Containers

                               

Containers series.

  4 upcycled containers in brass & glass, designed to 

contain any thing . Made from parts coming from old binoculaire, screws coming from rods that were used 

to hold carpets on stairs & a picture of 1955 of a 

giraffe. 

  This series of 4 is a continuity of a long series of 

containers made mainlly from different brass &

 glass part.  The series has started with glass and 

different screws. It evoluated into the use of old brass 

electric sockets to now move on to brass binocular 

parts . They are not forged and they are not jewellery . 

How ever they could be concidered has jewellry for men.

  

Lamps / forge & vintage

  Tall forged Lamp.

   175 cm. tall forged lamp in steel brass and glass. Oirginaly made to light up our jewellery with day light bulbs. This lamp has been made with a heavy part coming from a tractor break for the base, 2 forged reenforcement steel rods on which the lights are fixed. The 2 lights are an assembly of vintage glass lamp shades, vintage brass electric sockets and binocular parts. One of the lamps is fix & the other can be rotated in different directions.

 Small Assembled Lamp 

  Smaller lamp in steel, brass & glass. This lamp is an assembly of a very heavy steel part on which different steel and brass pipe are screwed together. On top of that is fixed with 3 screws the rest of the  lamp which originally came from a bedside lamp that was broken, it basically need a new feet. 

At the end the 2 lamps give a very cosy atmospher.

Small " présentoirs " .

      A series of 3 small presentoires for earring manly and one for necklaces. All made from old parts   if sewing machines & typewriter with some forged steel for  one . 

  From write to left : 27 x 14 X  6 cm. stand made from a sewing machine part & a type writer part ; they screwed together. Center : &" x 10 x 6 cm . A steel plate as a basse, type writer axels and an other part for the rest. every thing is screw together. A small " présentoirs " for earrings. On the left:  made with parts from a sewing machine, an axel from a type writer & a forged rode from a sewing machine axel. 15 X 8 X 6.5 cm. Specially made from one pair of earrings only.  

     

Bracelets suite ...

   Bracelets, collection of sewing machines & type writer.

                                                                                                     
      


   A unique collection of bracelets forged out of steel axels coming from antique and vintage sewing machines & a rare 18 " wide carriage steel rode coming from and vintage Remington type writer of 1922 . After collecting and unbuilding 3 very old broken sewing machines and the type writer all pieces have been recorder and each machine dated and identified. The first pictures are two bracelets forged out of parts from a Bernina 117 Suisse made in 1932, built only during 3 years it is know to be a strong machine. In did, by forging you realise the quality of the steel.

 

  This bracelets is forged out a steel axel from a german sewing machine dating between 1882 & 1914 sold under the name of Original Victoria it was a model with transverse shuttle,  serial number / 473470, The brass logo says it is a Mundlos B. firm was founded in 1863 in Magdeburg, Germany by Friedrich Heinrich Mundlos and Hermann Schulz 

  The screw that locks the bracelet here is made out of the top end of one of the steel axels found on the machine, the bracelets is forged out of one of thick the central axels of the machine . Only 4 pieces could be forged out of the parts found in the machine. 

Original Victoria 

Bracelet forged out an Original Wilson sewing machine. One pieces our of 4. 

Original Wilson / serial number 987987 / Belgium 1910 

  The Remington type writer bracelets. One piece out of a series of  4. In April 2016 I found a very peculiar type writer with an 18 " steel rode, quite large, caring number on it. It was a heavy piece, but I carried back to my atelier. After inquiry I was informed that this is a rare type writer that was used by journaliste to actually type the news paper ... Well I forged a series of bracelets out of it that still carry those numbers. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the machine. In this collection I used screws from sewing machines as they do a perfect job to lock the bracelet.

Bernina 117 dating 1932  / before & after unbuilding 

Rings

Screw rings

  

  A series of rings forged out of screws and treated as usual with green tea and waxed. There are the continuity of the forged nail rand screws rings. This time I cut of the head of the screws before forging them in order to focus on patten of the thread. Surprisingly the edges of the thread those not disturb and doesn't create any discomfort. I am working with old rostered screws, so finally each ring is different. It is at the same time difficult to gather rostered screws. Strangely it is easier to find old nail ... 

A little vieux on the work in progress 

" Presentoire "

Metal work, forge & upcycling .

   Présentoir that rotate, to be used to carry brushes .  

An object made with a casted cover of a coal stove, bearing found in a sewing machine, the top part  of a gaz tank, 3 steel rodes forged to the desired shape. As usual every part hold together thanks to screws. The object has black patina in some parts and left grey in other parts of the gaz tank to create  a contrast between inside and out side. 

  

Containers

Brass containers . 

