Why ladles are so often broken ?

[amena]

Hi to all of you
I noticed that many ladles are cracked at the attachment of the handle to the cup.

The frequency of these breaks amazes me, since the weight of the liquid contained in the cup is not that great.
Perhaps these ladles were used in some other way than to collect broth?
Anyone have any ideas about it?
Thanks in advance
Amena

[AG2012]

Hi,
The same as dents;they fell off tables and kitchen surfaces many times.Servants did not take much care when handling silver and porcelain.They are responsible for almost every broken XVIII piece;the rest is wars, moving etc.
Regards

[amena]

Hi
Accidental falls may well justify dents and scratches, but these cracks look like fatigue failure.
I mean, not due to an occasional impact, but to repeated stresses. It seems to me that we must think of a continued use other than collecting a soup. Maybe crush or hit something.Who knows.
Best
Amena

[AG2012]

Right,improperly used to crush garlic or as a meat pounder .....
Even today there are people with no respect to antiques, silver or whatever they manage to ruin either by improper use or remodelling,or restoring.
Regards

[Hose_dk]

Its a week point that the damage have happened.
1. silver can be hammered very thin. That makes it week.
2. It can be used but naturally the process making leads to an uneven thickness on various places. Nothing to be seen by the normal eye - lets assume the thickness is 2 mm. A place that is 0,1 mm thinner that is equal to 5%. It might not be visuel to the eye but 5% weaker is 5 pct.
3. The handle is fastened that makes the spot a bit thicker - again if we assume 5%.
3. That makes the difference up to 10% at that spot.

When you polish you make little moves in the silver.
So for me as an amateur in silver making the weekness make perfectly sence.

[amena]

Hi
The causes that you list are all acceptable. In addition it is known that in the corners there is a concentration of tensions which favors the initiation of cracks.
It remains difficult for me to think that a correct use of the ladle and even repeated cleaning can lead to the breakages that I find so often.
Best regards
Amena

[Joerg]

As stated in your posts, we are dealing here with improper use of the items. If you ask, why the items are used improperly, the answers go towards two different phenomena.
First:
The items are not properly engineered. In many items the joint between the cup and the handle is the weakest point. If you connect a strong, stiff handle with a thin, weak cup, the stress in the material is highest in the joint. The maker inserts a weak part in a stable item, if you bend this, the bending line is disturbed, leading to extreme high stress. If you further weaken this area by soldering, you end with a piece which does not last.
Soldering creates an additional disturbance. Because hard soldering is done at temperatures close to the melting point of the base material, it creates alterations in the structure of the base material. You may have noticed, if soldering is done well, in a stress test, the item breaks not in the solder but next to it, in the base material which is disturbed by the solder and the heat.
As a silversmith, you can fight this problem only by making a harmonic bending line, or at least as much as possible. No sharp edges, no sudden change of material thickness. Unfortunately, this is more work intensive than just solder a thin cup or foil to a strong handle.
Second:
People use items in accordance with their apparent strength. The stiff handle of a ladle implies sturdiness, augmented by the size of the cup. We do not recognize that the item is much weaker than it appears due to the poorly engineered joint. See my table here:
Weak item / weak appearance no damage
Weak item / strong appearance damage
Strong item / strong appearance no damage (or only after gross misuse….)
Below are some pictures to visualize what I mean. Most items are cake server, here the phenomena you describe seem even more apparent.

All the best, Jörg


Here a cake server from Rehfuss in Berne, around 1830 to 1840. Poorly engineered joint, but not defect, due to the overall fragile appearance.





Here another bad design, the thin sheet is inserted in a stronger handle and soldered


Here a cake server with crack, notice, the crack started next to the soldering, on the tip. Here, the bending line is disturbed most:


This Danish serving spoon is rather well made, Harmonic, continous change of thickness, no steps in thickness:



This design looks weird, but a smart solution how to deal with diameter change, the highest stress is not in one point, but distributed as a circle


And here some Biedermeier spoons, very thin and fragile, but no damage. Because the hande is also very thin nobody used them beyond their intended use.