While my lacquer was curing for two weeks I took the opportunity to do a couple things around the house.
I installed an automatic gate opener for my drive way. Of course I picked a particularly cold week to run 125′ of partially buried power cable and bug together a bunch of electrical connections. Oh well… its done. No pics. Not that exciting, except to me, not having to get in and out of the car a few times every time I want to leave the house is a pleasure.
Another project on the back burner for about 2 years was restoring an old copper fixture that was original to my house.
I guess when having electric lighting was a status symbol, this was probably extravagant with 16 bulbs in it. Originally in the dining room, the bulbs were facing down and exposed, and it hung about 8” off the ceiling. I ended up moving some fixtures around and replacing this with a much nicer chandelier from another room. I decided to restore, then install the fixture upside down, so the leaves would show and drop it about 2′ off the ceiling.
About 2 years ago I pulled this out of the basement and took it apart. Most of the copper leaves needed to be resoldered where they met the center hub. I guess the weight over the years took its toll. That was about as far as I got.
Yes, I use my buffing wheels in the paint booth. Keeps the dust down. I still wear a respirator though.
The brass sockets are my favorite part. No one will see them with its hung upside down, but they just don’t make parts like this anymore. The Edison and other text makes it even better, besides how well made and solid they are. Only rewiring some of the bulbs, there are an additional 8 short sockets that I didn’t polish up. They are in a box with the remaining sockets if I need spare parts.
The copper leaves came out well. They are definitely hand hammered. Each one is a bit different. Those creases are hard to get into, and they like to hold excess buffing compound.
Came out pretty well. I only wired 4 sockets and it was still a pain in the butt and a tight fit. Maybe I was a bit overzealous using 14 gauge to each bulb and a 12 gauge feed? Only used 40 watt bulbs and its almost too bright for me. Guess I need a dimmer.
MaterialAlchemy 