Chandelier - the Learning Curve Continues...Steeply!
The continuing
review of the chandelier project … so far...
My original
concept was something that was not really possible with the materials
I was working with. It is metal, and it was being heat formed so it
isn't that it was entirely impossible...but it was pretty much
impossible – particularly for the equipment, the material, the
process and of course, my own skill level. Even if I could have done
it it would not have looked the way I wanted it to.
So I had to
re-design to make that possible. After I had forged out most of the
initial pieces for the original design. Hopefully not having to
start again from scratch. Hopefully being able to use at least some
of the work I had already done.
Going from the
feeling of euphoria over having completed the main elements of the
forgework to the crushing realization that this was not going to work
… well, let's just say it wasn't a good start.
Now, this is a
problem that should have been easy to spot when I made my mock up.
Except, I made the mock-up so that the people who commissioned this
piece could see the approximate size of the piece and decide if it
was what they really wanted. I didn't make it as a learning tool for
myself. If I had, I would have cut the pieces to be paper templates
of the forged bars. Because I wanted to be able to fold this huge
thing into something more compact I ended up making the mock-up in a
way that is closer to how I'm making the chandelier itself. So, I
suppose it was good for helping me realize some of the ways I could
potentially fix some of my errors. Had I been smart I'd have hung it
up somewhere so that I could see it all the time and keep it more
firmly in my brain. I suspect that would have made me think about it
– unconsciously at least – and solve some of the problems more
easily.
To be fair, with
each of the setbacks, the last thing I wanted to think about was the
project. I needed to go and lick my wounds before I could come back
to it.
So, what did I
want to do that was going to be so impossible?
The octagon was
going to be made of eight rectangular window shapes and the bottom is
an octagon with spokes meeting in the centre...somehow. The spokes
were supposed to be formed from the horizontal edges of the
windowframes tapered and bent underneath – all made from a
continuous bar.
Anyone who knows
anything about working with metal is now either laughing at me or
doesn't believe I've ever done anything like this before because the
errors in that idea are so glaringly obvious that they have written
me off as an idiot. The idea in my head was not thought through in
terms of the material when I made the design, okay? And it is my
first time designing an object like this – particularly one that
has a function.
So let me take you
through the process and the errors and the processing of the errors
inherent in just this step...This isn't exactly how the process went,
but it's a fair estimate.
Let's see...8
windowpanes is 16 bars, but I want 8. Okay, but that's easy....we
just join the two bars of the adjoining frames together to create, in
effect, a single spoke...right? Nope. First of all, the bars are
all textured and tapered by hand. This means they are not perfectly
symmetrical or even in any way. So that just won't work – not
without doing a lot of work to take out the texture and imperfections
that I spent all that time putting in.
Secondly, and
perhaps more importantly – what was I thinking? I'm not looking to
bend the bars under in a straight 90 degree that goes straight back.
They have to angle in towards the centre of their windowpane –
effectively the centre of the octagon. There are ways in which this
could be accomodated, but no...not really. Especially not smoothly
or with any semblance of elegance of form.
And with 16 bars,
not only would they have to be able to have their edges match one
another tightly but they would all have to be angled just so to make
it work. The pieces would have to go together in a specific and
precise order and placement, not quite like a jigsaw puzzle, but
enough like one. In fact, it would be like a jigsaw puzzle in which the pieces were not quite cut right - or one in which they were cut freehand and not out of the same sheet of paper or card. This is hand forged bar, not pre-fabricated and
machined to precision....so yes, I'm an idiot.
Oh,
and did I mention that this piece is a 3 foot diameter so each of the
spokes would be 18 inches long?
Um....
So...yes. I
didn't think of any of this until I had forged 16 18 inch tapers onto
bars that were long enough to do the full job and textured them all,
plus done the texturing on the horizontal pieces.
They looked great.
I was happy. I was beyond happy...I was excited.
And then I
realized my mistakes....but not all at once. Once I figured a way
around one, another one would crop up. That happened over and
over...and then I was, let's just call it not so happy.
And the really fun
part? As I was coming up with the facts that I'd made these errors
it didn't occur to me that all of this was going to change all of my
measurements.
Remember that full
size layout drawing I didn't do?
So yes...it just
keeps getting better...or maybe worse depending on whether you are
laughing at me or crying with me.....
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