Sunday, March 8, 2015

Found the artisan for Zelda's Dress

Hi folks!

As I mentioned in my last post, now that Link is nearly done, having only the shield left to finish up (haha ONLY, not that it isn't a ton of work left), I have begun turning my attention to the next character in the project: the lovely Zelda. I have begun raising the crown (pics in my last post). Over the last couple of days, I have been seeking the perfect artisan to create the dress. I will admit I cannot sew my way out of a paper bag, so I need a fabulous dress made by a true artisan. Much like Brendan from Fable Blades whom took my designs and made me a stunning Master Sword, I needed an artist of the same caliber whose tools of the trade are the needle and thread.

I'm pleased to announce that I have found such a craft person.

Faden Design Studios will be bringing Zelda's dress into reality. I spoke with the artisan and she is a truly passionate artisan with years and years of experience in the craft. A kindred spirit with respect and passion for the old arts that are long since fading in today's world. Her views on her craft resonate and it shows clearly in her work. After consulting with my wife we both wholeheartedly agree that Faden Designs is the only option for the clothing for Zelda. I also presume that things will turn out so fabulous that Faden Designs may become the exclusive sewing artisan for this project as a whole.

Here are some stunning examples of Faden Design Studios' work:

First we have the famous Lannister red dress:


The embroidery work is positively stunning!




Next we have the most amazing Elsa dress I have literally ever seen. The beadwork is mind-boggling!!






Then we have a detailed Victorian / Steampunk corset and bustle:




It is clear that Faden Design Studios puts the same level of passion into their work that I do in mine, Brendan does his, and is just the type of artisan this project necessitates.

Check them out on their website at: http://www.fadendesignstudios.com

Or on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/fadendesignstudios

Let the dress begin!

Until next time!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Some more progress...

Hey folks. I thought I would share some brief progress on the shield. I now have all the steel accents rough cut:





I also began stenciling and raising the crown for Zelda:







So things are moving along again!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Stenciling Steel

Hi all,

As I mentioned in my last post, I have begun working to the rim accents that will border the shield.

I am using 4130 steel for this part which has been annealed. This makes cutting and shaping easier. I am using 1/8" thick sheet stock so it will be plenty thick as to be sturdy.

First I worked out the shapes and sizes on the shield surface and then transferred those lines to a stencil:


Then, taking those stencils I transferred them to the 4130 plate stock:


Now that I have all the rough shapes transferred to the steel plate (I used black sharpie to minimize ruboff), I can begin the cutting.

Where I need precision, I used a hacksaw and/or coping saw. And where I can just zip I am using an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel:


After a couple hours of labor, I now have a first piece cut clean out. I then threw it on the arbor press and put some curve into it and you can now see it laid on the shield:





Obviously there will be more fine shaping to do and a lot of finishing work, but you can start to see how the pieces will look on the shield surface.

Five more accent pieces for the banding to go and then it will be on to the final shaping.

The mounting process will be covered as we get closer to final fabrication.

See you next time!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Moving right along

I've now finished polishing all the triangles and will begin the mounting process here soon. Here is a look of them and for perspective on the in-progress shield:




I have now started into stenciling some of the steel accents that will make up parts of the rim. For this, I am using 1/8" 4130 steel:




This will be cut into multiple pentagon like pieces that will interlock with the shield banding.

Will keep you all posted!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Putting to a polish

Hey all! So last time I showed you all the rough beveled triangles.  The basic shapes have been cut, they have been gently curved to match the curvature of the shield and the edges ground to form the bevels:


As you can see, the shape is elegant, but look at all those pesky marks, scratches and discolorations!!! 

Today's post is going to talk about remedying that. Starting with 100 grit carbide sandpaper laid on a flat surface, I went to work. I began with the front surface being careful to work in one direction. You don't want to swirl the triangle over the paper but rather smooth strokes in one direction. After working the front I then held the triangle so the edge bevel was being polish. We now have this:


See how the scratch marks are all mostly going in one direction and the discoloration is gone?

Now I turned the surface so I was working perpendicular to the scratches with 220 grit. Same process. Then turned again working perpendicular to the scratches. At 600 grit we have:


Cleaning up nicely! By 2000 grit we have pretty much a mirror:


I will do 3000 next and then buff. By then it will have a glasslike mirror surface.

I spent about 10 minutes at each grit. The important part is to make sure each grit is scratching perpendicular to the previous.

Two more triangles to go!

Friday, October 3, 2014

A Triforce Beginning to Emerge

Hey all, today is a brief update but I realized it has been much much too long since I've updated. My project went on hold for a while in order to buy a house! I had to take down the workshop for a while and begin some commissions for blades (not Zelda related).

Now that we are settled, I have gotten my workshop minimally functional again and so I thought I would update everyone. At this point I have three triangles cut for the shield, and have rough ground all the edge bevels:


This was taken in dim natural light with no flash. Here it is again with the flash (unmistakably more gold looking as it is brass):


Clearly you can see the grind and file marks. The next step will be to polish with progressively finer grits and finally buff to a mirror polish.

I have also acquired the steel plating for the accents that will be around the rim. Once the triangles are finished I will start cutting those out.

On the Princess Zelda front, I am now evaluating whether I want to change out the Swarovski crystals for the crown with genuine Swiss Blue Topaz. They are substantially more expensive but also so impressive looking. What do you all think?

