Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Designation of occupation

Decorative metalworker (m/f)
Recognized by ordiance of 15. May 1998 (BGBl. I, S. 1007)

Duration of traineeship

3 years
One third of the training time is devoted to one of three branches:

• Crafting of small metal items and metal spinning
• Chased work
• Gold beating

The venues for training are company and vocational school (Berufsschule) 

Field of activity

Decorative metalworkers (m/f) make ornamental and ecclesiastical objects, non-precious jewellery and decorative utensils from non-precious and precious metals. These include in particular lighting appliances, fittings, architectural elements, ornamental grilles and railings, tableware, ecclesiastical decorations, cups, vases, bowls, boxes, brooches, portraits and coats of arms. Their work also involves fabricating and machining ornaments and cast figures, casting moulds and patterns, alloying and casting precious metals and beating goldleaf and silver. They also repair and restore these items.

Occupational skills

Common skills

Decorative metalworkers

• plan work sequences and inspect and evaluate finished work;
• work to working documents and make sketches and drawings;
• select and apply appropriate work processes.

Skills related to specialist areas:

Decorative metalworkers specializing in crafting small metal items and metal spinning

• join and assemble mould and castings and semi-finished products and structural parts;
• machine castings and mouldings;
• make hollow pieces;
• make spinning chucks;
• spin and shape metals and nonferrous metals
• work fabricated parts by hand and machine;

Decorative metalworkers specializing in chased work

• join and assemble mould and castings and semi-finished products and structural parts;
• design reliefs;
• make patterns;
• make sheet metal parts and bodies, reliefs, castings and mouldings, and machine them;
• shape metal surfaces.

 Decorative metalworkers specializing in gold beating

• fill cutch with cuts of rolled gold or silver;
• prepare cutch, shoder and mould;
• beat gold blanks and silver by hand and machine to wafer-thin thickness;
• process goldleaf for dispatch;
• maintain plant and machinery.
  

Last modified on: December 12, 2006