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| photo copyright Karin Corbin 2010 |
Have you ever been really nervous about making a part because if you messed it up there would not have been enough material to redo it? That is the case with the band that is just under the top piece of the mantel. I call it a smoke apron, usually I know the correct architectural name for such elements but this time I don't. It functions to direct the smoke up the chimney. I have not fully assembled the fireplace yet, things are just loose stacked together. I can see I need to mix up a little stone filler for some small voids between the apron piece and the mantel top. To make the filler I take stone dust and mix it with PVA glue into a thick paste. Simple to do and it is a perfect color match when it dries.
In photos of old cottages you sometimes see that the owner has put a little fabric curtain (skirting) below the mantel in the effort to keep the smoke out of their eyes and out of the room.
Now I only have two small pieces of stone left to make and if I don't get it right the first try I still have enough stone to make them over. A little touch up here and there on the carving too. Then I have to finish the brick work inside the fireplace. There are still the chimney pieces to create but that does not worry me, it is child's play compared to cutting and carving the stone.
4 comments:
This is looking so good. I so want to make some bricks using your tutorial but haven't gotten to it yet--working even part-time really cramps my mini-ing style. LOL! (And this when I need to be working full-time plus). I work today so maybe tomorrow I can get that going!
Jody
I understand the nervous feeling you are talking about Karin. I can certainly sympathize with you because that feeling still overwhelms me when I cut into a pristine sheet of 14 or 18 carat gold.
Karin,
I went to a model train shop today and found the brass channel tube you had to make, assumably out of square stock I can't remember now. I also found spring shaped tube benders! There are several in the package. They are for specific sizes of small tubes you want to bend without a crimp issue. All the way down to 1/32" You will have to anneal the brass before you will be able to bend it. I thought if you wanted to start making your own light fixtures it might be useful.
It's beautiful <3
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