Copper wire & Solder models

Repair work on my Sisters Penny Farthing

I seem to desire to create things in life. Whether i have a nack to do so is perhaps elementary.
From my days in Electronics and as a wireman for 10 years i enjoy making use of copper wire. I join them together using solder as one would in an electrical curcuit.










Christmas 2011 now or just before and i want to make something special for the family, a bench.

Garden Bench Christmas 2011

I start off with the idea of a seat with a sown cushion for the seat but in the end settle on the rather more difficult wooden slat bench like those classic iron benches.

The problem is how to fix wood to copper. For this i drilled a 1.5 mm bit through each extra long matchstick then used bent copper as rivets soldered on a bar on the underside.
Not pretty from underneath but looks fab from top.

I also varnished the matchsticks to give it an additional rustic look.

The design is my own with a little inspiration taken from several designs. However no exact measurements are ever used, just an estimate of what i think looks about right.

Early stages of a Rocking chair January 2012

The start of a rocking chair for a friend in Finland. Again the design is roughly taken from conventional designs but whatever lends itself to the material (copper) used.

It still lacks arms, cross beams and cushioned seat.

Candelabra January 2012

My next little thing is this candelabra which is a floor standing candlestick holder, the sort of thing you find in a church or cathedral.

I started with 3 lengths of copper then tied one end together tightly with masking tape and soldered just above to make more permanent.
That end then became the foot so i then removed the tape and bent out the prongs to form the feet.

I then twisted the shaft as much as i could whilst keeping it straight and soldered about 3/4 up to fasten.
The sconces could have been made from the same wire i guess but i didn't have enough left so made them separately then soldered them to the ends.

The whole thing is free standing but not so stable as it supports quite alot. Getting the whole structure to stand vertically balanced was a pain.

And now on to some much older creations.

Copper Coaster July 2008

First off a copper coaster from 2008. I made many of these since i could play with the pattern quite a bit and basic shape remained the same.

The brass rings you see in the picture are actually brass eyelets that are intended for clothing.

However they can also be clamped onto wire and are of similar hue so work well.


July 2008 happened to be a very active time for me with copper creations.
I do go through bouts of creative flair and my interests are quite diverse.

However the underlying desire to create things always persists.

Jostick Sconce July 2008

Next was a jostick sconce (holder).

I liked the idea of simplicity with the flare of design and balance.

The splayed arms help immensely with the stability of the sconce.
Note the usage of the eyelet again to provide a neat receptacle for the jostick.

The filagree both bound the end of the splay and served to prevent the jostick falling straight through.

Necklace July 2008

A rather rustic necklace and with all the soldered joints, not the type of jewelry to keep on for too long.

It was infact an experiement and as with all experiments, some will work and some will not but all will prove something.

Note again the use of the eyelet for the jewel at the bottom of the piece.

Pot Pourri Bowl July 2008

A Pot pourri bowl. Its original intention was as a fruit bowl but it was just too flimsy.

A difficult piece to engineer as the ring allignment was nye impossible. Now i have learnt to hold everything in a jig so that i'm able to view from all angles to check its perfectly alligned before soldering.
As always a learning curve.

Rocking Chair
January 2012

I finished the metalwork last weekend for the Rocking chair. All thats missing now is a black iron paint job and a nice red cushion.