  A series of containers come out of the atelier recently. It is upcycling, the are made with all rest overs of the making of earrings and pendants. All those old brass electric socket, brass parts from binoculars have been screwed and just fitted together to create this series of containers. I used as well a wide range of screws coming from all those machines I unbuild. The screws range from sewing machine to decorative screws for stairs carpet, alarm clocks . . . At the end the containers can be opened in different ways for some making it like a secret box has you'r not really sure which part open or not .

day light lamp

   Daylight lamp to work during the dark days of the winter.
From bottom to top : a pulley, 4 forged steel rods, 3 screws & 2 butterfly screw, different parts from old lamps and a glass part coming from an old lamp too. The " bulb " is a led giving day light.
 The 2 butterfly screws allow to move the lamp in different positions which is very  useful. On the middle part there is a forged rod to hold the electric wire so it drops well . This part is fixed with a screw, this allows to move it and get the electric wire passing on the right or the left. The pulley been quite heavy compare to the rest of the lamp it allows to play with the main arms and get it straight or horizontal .

The tall lamp.

   This is the tallest lamp I forged. Going up to more that 2 metres high the long steel rod is screwed on to a large gaz cylinder to which I had to had weight with 2 pulley from an old crane. Every thing is naturally patinated in black and bee's waxed. My atelier is too small to forge this long rode, so I took out the forge and forged it outside. The top part is an assembly of different parts like a green glass isolator coming from a hight voltage pylon, a lampshade which has been patinated black at the forge . The at assembly of those two parts is fixed to forged part that link to the long rode with a bolt and a screw. This allows to control the direction of the lampe. On the forged rod I places 4 fixing points to pass the electric cable. They are forged and hold to the long rod with two little screws coming from old sewing machines. As usual no welding, every part of this lamp is screwed together allowing to unbuilt it easily . 

Spotlight & forge

  This light is a restoration of a rare 1950’s/60’s theatre spotlight by Furse. Totally cleaned I then patinated in black . This spotlight is fixed on a forged steel rod with the original fixing system so as to keep the spotlight fully functional. On the forge half cercle come's 3 fixing points for the electric cable. They are as well forged out of a steel rod and are fixed on the half cercle steel rod with a screw. In this way it is possible to have the electric cable passing on the right or the left side. The lampe is then fixed at 6m. from the ground on the top of the wooden been thanks to a big screw.   

" Présentoirs "

  

" Présentoirs " 

    New display stand for necklaces and earrings. A series of about 6 pieces is in preparation. After collecting and unbuilding quite some  typing machines & sewing machines, I collected many parts which now allow me to compose with a choice of many different parts. Here is the first one made with, from bottom to top : a steel plate, forged rodes, and an old typing machine part. It is about 40 cm. high, the base is 20x12cm. It can display 6 to 8 necklaces from the different screws and hooks on the machine mechanism.

  

  The second one made in the same style is a little taller. It mesures 45 cm high for 16 x6.5 cm for the basse. The basse of this " présentoir " is quite massive and heavy. From bottom to top : A steel plate, 2 forged rodes and an old typing machine part, I added on that one a nail and a hook to increase the handing points. On this " présentoir " there are 6 points to display necklaces. Note that the mechanism on the two pieces here are stile in mouvement.

  The third piece is made with a part coming from the
central part of an old typing machine, two forged rods
in steel and a metal base. This is a small " présentoir "
cerated to present earrings made with the key of that typewriter. It is almost 22 cm. high and the base is
13 x 8.5 cm. Note that I rarely weld parts together. I do
this only when there is no other solution. Basically, all
the " présentoirs "& lamps  you see  on this blog can all
be disassembled. Everything olds together thanks to
screws.  It is important because eventually the pieces
can be taken apart and upcycled into something else
again. The forging in the making of my objects & lamps
is there to create the link between the parts. The forged
parts are needed to assemble other exiting parts. They
are then fixed together thank to screws that are coming
from the different object I disassemble.

  " Présentoir " number four is made specially to present earrings. It has three long and tine rodes which allow to hang more that 15 pairs of earrings. There is no forging her. The " présentoir " is an assembly of different parts : 3 different parts of an old typing machine and two pieces of steel. The steel has been used to create the basse and the typing machine parts to make the structure to hang the earrings. Every thing is screw together .
  On the detail picture you can see a chrome plated parts that used to be a lever on the typing machine. I used it here to support the structure.
This " présentoir " is 18.5 cm. high x 25 cm. long for 8.5 cm. wide.
it is now in use in a shop to present earring.

   Présentoir No. 5,  to present one piece of jewellery at the time. Made with from top to bottom : porcelain harm from a doll which was found one night on the streets of Bruxelles, a screw from an alarm clock, two rubber rings, a bolt, a stainless steel rod, a butterfly screw and a steel cube made from a square tube patinated at the forge. The présentoir is articulated. It is possible to decide the direction of the arm and the inclination of the rod. It measure 7x5 cm at the base and be has tall has 
25 cm. when the arm is up straight. 

