One of the blessings of being retired in Malaysia is that opportunity presents itself on numerous occasions to do interesting things while Nancy is hard at work at ISKL. For some time we've been members of the American Assn. of Malaysia, so when they announced that for RM50 (a tad over $15) a group would be gathering at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, January 24th at the Royal Selangor Pewter Factory to attend "The School of Hard Knocks," I signed-up. The "School" is simply an hour-long experience in a pewter lab where "students" receive a thin 6" disc of pewter (looking like a DVD) and then pound it into a nice-looking bowl using a wooden block with a concave depression in it.
There were ten of us in the class from AAM, but with another large group already present in the lab, the din of pounding hammers was so great that our instructor couldn't be heard by the whole group, even on their PA system, so her instructions were given individually. The finished product is displayed below by better-looking members of the class. (You will observe that yours truly was such a klutz that he couldn't even get his apron on properly!)
Royal Selangor is apparently the largest producer of pewter in the world, with ownership of the company now in the third generation of the same Chinese family. The company dates back to the 1880's in Kuala Lumpur. Tin mining produces the raw material, with pewter being made from tin (90+%), antimony and copper. The employee pictured below is using a lathe to transform a straight-sided pewter glass (to the left) into a highly-polished and slightly concave-surfaced finished product.
All in all, it was great fun! (By the way, I'm pictured at the top beside the largest pewter mug in the world.) - rw
4 comments:
Hi, i just happened to run into your blog, and I must say, how ironic it is. I'm a Malaysian, and now studying in the US, while I believe you guys to be Americans in Malaysia, right?
just wanted to know how you guys find the country. I haven't gone back in almost two years now. Planning to do so this summer break!
Wow! Thanks for the postings! We are Americans and are really enjoying Malaysia. - R&N
What in the world is a good Quaker doing next to the world's largest pewter beer mug?
And where is the masterpiece from yours truly? We want to see the finished product.
Quite the international following this blog is picking up!
okay, now that I'm not the only one commenting on your blog.. I'm speechless. absolutely speechless...... wow.
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