The first one of this design was made a few years ago, but I just made another one, and it gave me the opportunity to record in pictures how it was made.
In the first six pictures, we have the piece of flat brass sheet, then the initial forming, using stakes and sandbag. In the sixth picture, it has been formed to the point it must be annealed before going any further.
After annealing, it’s a fairly simple but time-consuming task to hammer the piece until the seam comes together, and it can be soldered. After that, a lot of planishing, being very careful not to push the metal in too far, since there’s no way to bring it back out.
Next, the perch is formed. The material is 1/4″ brass rod. The taper was done in a lathe, just an inch or so at a time, to prevent deflection. The picture shows it being filed in a “bench motor” a tool of the musical instrument trade. It has a hollow shaft, which comes in very handy here. After sanding and polishing, the rod is annealed and bent into shape, using a wood stick with a hole to prevent dents or scratches.
Then the final steps. The bird gets a notch filed in the bottom with a 1/4″ round file, then it gets soldered to the perch. Then the finished product.
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jason 08.23.09 at 2:13 pm
Once again, completely awesome!
Do you use any mandrels at all for the wire bending, or the stick for the whole operation?
What is the stick made of and how often does it need replacing?
shelbyvision 08.23.09 at 8:47 pm
Thanks, Jason. I may have used a ring mandrel and mallet to round out the small curves. The stick is hard maple; I cut three of them and put a different size hole on either end of each, to allow for the various diameters of the tapered ends of the rod. As far as replacing, I don’t know; hard maple is very durable.
Taueret 09.09.09 at 1:23 am
that bird is gorgeous. You’re right, it looks to me like just the sort of thing that does well on Etsy.
Your pictures of hammering are so interesting, I read about hammering in my books and it sounds like black magic. Seeing how you go about it- still magic but at least I can imagine some parts of how it’s done!
Cynthia Eid 09.10.09 at 7:12 am
Steve, I absolutely love your work! My suggestion is to try making some of your pieces in silver (naturally, I suggest Argentium Sterling Silver). For the prices you are charging, you would not need to charge much more, and people would feel like they were getting better value for their money.
Best wishes,
Cynthia Eid
shelbyvision 09.10.09 at 7:50 am
Taueret, Thanks for your comments. It feels a little like magic when a plan comes together. It take a lot of trial and error sometimes to get to that point where the results match the intent. I have a box full of scrap junk to testify to that.
Cynthia, thanks. I agree about the silver, and if I could afford silver I would be using it for everything. I did make a large silver piece that I just finished that I am going to enter in the Saul Bell Award Competition. We’ll see how that goes. I’ll be posting pictures soon.
jan 09.10.09 at 12:38 pm
Very nice. Yes make some in silver.
shelbyvision 09.11.09 at 4:31 pm
Thanks Jan,
I just remembered, I do plan to make some of the tiny bird ornaments in silver, I even have the silver for it. I might get on that next week.