Chandelier - The Learning Curve Continues...Steeply!

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.....