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I first started with the tiny dome on the top of the project. I probably should have waited for a while because it's going to be the last part I attach and now it's just in the way. I built it on a styrofoam dome, actually I think it's called Dylite, and it's a candle holder. I covered it with tape, and marked in the lines. I traced the lines I made on the dome onto tracing paper. All I really needed was the 2 rows of shapes.
The whole thing was covered in a thin coat of tacky wax.
The first problem occurred when making the bottom row of white crescents. After cutting them, I found out (after tacking them), that I had about a 1/2" gap, when I tried to solder the first row on. Boy that was sure annoying. I had to cut the form itself, I used a grinder to flatten out sections, so it would fit together. Originally I tried to squish it with a raw hide mallet. Not only didn't it work, but the tacky wax stuck to the mallet. Of course by now most of the pattern was removed from the dome. but the design was still easy enough to follow.
The crescents were all cut out using my trusty Taurus 2 Ringsaw. I finished it up with a grinder (for evenness). The pieces didn't lock together as much as I wanted them too. And there were quite a few gaps, but I knew no-one would see them once it was soldered, unless you knew what you were looking for.
Removing it was more of a pain than I wanted to experience. I finished soldering it. I knew I had a few drips, I saw them soak through the joint, but didn't think too much of it. The project would not remove. I thought it had something to do with the tacky wax holding it in place. I tried running hot water over it, while carefully pushing. Wouldn't budge. Tried a heat gun, that didn't work either. I decided that I had to remove the mold from the glass. I used a Dremel and a very course bit. I carefully removed the styrofoam, and I found what the problem was. There was a 1" long hook shaped piece of solder that was just sitting there. Along with a few others, but this one was the worst, as you can see in the picture below.
The other problem occurred when trying to remove the Tacky wax. Very tough stuff to remove. After trying different solvents, I found that Goof-Off a latex paint remover, was able to remove it. I used an old tooth brush to remove the wax. Then used a degreaser and soap to remove the foul smelling chemical that is Goof-Off. I'm pretty sure there are other latex paint removers, I also know of M-1 latex paint remover. It worked pretty well, though I had to do it a few times.
The roof of the dome is made up of 1/2" brass craft tube. I cut it about 1/4" longer then the opening I left at the top of the dome. I cut 2 of these. I marked the center points of the tube (length and width). I cut the width of the tube on my electric came saw. The length was carefully done with my Dremel, and a fiberglass cut-off wheel. I marked the centers again, then I connected the point from the center of the split tube, to the corner of the tube. Like an X from corner to corner (only because of it's size, it's easier to connect the points from the center. Holding the half tube with a vice grip, I cut out the tiny triangle with the Dremel again.
What I was left with was a bunch of little triangles. In which I soldered into a six sided copula. It was difficult to work with, because, too much heat, and the whole thing would fall apart (which is what happened to the first roof made with smaller pieces). I also had to make sure that the top of the roof had clean lines in the valley's. The top of the roof had a large hole, which would look stupid if I left it. I took a small brass ball and attached a screw too it. I ground the edges with a grinder, so it formed a point. Removed it from the screw, put the screw through the hole in the roof and reattached the pointed ball. This gave me a handle so I can solder it on straight. I then removed the screw and carefully filled the inside of the roof with solder.
The stilts that hold it up, are small hexagon tubes. I finally found a use for them. The important parts was that it needed to be straight, evenly spaced, and all the same height.
This dome is part of the venting system for the lamp. Since the lamp doesn't have the traditional cap (which I can get vented), I needed to think of a more creative solution. I wanted to make a top that looked weak structurally. I thought of different patterns, but I always liked the look of scallops. Originally the heat was going to escape up and out through the bottom of the dome. The dome, if you can imagine it, will look like a mushroom. The section underneath will look like the stem. I haven't figured out how I'll suspended the dome. It'll probably be suspended on a wire system of some kind. And with any luck the heat will come out of the little roof, and look like steam coming from an oven.
I was concerned that the heat may still have a hard time escaping, that's why I decided to have that smaller vent on the very top. The roof itself is about 1" wide, which should be plenty large enough to allow the heat go.
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Started on 11-28-98