Describing the different steps of copper crafting is not easy: they can be different depending on the object we want to create ("create" is the best word to define hand-made crafting).

Hand-made copper pots have special characteristics which cannot be reproduced at industrial level. As we said in another section, cooking with copper is the best choice to obtain an excellent quality of cooked food, to preserve organoleptic characteristics, etc. But for this to be true, copper pots must be crafted starting from a 100% pure copper foil and flame-tinned with 100% pure tin.
So, our crafting must aim at creating an object made of these two materials. Let's see.


Hammering
Each pot must give a specific performance. The different shapes are the result of several centuries of improvements. When we cook today, we don't realize that, over the past centuries, several artisans have contributed in developing that shape which seems to be unchangeable.

To obtain that shape, we start from a copper foil. The choice of foil thickness depends on the shape we want to obtain. We use thicknesses not lower than 1.5 mm. This thickness is perfect for home cooking: excellent heat transmission and relatively low weight.

The first step consists in curving the foil, by hand-hammering. To do this the foil is warmed and cooked to make it ductile; then we warm it again and go back to hammering. This step can last from two to four hours, depending on the shape and the size of the object.


When it is heated, copper, like any other metal, becomes more ductile. But if it does not get hammering, the metal will remain "cooked". Hammering gives back substance to the foil, making possible for the final shape to "become the initial one". We say that copper "rincrudolisce", it becomes tempered. Only in this way the finished object will endure the final step (flame-tinning) and will last for ever.






Tinning
Pot tinning is an art. We hand-craft objects brought to a 280° - 300° C temperature (the melting temperature of pure tin). Only hand-hammered pots may resist such a temperature with no deformation.




Industrial pressed pots cannot be flame-tinned. They are usually tinned with "tin paste", which melts at much lower temperature, or with galvanic method. In both cases, during domestic usage tinning risks to downgrade and finally dissolve, or to contain small quantities of toxic metals such as lead and antimony. If you don't trust us, try to fry some eggs in a pan tinned with paste...





Finishings
After creating the shape, before tinning, we apply handles, using hammered copper rivets. Then we clean the inside, to remove grease and prepare the pot for tinning. After tinning we clean the exterior by brush or hand-polishing to enhance copper natural colour.