Kendra worked her considerable magic as she added the decorative gold embellishments and pin striping to the antique sewing machine perched atop the sign. Next up will be the blended lettering followed by some final glazes and highlights. This is going to be a jewel of a sign when it is complete. Stay tuned…
Fire breathing dragon
The North Star suite of the Hazelnut Inn will have an outdoor fire pit in the garden for guests to enjoy. Two metal dragons will flank the natural gas fireplace. The first of these brick-filled sculptures is nearing completion. We’ll begin fabrication of the second one tomorrow and these will be welded to the fire ring and then craned up to the garden with the fountain which is also under construction in the shop. Stay tuned…
Wheeling!
It is both fun and challenging to cut out hundreds of pieces of metal and then weld them into something large and fancy. Neil and Keith were doing the fabricating, first taking the time to lay out and build an accurate jig. Once the temporary jig was secure they fit the many pieces together, starting with the largest and working their way down. At this stage, everything is only tacked to minimize heat warpage. Once all the sections and gussets were assembled they jumped around and stitch-welded the entire piece. Tomorrow they will accurately center the hub section and then begin fitting and welding in the spokes. This giant wheel will break into two halves so we can get it out of the shop and fit on a truck for transport. Stay tuned as this project comes together…
