The Sun
by
Clive Michie
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The sun was drawn by K.
Crawford in 1980 for me as part of a group including the moon.
The pattern is old and pieces missing so I had it redrawn on a friend's computer
and plotted
with his 36 inch plotter to an accuracy of 1/20,000 of an inch, that's a much
greater accuracy
then my eye can detect.
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The paper was glued on to a
piece if stiff bristle board using 3M glue to stiffen
the pattern that can be cut and traced on to the glass. Note pieces 1 – 2 – 3 –
A – B
in the center of the design are all exactly the same size – this makes cutting
the
border template much faster then if the pieces where all different sizes.
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A strip of glass is cut from
the sheet because it is easier to handle then a 2 foot by 4 foot
sheet and the template is traced on to the blank of glass. Because all the
border
pieces are very accurate I can trace the template 8 times for the border pieces.
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All the border pieces are traced and cutting will begin.
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The border is cut and I will grind to fit the
design.
You can see the pattern spray glued to cardboard.
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I use a zinc bender to make the circular border that will
assist in keeping the panel
round and add a lot of strength.
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First piece of glass cut and ground and added
to the border came.
Now I will repeat the process till all are complete.
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Care must be taken to assure that all the
pieces maintain a smooth curve
so that the window remains round.
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Much of the grinding is complete but note that
I have left the small pieces
in the eyes out. The dark orange around the eyes will form a border for
fitting in the very little pieces.
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All of the grinding is complete. The fit is too
tight looks good but I will have to re-grind
some of the pieces as I foil. For the relaxation aspect of this project I choose
to fit
one piece at a time.
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Here I removed all the glass from the zinc came
and will begin foiling and
adjusting the pieces as I go because I know it will grow with just the
thickness of the foil. I will place them back in the zinc came as I go.
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Here you see a black line on the light orange
piece below #18.
This piece is under the dark orange touching #30 and a line is traced to
determine how much glass will be removed to get back to the pattern.
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I have about 1/8" of an inch to remove as a
result of the growth of the foil.
By adjusting the pieces as I go I can keep the panel updated to the correct
size.
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All pieces are ground and placed in the zinc
border. Because I used zinc to keep
the panel very round I will have to raise the yellow flames that almost touch
the border but do not so they are sagging below the rest of the glass, for this
I
glue 3 pieces of bristle board together and cut small pieces to raise the flame
to match the angle of the dark orange border.
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This window is covered with paste flux and
while it is still warm from soldering
I will wipe off as much of the mess as I can with a paper towel..
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I have a piece of unwanted foil before I do the
final clean for the
copper plating I will check the entire panel and remove these
with a razor knife because they block light and make it look bad.
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Out in the garage I do a dry clean and
polishing of the solder with
English whiting or calcium carbonate. This will absorbed the flux
and shine the solder up for the plating process. I use a compressor
to blow all the whiting off so it does not neutralize the acid produced
in the copper sulfate when water is added.
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Up close and personal with The Sun.
The copper plating solution is mixed from CuS04 or copper
sulfate
mixed with a left over of Gautier copper plating solution applied with
a piece of old tee shirt till the total window was the same colour.
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The plants have taken to him very fast...
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Now for a little reward...
The End