Friday, April 18, 2014

Repoussé: An introduction

I was chatting with a friend and showing them pictures of my shield progress, and they asked some questions that led me to the realization that many of you aren't aware of what repoussé is.  So for this post, I'm actually going to go more high-level (no project update folks, sorry) and explain in more detail what repoussé is.

Repoussé (pronounced Reh-Pew-Zay) literally translated, is the art of "raising", specifically in metal.  Simply put, it's the art of creating a 3-dimensional art surface from a sheet of metal.  The technique is thousands of years old and was heavily used by blacksmiths, armorers, jewelers, and others.  Many of today's techniques for tooling leather are also similar.  The same general principles apply to tool leather as well as to emboss metal.  Repoussé is sometimes done without "chasing" but usually both are used in conjuction with one another to create an embossed design.

Repoussé is to work the back of the piece, so that from the front you have a raised design.  Chasing is fundamentally the same, but instead you are working the front to create detail or depressions on the front surface.

The process generally works as follows: You have a sheet of metal, and by taking very smoothed punches and chisels (the tips are highly polished so as not to "cut" the metal, but instead to "push" it).  You use a liner (small chisel like shape) to line the detail of your work.  To absorb the shock of the process, the work piece is placed on a firm, but giving surface.  Loosely referred to as a "chasing medium" or "chaser's pitch".  Chaser's pitch is a substance made from tar, pitch, clay, sand, etc to create a firm yet viscous surface to strike against.  For heavier work such as steel, lead or tin is generally used as a chasing medium.  Here are some examples of repousse and chased work:

http://www.victorialansford.com/Bracelets/inspiraled.jpg

http://www.tammygilchrest.com/jewelry-art-4/

Taking a hammer and these smoothly polished punches/chisels you work the metal into the chasing medium, slowly raising the design from the sheet.  The chasing medium serves two purposes simultaneously.  First, it provides a firm surface to help support the non-raised areas and ensure the entire shock of the blow is focused on the area you are moving.  Second, the chasing medium is soft enough to give directly beneath the struck area so the design is raised and you don't just bang it against another hard surface, thinning the work metal too much.  This is one key area where chasing and repoussé differ from blacksmithing.

You want to continually anneal the work piece if it is made from a metal that will work harden.  Many metals get more brittle as the molecules are compacted.  Have you ever taken metal wire and bent it, then bent the same spot the other way, then again and again?  Eventually it snaps.  This is due to the "work hardening" that is happening at the bend point on the metal.  Annealing loosens the molecules again and keeps the metal malleable and prevents it from becoming brittle and cracking while you're working.  Materials like copper, brass and bronze work harden very quickly and so you must anneal quite often.  Steel work hardens more slowly, but in general is harder to move due to its strength.

Once you've raised the surface, you flip the worked piece over and do the same thing from the front, making the lines sharper, or recessing areas that have unintentionally become raised (generally around the edges of the design you are trying to emboss).

That's repoussé in a nutshell, but words can never do as well as a short video.  Here is a repoussé artist creating repousse onto a plate of sterling silver.  You can see the general process in this short (roughly 7-minute) video.  This is precisely the process I am using for my shield (and will be using for the armor for the Zelda costume).  For the shield, the major differences are in the size and weight of the chisels I am using, the hammers I am using are heavier, and the chasing medium is not pitch (as in the video), but instead I am using pure tin (which is soft similar to lead, but less hazardous).

Take a look, this will help y'all understand what it is exactly that I'm doing to produce the embossed loftwing on the shield:

Davide Bigazzi Performing Repoussé to Make a Decorative Silver Plate

We also have Victoria Lansford, who has written many books on the subject:

Another great video by Victoria Lansford on using the art of Eastern Repoussé

One interesting final note, I am willing to bet you've seen a famous repoussé piece of artwork and haven't even realized it.  One of the most famous works done using repoussé is none other than the Statue of Liberty in New York, USA.  That was done using repoussé on VERY MASSIVE copper sheet/plate.  It's the same technique only at a sculptural and architectural scale.  VERY impressive.

It's a fun craft to learn.  The work is very effort intensive and as such, pieces made using this technique are VERY expensive.  They are beautiful though!

Now back to our regularly scheduled program of my project!  Thanks, everyone!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

A loftwing begins to emerge...

Hey everyone,

So yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting a friend's house.  He also happens to be a blacksmith.  I got some great pointers on working with steel (as opposed to the non-ferrous metals to which I am more accustomed).  In so doing, I managed to make some good progress on the shield embossing.  The MAP gas torch, by the way, makes a HUGE difference.

So let's walk through where we are:


You can see from the white cloudiness that with the new torch, I was able to get the steel MUCH hotter (and consequently much more malleable).  This then let me make some actual movement on lining the loftwing in:





The lines are a bit rough.  You can see, if you look closely, it's more like a nearly-connected set of "dashes" made with the moving chisel.

Given the shield is so thick, this actually still produces a decent form on the front side.  I will still make them smoother as I go as well as when I get to the full raising 
stage of the process.

Now as you look at the front you'll notice the lines are not crisp.  That is okay as the "chasing" part of the process is where those lines from the front will get more crisp.  Here is what we have when looking at the front:




And from further out you can start to make out a loftwing on the front of the shield:



It's exciting to see the pattern start to emerge.  I still have a long ways to go, but very reassuring progress!