Creating a show piece is a daunting endeavor, exposing ones self to the critical eye of the judge can evoke many emotions. Putting yourself, your work, your craftsmanship out into the world for all to see. It can either have two outcomes…one of success and one of failure, that is not what I am afraid of…
Personally, I try and approach these show pieces as creations that truly flex the skills. Riding the edge of impracticality, form v.s function, and all that other art school rhetoric. At the same time, building something memorable and stunning….this time, the flexing of the skills came with something we all take for granted…polishing.
This go around I was perplexed what to do, I wanted to build another vessel but in a fashion that I had not tried before. This time the piece resulted as a bowl, raised anticlastic style (this is open for interpretation) but super tricked out with hot rod flames…a Hot Rod Fruit Basket if you would….
Cutting the shape was “fairly” easy, about 5 hours on the CNC, not counting several days on tweaking the design. After the shape was cut (approx 16″ in diameter) the next task was to carve into the 1/8″ thick stainless steel plate to give the flames more body, making them three dimensional if you would. I gotta say, I’m pretty lucky I get to use air grinders on my work, nothing more satisfying as seeing metal being removed with sparks and what not. From here came the never ending hand sanding to remove all the grind marks. It then occurred to me, polishing this thing is going to be one super scary endeavor. So the next step, before any raising was to commence, was to polish the flat, carved plate to a flawless polish.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” – FDR
I gotta tell you something, polishing this evoked a never ending, god instilling, honest to goodness FEAR!!!
I have been polishing in one form or another, either professionally, or just goofing around for about 20 years. I know what a polisher can do….I also know what it can do when things go wrong. Having seen first hand what kind of damage a flung piece of jewelry can have on the body, in addition to the many stories right here on Orchid of mis-haps on the buffer.
Now imagine holding a piece of sheet stainless 1/8″ thick, 16″ in diameter, that, at this point, looks like a ninja star from hell, and approaching a buffer equipped with an extended spindle turning at 3400 RPM, with a ton of edges for that 6″ muslin buff just waiting to grab a hold of and fling into my jugular vein…I proceeded with caution. I was scared, and this wouldn’t be the first time on this project….
Hands gloved with fingerless gloves (yes, I know this isn’t recommended, but I needed to hold this securely, and my hands were no where near the wheel, and in my opinion was the right choice) the journey began. Concentrating, using immense body control and embarking on the first aspect of this polishing job, it began. 8 grueling hours later, it was over…I was spent, I mean exhausted..that was that for the day, I called it an early night and was grateful I pulled this off…for now…
The next day came the raising, not too much excitement here, but watching the vessel take shape was amazing, I kept thinking of all the old smiths and their trials and tribulations as they created their master pieces…not that mine will be any where close to that, but that’s all I could think of. A leather covered mallet, along with sand bags, and leather covered stakes brought the vessel to form…A hot rod fruit bowl with integral legs (this was the anticlastic part).
Now the second phase of polishing came…so instead of a ninja star from hell, I had a bowl of death, just itching to be flung accross the room…or into my chest. Again with the gloves and a small 4″ wheel, the final clean up and polish was done…this time only two hours….luck me. After the polish, simple edge detailing was given to the piece and a good cleaning.
All this, for something that is somewhat practical, but in my mind a stunning piece worthy to show the world and be judged…I still have not conquered my fear…but I do have respect, and more importantly the experience with this particular machine has paid off….I do not recommend an inexperienced metal smith attempt this.
Enjoy….
patpruitt
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! That’s the best one yet! (I think I say that about each one of your pieces).
Just amazing. You really push the material beyond expectations.
(And it’s the scariest thing I can think of to polish!)
exquisite, Shelby. And no wonder the polishing part scared you.
Beth: yes, the negative space always flips me out, I never think of it during the design, but it is indeed cool when its all said and done.
Shelby: Death-Grip polishing, similar to kung-fu grip, but with more emphasis on the death part… ;-)….this piece is for the up coming Heard Museum show in Phoenix….a huge Native art show, second only to the one in Santa Fe.
Pat, that is spectacular. I can relate to your fear, having had some buffing mishaps myself during my years at Fox Products. You learn to have a death grip on the object, and never shift your hand position without taking the object away from the wheel.
Is this piece for a particular show?
Wow! Wow! Pat, as usual for you, just breathtaking. Love the flow from the legs to the body of the piece. Also love the interaction between the positive and negative spaces.
Thanks, yeah I was debating the usage of a flex shaft mounted polishing process, unfortunately that would have added days and days of polishing.
Enjoyed the story and the beautiful piece. You are way braver than me. I would have probably just used a rotary tool with a felt. But, then again, I take my share of risks as well :o)
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