For the past couple of weeks, besides trying to get the lawn to recover after the terrible hot and dry summer, I’ve been finishing a chandelier. I’ve never made one of this style before and have found it to be interesting and challenging. At this point the frame and pendant elements have been constructed and I’m just working on finishing details.
This detail, if not trivial, is at least a very small one. In my opinion I still think it is worth considering and in other cases can create a much more striking visual detail.
In this design the power cord traverses most of the distance between the ceiling canopy and the candelabra pendant inside a tube with rings at each end instead of winding through the more common vernacular chain. After making the rings from 5/16” round and flattening 1” of the tube ends with the hydraulic press, I sunk a center punch mark and then drilled a pilot hole. Working over a narrow vise opening I heated the hole perimeter with the torch and used a handled opening punch to enlarge the hole so that the 5/16” ring could pass through and swing easily. That process necessarily creates the slight bulges along the edges of the flattened area.
It may take a blacksmith to notice a change this subtle but an accumulation of such little details in the design can eventually add up to interesting.
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