 trade associations in the City of London, almost all of which are known as the "Worshipful Company of" the relevant trade, craft or profession. The medieval Companies originally developed as guilds and were responsible for the regulation of their trades, controlling,...

 in 1670. However, tinplate workers were widespread.

The tinsmith has been plying his trade in America since 1720. Colonial tinsmiths used tinplate, wire, solder, and a few simple tools to produce their wares. When tinplate was finally produced in America in the early 19th century the products of the tinsmith became more widely available. They in turn saw an increase in demand and a need to speed up production. This brought about the development of many ingenious hand powered machines which sped up production and helped the tinsmith meet the demands for his products. The goods were "brought to market" by peddlers who are aliens traveling from village to village.

Tinware was a popular folk art

Folk art

Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....

 in colonial Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 and New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, and continues to be made there by local artisans today. Fine examples may be seen at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art http://www.spanishcolonial.org/ in Santa Fe.