Tools
The main tools used b silversmiths are: a) two or more anvils of varying sizes, for forging; b) crucibles in which the metal is melted; c) various hammers (next); d) spitsounia , which are small, long tools with different edges, depending on their purpose: curved, smooth edges when they are to be used for embossing, and narrow straight or curved ones for the outlines. They have different names, depending on their shape and use: road , nail , scabies , balls , gyristari , ponta , lineate , koftiko , lineate chisels , strait chisels , gargara chisels and other chisels.
The last of these are used for removing pieces of metal and creating open-work decoration.
Their number varies from 20 to 50 and depends on the requirements and ingenuity of the craftsman, who often kept his working method a secret and would not show anyone his tools for fear that his work would be copied and imitated.
It should be noted at this point that in other regions chisels are assigned to a separate category, because they were used to engrave the silver and were guided only by hand; e) the brace and bit, an iron or wood and leather tool used to make holes in the metal; and f) the troubeles , or troubeledes (for there are two of them). These are iron, tubular objects with a conical top, and flaring out towards the base, which are about 50-70 cm. tall. Rings were placed on them and hammered to make them round.
There is also another kind of troubeles with a larger diameter, used to make bracelets round.
These were sometimes of iron and sometimes of wood. They are no longer used in the workshops of modern silversmiths.
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