Well, kids, here's one of my first metals projects for this semester (actually, this is the second project that I've finished this semester. I finished another project in my casting class a few weeks ago (two pendants)... however, I forgot to take pictures of them and now they're backwards in the display case. SO, you're just going to have to wait for those pictures). Wow, that was a long aside.
Anyways, more information about the relevant project: this one. It is a desk set: two pens, two letter-openers, and an ink well... AND it is a four-poster bed. It was a very ambitious project... and although making it was a labor of love, I feel luke-warm about how it turned out. I can't tell you exactly why, but this project just simply isn't my favorite. Although, I think maybe it has a lot to do with the fact that it looks awkward to me and aesthetically, I think I could have made some different and better decisions.
But from a more technical standpoint, let me tell you how I made it. The posters (pens and letter-openers) are mono-shells or spiculums (which ever you prefer, both terms are correct)... they're hollow forms made of one piece of metal. One of the most important things to know about mono-shells is that they require very precise patterns... for instance, with my mono-shells, I had to make them three times before I perfected my patterns to the extent that I got a usable piece. ALSO, another interesting and unique fact about mono-shells is that they are bendable tubes... after the spiculums are formed with the help of hammers, the are actually oval tubes, not round tubes... so you can bend them with your hands and they won't crush or crimp. Thinner and longer spiculums are better candidates for this bendable property. I knew that I wasn't going to bend my spiculums, so they are neither thin nor long.
And as for the second part of the project, the bi-shell, it is basically two domes that are soldered together to form, hey, a bi-shell... like a clam or an oyster. Also, another requirement of this project is that the bi-shell has decking. Now, decking is where you cut into the seam of the bi-shell, perpendicular to the planes of the bi-shell. Okay, think about a circle, and then think about drawing a linear design into the circle and cutting that design away so that the circle is no longer a circle but another shape. It is like this with the bi-shell and decking, except that the design is cut away from both circles in the bi-shell. Then, metal is pressed into the shape of the design and soldered in to create another wall and make the form one, hollow piece. It is simpler than I make it sound... it is just a little hard to explain in words and would be easier if I was in front of you with visuals.
So, that's the hows of this project. I really enjoyed learning about these techniques and forms... although after the fact, I almost wish I had chosen to make something different with them... not quite, but almost.
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