Schwibbogen / Candle Arch

[Matthew Simmons]

It took approximately 300 years, but I made my first candle arch. So. Much. Trial. And. Error. Debated painting vs spray lacquer up until the very end. Finally laziness won out, and they got the lacquer. I'm pretty sure the base is cherry.

More photos

Pattern: Regu https://www.ebay.ca/itm/262775400771

[daveww1]

terrific job

[jerry walters]

Very nice Matthew.  One of these days I am going to tackle one.  Maybe this is the year.

Jerry

[rjweb]

Excellent craftsmanship, RJ

[Matthew Simmons]

Thanks! This was my first try at something anywhere near this elaborate (and my first lit thing). I learned (hopefully) a bunch about tight corners and free-form wiring. The original plans are old enough to call for incandescent lighting, and are in German which I assume means 240V! Which, in an application like this, I don't even...

[munzieb]

Nicely done Matthew. The cutting isn't as bad as mounting all the lights. Volker Arnold has some great patterns including pyramids. 

[heppnerguy]

Very nice job. Taking the necessary time to do it right, really pays off as you just proved to yourself and us

Dick

heppnerguy

[wombatie]

300 years wow, that's a long time to cut this project but it was worth it.  Excellent work, well done.

Marg

[Matthew Simmons]

On 5/18/2024 at 3:07 PM, munzieb said:

Nicely done Matthew. The cutting isn't as bad as mounting all the lights. Volker Arnold has some great patterns including pyramids. 

The cutting proved to me (as if I needed more proof) that I need to refine my technique on sharp corners. Even with a #1 UR I'll chip off a little bit of the top ply far more often than I'd like. I *think* this means I'm pushing the work into the blade such that the blade rubs against (and lifts off) the top ply on the part I want to keep.

The lights were .. thrilling. I started by thinking I wanted to put the LEDs in sockets, so I spent a bunch of time trying to drill the perfect angled holes, then mounting the sockets... Eventually I gave up and soldered them in. Future me isn't going to enjoy swapping them out, but I've never liked that guy anyway.

[Norm Fengstad]

I cut this two years ago was satisfied with my results so it sits stored away and out of my sight

[Denny Knappen]

Awesome work on a delicate project.

[Mike Crosa]

Something I would like to try someday.  I was thinking instead of large leds I would look at something called Bright Lights.  This is a Coppery decorative wire with small LEDS. You can do a search on Amazon for "Bright lights 6' starry"

[Matthew Simmons]

I gave those some serious thought, but the original arches were meant for candles, so I aimed for lighting in the spirit of that. That meant individual LEDs in candle-like places and with candle-flame-like plastic hats on the LEDs.

It turns out that the people who sell the tea light LEDs have figured out how to source flickering LEDs that are brighter than anything I've been able to buy individually. And I've tried! So my current "best" way to get flickering LEDs is to buy a 12-count of tea lights (the ones without remote control) and rip them apart. I keep the LED, the flame-shaped hat, and the battery (because who doesn't need more 2032s), and toss the rest. The waste makes me sad, but the dimness of the flickering LEDs I can buy by themselves makes me sadder.