         " Présentoir " number 6, no forging but soldering
       and fitting on this one. Made with a silver plated
       sugar tong that has been found on some flea market,
       3 steel parts and a screw coming from the different
       sewing machine I unbuilt. Actually you only find
       one of those parts per swing machine, so here we
       have parts coming from 3 different sewing machines.
       The sugar tong has been soldered at the basse to
       create a tripod. The little parts on top can freely
       move 360° allowing to present the earring from
       different angles   This " présentoir " is 17 cm. tall
       x 7 cm diameter on the basse. So quite small and
       light it has been made to present earring like on the  
       picture.

       
     

lamp

  It is always out of necessity that the idea flow and give birth to nice things. This time I had to make one more lamp to light up our jewellery, I had only a day and did the best I could with what I had ... 

This lamp is an assembly of parts coming from 3 different lamps . The vintage glass part , the brass socket & the stand. I used the forge to fit the brass and glass part of the stand . It turns out to be very nice and use full. 

  Again... The lamp has gone to HYP concept store in Brussels, so out of necessity that I build a other similar one. I assembled a heavy metal disc from the brake of a tractor for the base of the lamp, a steel rode to which I made a screw thread on one side on forged it thicker and flatted down on the other side. On this side I came to fix a vintage lampe similar to the before one. This socket reveals to be quite useful as it is fitted with a switch and can rotated in more directions.

The Russian collection

 
     I was in Moscow last July and took the opportunity to look for some teaspoons as the Russians have the culture of drinking tea. And I did found a lot of interesting teaspoons with nice motives which you do not find back here in Belgium. I mainly gather spoon from the soviet time, all stamped with the cccp mark. Last week I cut them out and turned them into rings which gave birth to a collection of 60 Pcs. Here is one of my favorites with a motive with starts and the sun I presume.

From Thursday 15 September you will be abel to find them at the HYP Store Rue Marché au charbon 84 Brussels 1000 

scissors earrings.

    A series of 18 earrings made from the top of scissors. I used the same patina process as on the bracelets to get the steel black and unquenched them in the forge in order to be able to drill the little hole for the surgical steel holders. Some of them have a mirror polish side. They all have surgical steel hangers. They seam a bit dangerous but I rounded the top and sharp edges. 

" Presentoir "

  Continuity of a display stand originally made to display earring made from typing machine characters. It did serve it purpose but has been improved to display a second type of earring made with the lettering of the same typing machine. The original stand , which I posted on this blog earlier is made with a typing machine part and some renforcement steel rods . Well I used this time  a different part of the typing machine  and the steel rods . . .

Bracelets

    7 new bracelets , still hot from the forge . Forged out of steel rods from working sites 

& steel rods from sewing machines, one forged out a typing machine. On that one 

you still can see some numbers.  They all lock with that famous screw coming 

from the feet of the sewing machines and one with a brass screw coming from some 

electric fitting with a brass rivet that has been adapted from some brass part I found 

in some scrap parts in Japan ... Now I know why I brought back those little round brass 

parts from so far.     

 Talking about the bracelets in New York in the vulcan Magasin . It is small but we are there . Find Tabito Jewelry between Hugo Boss & King Baby Studio . 

http://www.vulkanmagazine.com/the-dos-and-donts-for-men-in-2016/

Forged rings

  Rings forged out of nails and screw. Of course in steel and naturally 

patinated in black. It is not the first time I forge nails into rings but it 

  is for the screws. They look dirty and raw, well it is how it come out 

from the forge, the dirty side of it is the wax that will fade away by 

    time and give place to a patinated texture that only can appear by the 

wearing of time .   

Rings

    

   Silver plated rings made out of  butter knifes. A series of 10 butter knifes rings that came out of the atelier this week. Not only butter knifes are used in the making of the cutlery rings. Up to today I used tea spoons , forks and butter knifes. Going around on flea market to find those cutlery you can get surprised. . . Mostly those cutlery are silver plated brass, but you can get alpaca, silver, stainless steel and other alloys ... So a wide range of materials that should be recognised at a glance. Not always easy, but by time you get used to it and generally you get right. I choose the silver plated brass and silver when I can offer it. 

Bracelets suite, 4 new pieces.

   New bracelets 3 out of 4 . A series  only made out of sewing machine parts, as well for the steel and the screws. The size a quite large this time. There will be presented in a few weeks in the show window at Marianne Gray http://mariannegray.com/ 

     This last one, made in 3 parts has brass rivets and a brass screw to lock it . The steel come from    

     sewing machines and a brass screw from an old alarm clock . 

" Parcours d'artistes " Jette 23/24 Avril 2016