Old Masters
Craftsmen
Metal Spinner
Shane Fallon
When Shane Fallon was a young man, the art and craft of metal spinning was already centuries old. For more than 35 years, he’s been spinning metal into all sorts of shapes the same way it’s been done since the Middle Ages.
Until the arrival of CNC machines and mass production, it was always a labour-intensive process. Pots and pans were once always hand spun. Turning a solid block of metal into the nose-cone of an aircraft, brass bells or decorative household goods requires a fine touch and a steady hand.
Today, among projects for car racing parts and sporting trophies, Mr Fallon’s work encompasses the production of precisely calibrated measuring containers, without which the value of an entire shipload of grain bound for overseas buyers could be out by tens of thousands of dollars.
But it is his work for the masterpieces crafted by his fellow Old Masters that requires the most intricate and perfectly judged work on the lathes at his workshop in a suburb of Perth. It’s here that pure gold is heated until it’s cherry red, then quenched to make it soft before it’s spun on the lathe to produce the perfect shape as designed for another Old Masters piece.
And nothing goes to waste. When you’re working with gold valued at more than $2,000 an ounce, every tiny chip or filing – the ‘swarf’ – must be collected and bagged for future works.
As Old Masters, we are technically uninhibited & free of all external parameters. We simply design and craft the ultimate masterpieces, sparing absolutely no cost.