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Centre of attention

Looking for something that can feature as the centrepiece on a dining room table? Look no further than this easy-to-make candle holder.

 

By Andrê Gous

Tools

Welding machine and electrodes

Cut-off saw

Tape measure

Grinder

Chalk

Bending machine or bending jigs

Cutting list

One 950mm length of 6mm round bar

One 750mm length of 6mm round bar

One 600mm length of 6mm round bar

Two 450mm lengths of 6mm round bar

Project guide

Difficulty: Easy

Estimated time: One morning

Cost: R100

Materials

3 200mm of 6mm round bar

Round caps to hold the candles

Contacts

For more information on this or other metalworking projects, contact André Gous on 082-303-4830, 011-824-4995, email: metalandhome@telkomsa.net or visit www.metalandhome.co.za.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Draw the candle holder’s design on a large sheet of paper or cardboard box on your workbench. This will be your guide throughout the project.

 

Start with the longest scroll which will sit in the middle. Give it a curve along the length and make a scroll at the top. The height from top to bottom in this case is 700mm.

 

Next draw the scroll that will sit on the right and let the scroll face the same direction as the longer one. This one’s height is 280mm.

 

Finally draw the third scroll, but let it face the opposite direction to that of the previous two. It should also be a bit shorter than the one on the right. Its height is 230mm.

 

Step 2: Take the 950mm piece of round bar and bend it into the longest scroll. Whichever way you choose to bend the round bar, whether with a bending machine or jigs, you’ll need to keep comparing the bar to the diagram until you match the shape as illustrated in the drawing.

 

Step 3: From the 750mm and 600mm lengths of round bar bend the two scrolls that will sit on either side of the long scroll. Again refer back to the drawing to match the scrolls with the drawing. The scroll from the 600mm length will be a bit shorter than the scroll from the 750mm length.

 

Step 4: The two remaining 450mm lengths of round bar are for the candle holder’s base. Bend these two lengths into scrolls as well and match them with each other.

 

Step 5: Now you can start welding the candle holder together. Place the long scroll flat on your workbench and place the two shorter scrolls on either side of the long scroll. Line up each of the three scrolls’ bottom ends with each other and weld the scrolls together.

 

Step 6: Now for the base: Place the two scrolls that make up the base against each other as shown in photo 7. Weld the two scrolls together where they touch.

 

Step 7: Lay the base on your workbench, place the bottom ends of the three scrolls on top of the base and tack weld the base and scrolls together. Use a square to check if the scrolls and base are perfectly square. Once you’re happy that it is square, give it a proper weld.

 

Step 8: Weld a cap on top of each of the three scrolls. Tack weld it so that if a cap sits skew on the scroll, you can still straighten it before you make the final weld.

 

Step 9: Clean all the welds and remove any rust. Then you can paint the candle holder in the colour of your choice.

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