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How to Bend Vintage Silverwear Knife Blades

While a select few magicians may be able to bend silverware using the power of their minds, the rest of us need a little extra help. Bent silverware art is becoming more and more popular and there are a variety of uses for manipulated eating utensils. These uses include decorative items for the home such as candle holders, cake platters and door hooks, or items for personal use such as jewelry.

Things You'll Need

Pliers
Table clamp
Rubber mallet
Dowel (optional)
Polishing compound
Lint-free cloth

Instructions

- 1
  
  Many utensils have beautiful designs on the stem.
  
  Choose the most malleable knife you can find to use for bending. It will make bending much easier, and some of the thinner utensils have the beautifully etched or engraved designs. Make sure that the knife is either silver plated or sterling silver. Stainless steel blades are much too firm to bend by hand.
- 2
  
  Clamp the knife, near the end of the handle, with a table clamp. Make sure it is clamped very tightly to keep it from slipping while it is being bent. Most knife handles are too thick to bend by hand, making this the best part of the knife to clamp down.
- 3
  
  Use pliers to bend the knife into the desired shape. If the silverware is too thick to bend with pliers, use a rubber mallet to hit the utensil while it is still clamped. Hitting it with a rubber mallet will cause it to bend.
- 4
  
  Make curls, twists or square shapes by pounding the knife around a form with a mallet. Use a wooden dowel, metal dowel or rasping file as a form.
- 5
  
  Clean the knife by washing it by hand with warm water and a gentle dish soap. Finish by rubbing it with a polishing compound and a clean lint-free cloth. Polishing compounds can be found at most local hardware stores and even some grocery stores.

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