Lace Box

The third project in Metals class was to make a box. So I thought "Oh, a camera box would be fun- I'll have lots of time to make something more complicated" and designed this:

I was really tempted to make it in paper and call it good! The front part would come out like a drawer and house some little photo artifacts of bygone days- BD, or Before Digital. There would be a little hook and eye to keep the drawer shut. And maybe a back piece that opened to show an old photo.

So I started on that, rollerprinting copper with a canvas texture. But I didn't get far- I'd forget my toolbox or forget stuff in the car. One day I sent half an hour searching for the metal I'd prepared, only to find it hiding in my backpack- I thought I was going crazy!

And then I hit other snags- like Mom in the hospital. And me being sick. And Hanky needing surgery. And then it became a matter of getting something done to turn in.

Crit was terrible- no one had anything finished. Including me. That doesn't happen. I was disappointed and embarrassed. But I got an extension to turn it in after the weekend and busted my butt to finish it in time.

It's a little harder to make square boxes then round boxes so I redesigned and made this:

I was inspired by the pin/earring/necklace pewter boxes that I had as a child. Those were a bit hokey though. I rollerprinted lace into the copper. I soldered and made a lid and base that actually fit together pretty well (you can't see the ring on the underside of the lid) which is a bit tricky with metal. The flowers are not permanently attached, you can take them off and wear them as pins. I rollered the copper to be thin, cut out my shapes, filed the edges and then hammered the edges to make them even thinner. Then I used a dappling block (a metal cube with different sizes of bowl shapes cut out of it) to hammer my flat shapes into a cupped flower shape.

There are holes drilled in the walls of the base so that one can string it and wear it as a pendant if desired. I didn't have time to add anything inside, but maybe I'll put a flower in there in the future. I applied patina and sanded it away just enough to really show the lace pattern. I sanded the edges and bottom to make them a brighter color for contrast.

Overall, I like my box and I'd like to do my camera still. I'm pleased that I figured out on my own how to solder the flowers and that it worked! I strung the flowers onto the wire and hung them upside down from steel cross-locking tweezers and applied solder to where the wire met the bottom flower. It flowed and worked! Then I had to twist the wire to work harden it, the heat from the torch anneals it to make it soft and you can't have a floppy pin back or it will bend and break. Then I filed the ends to be pointy enough to go through a shirt (but not too pointy!). They're held in the lid with little chunks of eraser for now.

I have a good amount of lace-textured copper left over- I should make a bracelet or something with it. I think it's pretty funny to make such girly stuff with non-girly materials and tools- metal and files and hammers and whatnot.

It's fun making stuff with big girl toys- like torches!