21/01/17 | ۩ |

In the first post dedicated to the construction of the column I revealed in advance that was my intention to find a way to build the shaft saving time (and sparing efforts as well).





To make the surface of the shaft straight and smooth I need to cut all the slices at a time and not separately as done for the base.

So first of all I must find the black and white blocks and join them in a full "rough" shaft.

My only wavering is about the glue: it must support all the pieces together during the work, which will be necessarily vigorous and partially manual.





Once found the right sized planks (white marble and slate) I can proceed by cutting the tiles in a roughly squared shape. The height varies according to the color: the white stripe are slightly thinner than the black ones (just 1 millimeter) to balance the optical illusion that makes them more visible to the human eye.





The so obtained tiles are polished separately on each side to reach a similar size. Now I can even use sandpaper on the whole shaft keeping the pieces together with the sole pression of my fingers.











After a few hours the glue has dried and the piece appears to be strong enough.

I start working manually, rubbing the edges of the column on sandpaper. Then I fasten it to the clamp and keep polishing with the Dremel tool until I obtain a perfetct octagonal shape.

The finishing touches are manual once again: every face is revised with fine sandpaper, deleting the scratches left by the coarse paper and leaving it smooth to the touch. Then, one after the other, I glue the tiles together and let it dry. The first finished octagonal slice (a test I made) is then glued on an end and it will help to give the rest of the column its final shape.After a few hours the glue has dried and the piece appears to be strong enough.I start working manually, rubbing the edges of the column on sandpaper. Then I fasten it to the clamp and keep polishing with the Dremel tool until I obtain a perfetct octagonal shape.The finishing touches are manual once again: every face is revised with fine sandpaper, deleting the scratches left by the coarse paper and leaving it smooth to the touch.





Now the shaft is finished and I can set it on its base.

Despite of that, I still need to calculate the total height of the column and some little changes could be necessary.

In the next chapter I'll deal with the capital and the laying of the column into the warehouse. For now I can still keep it in my hand as a piece of an immaginary chessboard...





Now the shaft is finished and I can set it on its base.Despite of that, I still need to calculate the total height of the column and some little changes could be necessary.In the next chapter I'll deal with the capital and the laying of the column into the warehouse. For now I can still keep it in my hand as a piece of an immaginary chessboard...



MATERIALS:

vinyl glue, slate, white marble

TOOLS:

fine and coarse sandpaper, metal files, hacksaw, clamp, putty knife

SIZES (in cm):

upper plinth: base 1,9 x 1,9; height 1,15;

marble base: height 0,7;

shaft slice: diameter 1,5; side 0,6; height 0,6 (white) 0,7 (black).

total base height + shaft (until now): 5,9





DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?

WANT TO SEE MORE?



