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Cutler

Cutler

Description

Cutlery is an important aspect of our lives. From making food to eating it, cutlery is an essential that is required in and present at every home. A cutler is the one who makes these utensils for us to utilize and avail to our advantage and for our basic everyday needs. But the same cutlery that makes life so easier is not exactly that easy to make and requires a lot of technique and different processes to make it. The main and most important products of cutlery are the knife, spoon and fork.

Education requirements

Usually, a high school diploma is sufficient if one wants to pursue this career. Most cutlers learn their craft on the job and are taught and trained by more experienced and learned cutlers. Most new cutlers wanting to enter into this career enroll in apprenticeships and vocational programs such as manufacturing or knife repairing.

Many other courses giving a basic know how and knowledge of making cutlery also exist and are very helpful for those who take them.

Working hours

Most cutlers work regular hours around eight to nine hours every day of the week but might have to work overtime or on weekends if they get a big contract and have to meet production deadlines.

Common Duties/Routines

Making cutlery is a complex process and involves a lot of people performing different tasks. A cutler first purchases raw materials on good prices to make the business cost effective. They then draw sketches and drawings of the cutlery in different designs and shapes. He creates several of them to choose the perfect one. While making these, he has to keep in mind the market trend of cutlery and what designs people prefer. They then draw that sketch onto a metal and cut it out. Then a cutler carries out a process called forging which is to shape and hammer by making the metal hot by putting it in fire. After forging, they heat the steel and then quickly cool it, causing it to become hard. Then the object is given proper shape and cleaned. Then the object is sharpened and polished to give it a matte, mirror or satin look. The cutler then washes the object by alkaline salts and solutions and then take a cloth by polishing it making the blade perfect and complete to use. While making a knife, a cutler also serrates it on one end or both ends of it.

After the cutlery is made, a cutler makes its handles using many different objects such as wood, metal or plastic. Metal handles are given a smooth finish and pressed and any other material handles are inserted or put on using other methods.

For making silver cutlery, the process of electroplating is also done. First the blades are cleaned and then undergo electrolysis.

A cutler also makes sure that the finished pieces are polished, shaped and made correctly and try to identify if there are any flaws present. However, most cutlery is made from stainless steel which is a mixture of chrome, nickel and steel and the use of silver cutlery has considerably declined.

Cutlers either make their own cutlery, thinking of new designs that they think people will be attracted to or they make cutlery for companies, hotels, homes or other customers on demand and should listen to their requirements and specifications and try to achieve exactly what they want. Some cutlers also offer to engrave names of companies or hotels on cutlery using laser and many businesses prefer that.

A very important duty of a cutler is to always adhere to quality standards and deliver the promised quality to the customers.

Required/Trained Skills

  • Knowledge of all the raw materials required to make cutlery, different types of cutlery, the processes involved and the additional processes required to make each cutlery.
  • Teamwork skills as making cutlery is a team effort.
  • Creativity to think of new ideas, shapes and designs of cutlery and to sketch and draw them.
  • Great manual dexterity and hand to eye coordination as working with very small materials is required.
  • Attention to detail to identify defects and problems in the finished pieces or during the processes.
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