|
Materials:
- Lumber for the frame - barnboard works, but ordinary lumber
is great too - preferably three inches or more in width. This
one is 7 1/4 inch wide.
- Lumber for the back supports - about three inches wide and you'll
need roughly 3' of it if you're making your wall sconce the same
size as the example
- Carpenter's glue
- Copper foil, available from sheet metal supply places, scrap
metal yards and some art supply shops
- Copper sheet metal - heavier than copper foil but still easy
to work with
- Tape - hockey tape or duct tape
- Two soda pop cans
- Brass screws or steel sheet-metal screws - Pan- or dome-headed
Robertson or Phillips (avoid the slot head if possible) and ½
inch to ¾ inches long depending on the thickness of the chosen
lumber
- Copper nails - found in specialty woodworking shops or boat
builder supply stores
- Copper plumbers tape - available in the plumbing section of
home centers
- Tea-light candles
|
Tools
- Miter box and back saw or Swedish precision miter saw or Speed
square and a saw
- Pencil
- Glove(s) - Mag likes to use a golfing glove because it is tight
and has a good control for detail work; latex disposable gloves
are good for gluing.
- Frame clamp, or several squeeze clamps
- Ball peen hammer to texture the copper if desired
- Tin snips - they cut either straight, or to the left, or to
the right - buy the best you can afford and having both right
and left is helpful. Old dull ones are difficult and dangerous
to use!
- Make a roller by taping two soda pop cans end to end
- Utility knife
- Compression punch or hammer and nail to punch holes in the metal
- Drill and drill bits
- Hand screwdriver
- Wood rasp or file
- Note: All of these tools can be found in specialty woodworking
stores, hardware stores or home centers. Lee
Valley Tools is a good source in Canada for most of these
tools, as well as frame-clamps.
|
|
Cut List:
- Interior dimensions of the wooden frame are 6" across and 4"
down (but you can make the opening any size you want)
- Back supports are three inches wide and one inch shorter than
the overall height of your frame - 18 inches in the example shown.
|
|
Steps:
Mag's
first wall sconce |
Barn board has a lot of character created from its time out
of doors |
|
|
|
Choose the wood you want to use. It should be a minimum of
three inches wide and can be even wider. Barn board is great
because of its natural weathered beauty.
Bear in mind that the wider the board, the more difficult
it is to get the 45 degree angles to match each other perfectly,
because the joints are a lot longer. If you're a beginner,
go for a narrower board the first time you make a sconce.
It's less frustrating.
|
|
A
wooden miter box and back saw |
A
Swedish made precision miter saw |
Use
a speed square and pencil to mark the 45-degree cut line |
|
A speed square is a triangle with 90-degree and 45-degree sides |
|
|
|
| Use a miter-box with a backsaw, or speed square with a pull-saw
to cut the 45-degree angles. The inside dimensions are six inches
across and four inches down. |
|
|
Fit all of the pieces together to be sure the angles are
tight enough for gluing. The more surface area that touches
the better, but don't drive yourself crazy.
Use a rasp or file to take off any high points that are keeping
the joints apart. You can also add sawdust to the glue to
make a filler that will disguise unsightly gaps.
|
|
Apply
glue to both sides of all the pieces that touch |
Use your finger to spread the glue around and remove any excess |
Place
the frame clamp over the glued pieces and tighten it down |
| Put glue on all the joints and use a frame clamp (or several
squeeze clamps) to pull all the edges together all at once.
Adjust the joints so that they fit snugly but still remain flat
as you tighten the clamps. Leave the clamps in place overnight
to allow the glue to cure. |
|
Place the copper foil over the opening to get a rough dimension
for cutting |
Tin snips cut either to the left or to the right |
Cut the copper with the snips that work best for you |
|
Measure the copper foil reflector for cutting by holding
one side against the frame and making an arch that will accommodate
the tea-light. The arch shouldn't be any deeper than three
inches (or the width of the vertical back supports that you
have chosen).
Be sure to leave enough room on both ends of the foil to
make a half-inch flange for attaching the copper to the back
of the frame. Cut the copper with tin snips.
|
|
Use two soda pop cans taped together as a roller to bend the
reflector into an arched shape |
|
|
|
|
If you wish to make a dimpled or crumpled copper reflector,
bend it over a log or other irregular surface and use a ball
peen hammer to distress the copper. The more bumps and divots
the surface has, the more the candlelight dances and flickers.
If you want a smooth reflector, use two soda pop cans taped
end to end as a roller and roll the copper around them.
|
|
Cut
a four-inch square piece of heavier copper |
Cut
a tab in the square piece |
Cut a round shape connected to the tab |
|
Mark the center of the reflector where you want the tabbed shelf
to sit |
|
|
|
| Cut a four-inch square out of the heavier copper. Make two
¾" parallel cuts centered on one edge. Cut a circle ending at
the end points of the first two cuts. This will give you a rough
circle with a rectangular tab on one edge. |
|
At
the mark cut two slits in the reflector the width of the tab |
Pass
the tab through the upper slit in the reflector |
Pull the tab snugly through the other side |
|
Pass it through the other slit and bend it up to secure it in
place |
|
|
|
|
Using a utility knife cut two horizontal slits in the back
of the copper reflector. The slits are used to attach the
little circular tea-light shelf you've just cut from the sheet
copper. The shelf should sit either low enough to hide the
candle or high enough to reveal it, whichever you prefer.
Feed the tab through the top slit, bend it around and pass
it through the bottom slit. Then bend it up again flat against
the copper reflector. Tweak the shelf so that it is perpendicular
to the reflector. Polish all of your fingerprints off the
reflector!
Liberate the frame from the clamps. Bend a flange on each
side of the reflector. Line the reflector up over the center
of the opening and adjust it vertically so that the tea light
will be in the place you want it.
|
|
Use a compression punch to make dimples in the metal for drilling |
Drill
prior to screwing |
Use a hand screwdriver to drive the screws |
|
|
Use a compression punch, or hammer and nail to punch three
holes along the edge of each flange. Drill holes for the brass
screws. Using a screwdriver, drive the screws in. Don't use
a power drill because it is very easy to strip the head of
the soft brass screws even with a hand screwdriver.
Attach the other side of the reflector being careful to maintain
the appropriate arch. Attach the back supports vertically
to the frame using copper nails. Pre-drill first to prevent
splitting of the wood.
|
|
Inset the back supports at the top and bottom; inset them from
the sides as well |
Use copper nails to attach the back supports |
Pre
drill before driving the nails in |
|
|
The back support should be about one inch shorter than the
overall height of the frame, should be centered vertically
and set in from the edge about an inch. Use at least two nails
since the nails can become a decorative feature on the front
of your new wall sconce. Attach copper plumbers tape to the
back supports with two brass screws each. Leave one or two
loops above the top of the support used for hanging the sconce
on the wall.
Get ready for the romantic glow of firelight, and don't
forget your weenie.
|
|
|
Artisans'
work featured on this episode:
(click pics for Artist info and larger
images)
|
More topics
Use the speed square to mark the second cut line that will form
a trapezoid
