BS 5577:1984 download.pecification for Table cutlery.
1 Scope
BS 5577 specifies material and performance requirements for cutlery that is intended for use at the dining table. It includes knives, forks, spoons, carving sets, ladles and other serving pieces.
Requirements are specified for stainless steel cutlery and silver plated nickel-silver or silver plated stainless steel cutlery. BS 5577 does not cover cutlery made of precious metals, aluminium, non-stainless steel or that made entirely of plastics, nor does it cover gold plated or chromium plated cutlery except for chromium plated sharpening steels. However cutlery incorporating sterling silver caps and ferrules or unpiated nickel-silver rivets and caps are within the scope of BS 5577.
Composition limits are specified for steels and non-ferrous metals for cutlery.
Requirements are specified for nonmetal handles made from the more commonly used materials (see 3.3), but not those made from exotic materials such as ivory or mother-of-pearl. The standard includes requirements for cutlery with nonmetal handles for use in a dishwashing machine.
In the case of silver plated cutlery, two minimum average thicknesses are specified, a “standard thickness” and a ‘special thickness” with a thicker deposit of silver.
NOTE The titles of the publications referred to in this standard are listed on the inside back cover.
2 Definitions
For the purposes of BS 5577 the following definitions apply.
2.1
place settings
cutlery that is individual to each person sitting at the table. This includes such pieces as table knives, dessert knives (sometimes known as cheese knives), tea knives, tab’e forks, dessert forks, cake or pastry forks, dessert spoons, soup spoons, porridge spoons, teaspoons, coffee spoons, fish eaters, fruit spoons and grapefruit spoons
2.2
serving cutlery
cutlery that is used for serving. This includes such pieces as table spoons, ladles, gravy spoons, salad servers, pie and tart servers, cake slicers, fish servers, butter knives, cheese serving knives, carving knives, carving forks, sharpening steels, sugar spoons, mustard spoons and salt spoons
2.3
significant surfaces
those parts of the cutlery that contact a flat horizontal surface upon which they are laid, whilst. in the case of spoons, forks and ladles, the concave face of their bowls or fork prongs are uppermost: in the case of knives, both sides are regarded as having significant surfaces
2.4
unsharpened knives
knives that do not have a sharpened blade because they are intended for use with soft foods such as fish, butter, tart and cake and whose blades are therefore not made of martensitic stainless steel
3 Materials and their applications
3.1 General. Table cutlery shall be made from materials that enable the finished cutlery to meet the performance requirements of clause 6 and shall be in accordance with 3.2 and 3.3 as appropriate.
3.2 Metals
3.2.1 The composition of metal parts of steel table cutlery shall be as given in Table 1.
The composition of nickel silver for spoons, forks, ladles, unsharpened knives, handles of knives, carving forks, sharpening steels, caps. ferrules and rivets shall be as follows:
Cu 60.0 % mm.
Ni 9.0 % mm.
Mn 0.50%max.
Fe 0.30%max.
Pb 0.05%max.
Total impurities 0.50 % max.
Zn remainder
Silver coatings, caps and ferrules shall be a minimum of 92.5 % Ag.
NOTE Some of the British Standard materials that meet the relevant composition requirements are given in Appendix C.
3.2.2 Any parts of table cutlery made of nickel-silver (copper-zinc-nickel alloy) shall be silver plated in accordance with clause 5 except that caps and rivets made from nickel-silver as specified in 3.2.1 need not be plated.
3.2.3 Any parts of cutlery made of stainless steel and claimed to be silver plated shall be in accordance with clause 5.
NOTE The non-stainless steel parts of sharpening steels may be chromium plated.
5 Silver plated cutlery
5.1 General. Silver plated cutlery shall be in accordance with 5.2 to 5.4.
5.2 Plated surfaces. There shall be a silver deposit on all surfaces deemed to be silver plated.
5.3 Average thickness. The average thickness of silver coating on each finished piece when measured in accordance with the methods described in A.1 (mass of coating) and A.2 (area of coating) shall be as follows:
a) Standard thickness:
1) for place settings: not less than 20 j.Im
2) for serving pieces: not less than 12 I.im b) Special thickness:
1) for place settings: not less than 33 1m
2) for serving pieces: not less than 19 i.im
5.4 Local thickness. The minimum local thickness of silver coatings on significant surfaces (i.e. those parts of cutlery subject to greatest wear; see 2.3) shall not be less than 60 % of the average thickness deemed to be on the piece.
Minimum local thickness shall he measured in accordance with one of the methods described in BS 5411-4, BS 5411.5 or BS 5411.12. In cases of dispute the thickness shall be measured by the method described in BS 5411-5.
6 Performance requirements
6.1 Resistance to corrosion. The surfaces of stainless steel parts of table cutlery shall comply with the following requirements when tested in accordance with the method described in A.3:
a) No transverse cracks shall have developed and no longitudinal cracks of a length exceeding 1.5 mm shall have developed; b) there shall be not more than three pits each having an area greater than a circle of 0.4 mm diameter (0.126 mm2) on the handle, and not more than three pits each having an area greater than a circle of 0.4 mm diameter elsewhere;
c) there shall be no pits having an area greater than a circle of 0.75 mm diameter (0.442 mm2) on any part.
6.2 Strength
6.2.1 Knives with martensitic stainless steel blades and carving forks. A knife or carving fork shall not crack or break and shall not acquire permanent deformation of more than 30 when tested in accordance with the method described in A.4. In addition, the handle-blade joint shall not have noticeably loosened.
NOTE Marking BS 5577 on or in relation to a product is a claim by the manufacturer that the product has been manufactured to the requirements of the standard. The accuracy of such a claim is therefore solely the manufacturer’s responsibility. Enquiries as to the availability of third party certification to support such
claims should be addressed to the Director, Quality Assurance Division, BSI, P0 Box 375, Milton Keynes MK 14 6L0 for certification marks administered by BSI or to the appropriate authority for other certification marks.
7.1.2 If required the minimum average thickness, in micro-metres, of silver present on each piece shall be marked and suffixed by “jim”.
7.2 Labelling. The manufacturer shall supply the following information on the packaging, as leaflets, by means of labelling or on a display card so that the information is available at the point of sale:
a) the number and date of this British Standard i.e. BS 5577:1984 and a statement that the cutlery meets the requirements of this standard;
b) for silver plated cutlery, whether the silver coating is of “standard thickness” or “special thickness” and whether the base metal is of ferritic stainless steel or austenitic stainless steel or nickel-silver;
c) for unpiated stainless steel cutlery (other than blades made from martensitic stainless steel) whether it is of ferritic stainless steel or austenitic stainless steel;
d) for nonmetal handles, whether or not they are of “dishwasher grade”;
e) the material(s) from which any nonmetal parts are made, whether they are of plastics, wood-plastics laminates, impregnated wood, stag horn or ceramic.
NOTE The manufacturer may also supply information on the selection and care of cutlery as given in Appendix B.