All eighteen processes
Every entry is one material, one place, and what the process demands.
The complete register, by material. Everything on the site is here.
01 Cloth
Protected by its own Act of Parliament.- 01
Harris Tweed
By an Act of Parliament of 1993 the cloth may only carry the Orb mark if it is dyed, spun and finished in the Outer Hebrides and handwoven by an islander at their own home.
Long read - 02
The Orb mark
A statutory mark, applied by an inspector, on cloth that has been checked.
Standard entry - 03
Dyeing in the wool
Colour mixed at fibre stage rather than after weaving gives the flecked depth.
Short entry
02 Clay
Bone ash, and why it rings.- 01
Bone china
Bone ash in the body makes it translucent and strong, and is why a cup rings.
Standard entry - 02
Throwing and jiggering
Hand-thrown against machine-formed on a profile tool, and where each is still used.
Standard entry - 03
The glost firing
The second firing that fuses the glaze, and where most losses happen.
Short entry
03 Steel
Edge, and how it is got.- 01
Sheffield edge
Crucible steel gave a fine, even grain that took an edge, and the reputation outlived the process.
Standard entry - 02
Hardening and tempering
Quench for hardness, then reheat to give back enough toughness that it will not shatter.
Standard entry - 03
Hand forging today
Where hand work survives, it is usually because the run is too small to tool for.
Short entry
04 Alloy
Metal that works above its own melting point.- 01
Single-crystal blades
Turbine blades grown as one crystal run in gas hotter than the alloy's own melting point, surviving because they are film-cooled through laser-drilled holes.
Long read - 02
Investment casting
A wax pattern, a ceramic shell, and a mould that is destroyed to release one part.
Standard entry - 03
Why holes, not thickness
A film of cooler air over the surface does more than more metal would.
Short entry
05 Leather
Built to be repaired.- 01
The Goodyear welt
A strip stitched to the upper and insole lets the sole be replaced, which is an argument about time rather than fashion.
Standard entry - 02
Lasting
Pulling the upper over a wooden last is where the shape is actually decided.
Standard entry - 03
Tanning
Vegetable tanning takes months and leaves a leather that ages rather than degrades.
Short entry
06 Glass
Heat, breath and timing.- 01
Lead crystal
Lead oxide softens the melt and raises the refractive index, which is why cut crystal flashes.
Standard entry - 02
Hand blowing
A gather on the end of an iron, breath, and a very short working window.
Standard entry - 03
Annealing
Cooling too fast leaves stress that will break the piece later, so it goes into a lehr for hours.
Short entry