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| ©2016 Barry Smith - Close up of patina, fire colours (annealing) and hammer marks on brass bowl |
For sometime two largish circular pieces of brass, bases from very large jardinieres, have waited patiently to be turned into large shallow water holding bowls - I would call them fonts - though I know folk will call them birdbaths.
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| ©2016 Barry Smith - Bases of large jardinieres - 35cm in diameter - one was cracked - see bottom of the one on the left |
It was a bit of a challenge to hammer these two pieces into shape on the anvil and stake; but I was able to do that yesterday afternoon. They are not finished - need smoothing; and need rivets and added bits to cover holes and fix the fractured metal. I didn't want to go ahead with hammering them smooth today as it Sunday and the hammering sounds might echo in the neighbourhood.
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| ©2016 Barry Smith - The rough forms are there courtesy of Japanese soft copper hammer and anvil and stake |
I had cut rusted iron strips from odds and ends in my rust stash to make a couple of riveted forms to hold the bowls. I managed to do that in bits and pieces over a few days; and finished the bending and drilling today.
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| ©2016 Barry Smith |
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| ©2016 Barry Smith |
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| ©2016 Barry Smith - I used a rusty wheel and vies to bend the circular part of the form |
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| ©2016 Barry Smith - Formed and riveted - lovely late afternoon shadows |
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| ©2016 Barry Smith - Drilled and bent ready to attach to a post |
The rusted iron bowl holder is to be attached to a post. I had two different lengths of 15cm square blackout timber - so I guess two fonts of different heights. The timber was in pretty bad shape as you can see from the photo below.
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| ©2016 Barry Smith |
But the timber came up well after a good sand with 40 grit sandpaper on my belt sander. I routed a meandering groove around the posts - from top to bottom; and coloured the continuous groove with black Japanese ink.
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| ©2016 Barry Smith - Posts - sanded, routed and inked and sanded again |
Quite an interesting contrast once I oiled the timber.
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| ©2016 Barry Smith - Routed and inked groove in the post |
There are a few more tasks to do on these; but I hope they will be finished during the week.
i like where these two are going. why not "bird font"? or better yet, avian font?!
ReplyDeleteOh ha! The joke's on me. I read the title and thought, "He's casting type?!"
ReplyDeleteI believe you could do anything ... and very much like what you did with the beam.
V & L - thanks for taking the time to check out the blog post and leave a comment. V - I like the idea of avian font. L - not yet into casting type but who know what the future might bring - just need the font moulds. Go well. B
ReplyDelete